Chore Strategies: When and How

When: When do you have your kids do chores and how often?

Chore time is different in every house.   Some do chores before school, others after.   Some do chores right before bed.  They can be everyday chores or once a week chores.   It doesn't matter at all.   Look at your home and your schedule and decide what needs to be done and when you have time to do it.

Our kids each have chores they are expected to do daily.   These are things like dishes, sweeping, or tidying up the front room.  You may want your kids to do chores right before dinner.

Give STATIONS a try!  Or you can do chores right after dinner.  I like having the house clean when we go to bed at night.   Even though I am asleep and can't see it, it's nice to think my house stays clean for eight hours in a row every night.   We also have Saturday chores.   These are things like mopping the kitchen or scrubbing the bathroom.

On non-school days (Saturdays, holidays, etc.) try one of these ideas: One Good Hour or The Wheel of Excitement.

How? How are chores going to be carried out?

How chores are carried out may be the most fluid part of your chore routine.   Are the kids working alone, or in a group?   Do they need supervision, or can they do it alone?  These answers can change slowly as your kids grow or even on a daily basis depending on the condition of your house.

Giving a single responsibility to a single child is the simplest way to go.   When a child is solely responsible for finishing a task, they will (hopefully) take more pride in doing a good job.  And if a chore is left undone, you'll know just where the responsibility lies.  My kids generally need separate responsibilities, or else both kids end up sitting down because "he wasn't working either" and nobody wants to risk possibly doing any extra work (heaven forbid!).

Sometimes chores are done with a buddy.  An older child can be assigned to supervise (and help) a younger child doing a job.  Cleaning a messy room can be overwhelming to a younger child, so having someone there to say, "Pick up all the clothes first, now pick up all the cars," can be a very necessary part of the learning process.

Most chores have a specific location associated with them.   If I say clean the bathroom, you are obviously going to be working in the bathroom.   If I say do the dishes, you will be spending your time in the kitchen.   Whether you are working on your nightly tidy-up, or doing your Saturday deep cleaning, assigning everyone a separate room to clean is a great way to go.   If my kids know that the family room is always their responsibility, they can do their chores quickly and without hassle from anyone else.

Not sure if this room is actually getting clean, but they are trying.

Occasionally a chore is not location specific.   Vacuuming.   Washing windows.   Wiping down walls.  The upside to these types of chores is that a child who vacuums six rooms in a row can become really proficient at it.  The down side is you'll have to walk into all six rooms to see for sure if they actually did what they were supposed to do.

Accountability

The most important part of any chore is accountability, which means I can't just assign a chore and then never check to see if or how it was carried out.  Kids need feedback.  They need clear expectations from the beginning as well as acknowledgement after the chore is completed to let them know they did a great job or how they can improve.  Constructive feedback given in a loving way will help your children take responsibility for their work - which is the whole purpose behind chores.

Kate