Teaching responsibility to a toddler or preschooler Part 1

Teaching responsibility to a toddler or preschooler
Part 1

My hubby and I decided long ago that it was important to teach our children at an early age that responsibility is an important thing. We don’t want our children to get older and think that everyone owes them. We want to teach a good work ethic, even at an early age. We have found some things that work well and some things that don’t. We have tried to figure out the areas where our children are strong and where they sometimes need a little extra help. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we have to keep trying new things. All in all our goal is to encourage, teach and most importantly love our children while doing it.

Childhood chores can teach responsibility

For instance our eldest child “Bubba” likes to complain about hard work. We fixed it for the most part. How did we fixed the complaining of hard work? Well every time he complained about something being “hard work” we would give him another chore. Lets just say he learned pretty fast not to complain. His strong points are that he loves to help in the kitchen, with cooking or doing the dishes. His weak point is pretty much anything outside the kitchen. He is not a fan of folding clothes or helping in the bathroom cleaning routine.

Our middle child “pipsqueak” He just loves to help, plain and square. He’s 2 and at that very helpful stage. His favorite thing to do is to put the groceries away. “Now sometimes they are not always on the right shelf, but he is pretty good at figuring out where everything goes.  His weak point is putting his toys away. I know which kid really does.

Our youngest “Sweet Pea” well she is only 8 months and is just figuring out how to stand and cruise the living room. but my hopes are that she will become my little helper and love doing it. I know wishful thinking, but a mom can dream right?

How we started doing the chore system was easy. We started with our expectations. Clean room, bed made, teeth brushed and dressed for the day. They need to do those 4 things before breakfast.

The thing to remember is that they are in the early stages of learning how to work. During this stage they will need help and encouragement and sometimes a big hug if they are having a rough time.

This process worked with our kids. The biggest thing in setting chores and teaching responsibility is to learn who your children are, their likes and dislikes. Once you have done that, the chore list will come much easier.

What things do you have your children do to help around the home?
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To learn how to make these Look for our blog post on Thursday, Part 2 Teaching responsibility to a toddler or preschooler.