Growing with Responsibilities: Shaping a Child’s Life

Growing with Responsibilities: Shaping a Child’s Life

As children start developing, they are becoming more able to handle and manage some tasks like doing their homework and school projects, organizing their belongings, and helping with some simple chores at home, independently. These responsibilities are an important way to help children understand that life is not just about playing, it requires work as well.

At this age, children are normally preoccupied by the desire to play and have fun. It may take some time to teach them about taking charge of duties at home and at school. Start with doing chores together with them. Give them directions and guidelines on how to do a certain task and model the proper way of doing it. It can give parents, teachers, and children some quality time together and it also helps them shape their attitude towards work.

Another strategy of teaching children responsibility, is to make chores fun. Create a DIY game that involves some chores like throwing out the trash, organizing books, finishing homework, cleaning their bedroom, sweeping the floor, and more. Challenging them in a sort of “missions to accomplish” way, will be a fun experience for them. Rewards can be a great exchange for their hard work; offering to do something special with him/her when the job has been completed; experiences as rewards are more precious than material rewards.

A chore chart can help them monitor the tasks that they already have accomplished and tasks that they will be accomplishing, in the future. After completing the chart, a reward can be given like a family hang out, a picnic at the park, biking at the plaza etc. The reward doesn’t need to be extravagant or expensive, it just needs to show appreciation, validation of what they have done and trust for the child, in order for them to be motivated to accomplish more.

There may be times when the child takes on too many responsibilities and this can result in a lack of productivity in all of the tasks. During these times you will need to step in and, with encouragement and gentle guidance, point him/her in the right direction.

When children are instructed and trained to do chores at home and at school, they will learn a sense of responsibility. Children without it, feel that there are less expectations of them, and they could avoid facing challenges, thus not being able to achieve their potential and knowing their worth.

Let us prepare them to become leaders of the next generation by shaping them with virtues at an early age. Early efforts to help children to become responsible are important for their future success.

https://centerforparentingeducation.org/library-of-articles/responsibility-and-chores/developing-responsibility-in-your-children