In-Home Homeschool Helpers
by Teri Spray
Children of all ages can help out around the house. What is age-appropriate for various ages?
"What's a Mother to do?" There are so many busy days in the lives of home schooling families. Mothers and fathers often wonder where their days went. Have you found your duties to be overwhelming for you? Between outside work, meals and dishes, housework, laundry errands, mail and phones, grading and recording work, where does teaching fit in? Sometimes we need to make the chores into the curriculum.
As home educators we survive by teaching our children survival life skills! Busy American lifestyles often leave out the most important aspects of child training: how to be consistent, capable adults. When we take the time to train independent skills our children will become blessings instead of burdens. In addition to learning to be keepers of their own homes, home schooled children can also learn to take responsibility for their own schooling. Little by little, children can take the bulk of home education upon their own shoulders.
The training is the key here. Never punish a child for misunderstanding a skill. Break each task down into tiny steps. Demonstrate the skill repeatedly and teach techniques which are age or ability appropriate. Then follow through with your training repeatedly. Consistency is the key. Make daily rituals of new skills to be sure they are fully mastered. Children forget easily and often will slip up in their training. REMEMBER: CHILDREN WILL DO WHAT YOU INSPECT BETTER THAN WHAT YOU EXPECT!
Let's look at what an average child CAN do.
Two year-old children can pick up toys when prompted. Little chubby fingers can hold a feather duster and dust the television and a few table tops. Entertain self with toys or films during school time.
Three-year-old children can also wipe surfaces, such as tables and counters. They can help to feed small pets. They can sort silverware in the drawer. Color or play with selected educational toys during school time. Keep school toys together.
Four-year-old children can also fold a few clothes. They can wipe down a few walls as well as counters. They can collect light waste baskets. They can set simple nonbreakable settings on tables. Complete learning activities and amusements during school time. Participate in Bible time and demonstrations.
Five-year-old children can take one job on as a regular chore, such as feeding a pet, or clearing the table after meals. Keep school supplies together in a box. Focus one hour total on school work and another hour on varied activities.
Six and seven-year-olds can take on two or three chores each day. (ie:: clearing the table, feeding the pet) Focus a total of 90 minutes on book work, 90 minutes on activities, turn in assignments.
Eight and nine-year-old children can learn to do one project independently. (empty the dishwasher and reload it, empty all of the trash cans, vacuum floors) Focus 90 minutes on book work, 90 minutes on activities, check off assignments, keep materials together.
Ten and eleven-year-old children can take develop responsibility for maintaining one room in the house. (cleaning a bathroom, cleaning the kitchen after a meal, cleaning the family room) Focus up to 120 minutes on book work, They can gather their own books and check off assignments as they are completed.
Twelve and thirteen-year-old children can learn to be responsible for a pet, and prepare simple meals. They can run laundry, iron clothes, clip coupons, and maintain livestock. They can complete basic assignments independently with minimal instruction, but will need materials corrected daily.
From ages thirteen to twenty-one, children should gently and slowly learn to develop every skill for eventual independent living. Add one or two skills each year until all have been taught and hopefully mastered.
Planning menus, shopping, preparing meals while maintaining an orderly kitchen.
Planning, planting and maintaining a garden till harvest.
Basic car repairs (oil, tires, filters, etc.)
Basic home maintenance including painting and carpentry
Budgets, bills, checking, taxes
These students will move steadily into independent learning, but will continue to need daily grading and assignments. Most students can lean to check their own work such as math against solution manuals. They can learn to keep their own high school charts by recording their activities in electives as they do them. Parents can pre-plan quarters of work by creating quarterly record charts ahead of time. These students can learn to work ahead to allow more freedom for special activities. They need at least one hour of parent-teacher input each day for discussion in subjects such as literature,writing and history. Even the best writer needs help collecting and organizing materials and ideas for a research paper. They also need direction for each day's assignments.
As you learn more about your children this year, consider their ability to grow into independent learners and citizens. Little by little, step by step, train your children to do it on their own. You will be glad you did!