Ready to Learn
Do you ever feel that you need four extra hands and 10 more hours in the day in order to accomplish all the things that need to get done in your house? It's probably the reality for almost every parent, kids are a lot of work! However, they are also amazingly capable and inherently inclined to learn new skills to impress you with. Paired with a successful routine, chores can be a life changing addition to your household culture. At the very least, it will engage your family in helping you with the 1,475,209 things that need to be done. A shared burden is a lessened burden after all! Spending time teaching our children how to manage these tasks for themselves is worth the effort. When procedures for routine activities and chores are modeled by adults and practiced by the child over and over, kids can learn to accomplish these tasks automatically and will rely on adult guidance less and less over time. An added bonus is the feeling of self-sufficiency and pride that children experience when they can do things for themselves! When they learn that they are capable and can be counted on by adults, even young children can be expected to complete their own self care tasks and age appropriate chores. When parents have these expectations for their kids, it helps the child build working memory and provides opportunities for them to execute multi-step directions. I would be lying if I did not tell you that us school staff members LOVE when kids come to school able to remember the steps in tasks and follow our directions. Preparing your students in this way may even be more important than teaching them their ABC's and basic counting. Check out the chart below for ideas of tasks that your child might be capable to help you with (given the right training). Start early & consider adding individual chores into your child's established routine as a positive. You might not even want to label it a chore at all! See the video below for more food for thought on teaching your child to share in the household responsibilities.
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Have you ever noticed that kids are creatures of habit? Fear of the unknown is real issue for us adults, but it is especially difficult for elementary age students to cope with. From a child's perspective, life can feel full of changes that leave them feeling stressed and anxious. When life is chaotic and kids cannot predict what will happen next, they are not well positioned to build good habits and learn how to manage their daily tasks. Daily routines provide an incredible sense of security and are integral in setting expectations in the home (or anywhere). In fact, your child's teacher might say the daily routine is the single greatest contributor to student success in their classrooms. Simply put, there is power in knowing what comes next. Not only do they prepare children mentally for the tasks ahead, routines can increase cooperation and be a game changer when dealing with power struggles. A predictable and familiar routine is also powerful in helping students develop and maintain healthy habits. Examples of routine tasks include: waking up, performing self care tasks, eating breakfast, going to school, doing homework in the same location each day, helping with dinner, bath time, reading before bed, and more. Feel free to watch the video below or use the linked resource from Ready Rosie to help engage your child in creating a visual to support their summer routine in your home. You can even set up a weekly routine to help kids look forward to fun activities in the future and build motivation for tackling not-so-fun tasks as well. Routines are a powerful parenting tool that benefit your family in many ways. Children that have an opportunity to bond with their caregivers during one on one daily rituals can enjoy more connected relationships. Students that have strong routines are more able to follow routines at school AND demonstrate greater independence and self discipline in the classroom.
If you would like more information on routines, please feel free to reach out to me via ParentSquare or by emailing [email protected] |
AuthorJaime Koziol is the principal of Milne Grove School and is committed to forming partnerships between school and home to ensure that all students are ready to learn. This blog is aimed at providing information on how parents can support their children to ensure they are ready to learn. ArchivesCategories |
Copyright 2021. J. Koziol.