Parenting column by Sasha Hart, family care manager at Community Family Care, Staunton
With the summer holiday approaching, many parents will be to wondering how they are going to entertain children and keep chaos under control.
The holidays can be a stressful time with everyone at home and it can be hard to juggle the things you usually do when the children are at school.
We’ve put together some tips for encouraging children to help with tasks so you don’t feel frazzled.
Having children help out means there is more time for family activities and important down time for parents at the end of the day.
Plan ahead
Talk to your children about helping out over the summer holidays.
You may want to sit down as a family and decide on a jobs list that is reasonable and realistic for your children given their ages and within their limits.
Only choose jobs that are safe for them to complete. Let each child pick 2-3 jobs each they are going to take responsibility for and explain why helping is important.
If children cannot decide on their own jobs, pick some for them. Finalise a job list for each child.
You may want to get them to draw this up into a timetable or show your child how to complete their jobs and support them by completing them together initially.
Agree on a set day or time for jobs to be finished and explain you will be checking they have been done. Set agreed rewards and consequences.
Rewards
Common rewards for completing tasks include pocket money.
Rewards could be anything from earning spending money for a family trip, to earning the family trip or extra time with mum and dad. Rewards do not need to be expensive.
Consequences
Agree some consequences with your child ahead of time. If a child does not want to help out and complete their tasks then remind them of the agreed consequence and make sure you follow through in implementing it.
Review
Remember to review your child’s progress with them and support them to make changes.
Review if your child is realistically able to complete their chosen tasks.
Remember to provide your children with lots of praise for completing tasks.
Click here to download PDF of this article.
With the summer holiday approaching, many parents will be to wondering how they are going to entertain children and keep chaos under control.
The holidays can be a stressful time with everyone at home and it can be hard to juggle the things you usually do when the children are at school.
We’ve put together some tips for encouraging children to help with tasks so you don’t feel frazzled.
Having children help out means there is more time for family activities and important down time for parents at the end of the day.
Plan ahead
Talk to your children about helping out over the summer holidays.
You may want to sit down as a family and decide on a jobs list that is reasonable and realistic for your children given their ages and within their limits.
Only choose jobs that are safe for them to complete. Let each child pick 2-3 jobs each they are going to take responsibility for and explain why helping is important.
If children cannot decide on their own jobs, pick some for them. Finalise a job list for each child.
You may want to get them to draw this up into a timetable or show your child how to complete their jobs and support them by completing them together initially.
Agree on a set day or time for jobs to be finished and explain you will be checking they have been done. Set agreed rewards and consequences.
Rewards
Common rewards for completing tasks include pocket money.
Rewards could be anything from earning spending money for a family trip, to earning the family trip or extra time with mum and dad. Rewards do not need to be expensive.
Consequences
Agree some consequences with your child ahead of time. If a child does not want to help out and complete their tasks then remind them of the agreed consequence and make sure you follow through in implementing it.
Review
Remember to review your child’s progress with them and support them to make changes.
Review if your child is realistically able to complete their chosen tasks.
Remember to provide your children with lots of praise for completing tasks.
Click here to download PDF of this article.
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