Household Chores for Children

While there are no rules on the amount of time a parent can expect his child to do homework, there are general guidelines about what household chores, a child’s age and maturity, and how long each chore should be accepted based control.

However, well-meaning parents still find that they are frustrated when their child takes too much time to do relatively simple tasks. There could be any number of reasons why the child could take so much time to complete his tasks but the main reason maybe simply his inability to manage his chores without some guidance from the parents.

For parents who struggle with their children to complete tasks in a  time frame consider the following strategies:

- Give clear deadlines for completing homework. The rule should be for the children to complete the task over the weekend – from Friday to Sunday. This method allows them to have time management skills in planning their tasks together with other plans that may develop over the weekend.

- Measure the time a particular chore takes your child. A young child may take more time to complete a chore than adults.  Measure how long it takes your child to complete a chore in three different events then get the average – that is the time the child can realistically complete a certain chore.

- Set up an alarm.  The advantage of using a clock with an alarm is that the parents can remind their children that it is time to do a certain activity, task, or homework.  Watches are especially helpful in the implementation of time-critical tasks or those which tend easily slip the minds of children.

As parents we should offer many opportunities to be successful, while helping our children learn and master life skills. By providing clear expectations, giving them adequate training, and then monitoring their work you will be able to give your child a solid foundation to learn and master a chore and learn some important life skills in the process.