I had help folding clothes today! As long as I made a list of things we had to do, she was all for it!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Diversity and engagement
Most of this weekend I engaged my girls 4 and 6 (in 4 days) in cleaning up the house and helping with tasks from my business. By first taking time to explain what success looked like at the end of our task and allowing them have their own approach, I found the job of harnessing my girls high energy and wandering attention fun instead of a chore.
Just one example: The girls are into sorting so they enjoyed opening letters and sorting the documents into piles that I helped to identify. Their creativity shined through as they made another classification of document called "lucky stuff" which was anything that looked like a coupon of any sort. I happily agreed since it was mostly junk mail and the "lucky stuff" kept them interested in the task for over 20 minutes while I did other things pausing briefly to whoow the "lucky stuff" they found.
We changed our attention to tasks often during the day. I found, as long as I allowed their interest to change and directed them instead of trying to keep their focus on one thing we had fun. They felt proud that they could contribute and "help Daddy" and I got lots done but most importantly spent quality time with my girls and taught them the value of completing something.
Just one example: The girls are into sorting so they enjoyed opening letters and sorting the documents into piles that I helped to identify. Their creativity shined through as they made another classification of document called "lucky stuff" which was anything that looked like a coupon of any sort. I happily agreed since it was mostly junk mail and the "lucky stuff" kept them interested in the task for over 20 minutes while I did other things pausing briefly to whoow the "lucky stuff" they found.
We changed our attention to tasks often during the day. I found, as long as I allowed their interest to change and directed them instead of trying to keep their focus on one thing we had fun. They felt proud that they could contribute and "help Daddy" and I got lots done but most importantly spent quality time with my girls and taught them the value of completing something.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sorting Laundry
I told the girls that if they wanted any of their clothes washed they had to sort them into the piles I am creating with my own clothes in my bedroom. Sarah jumped up immediately and said she wanted to help. She got a basket and filled it with her and Kayla's dirty clothes. She said that if Kayla didn't want to do it, she would do it. After about two baskets, Kayla decided we were having some fun, so she joined in. The girls sorted all of their dirty clothes while I layed on the bed and filed my nails.
Pictures of Billy's Kids Cleaning
These are pictures from our blog author, Billy Hoge. She was able to get her kids to clean at a very young age by making it a game.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Lessons in Cleaning House
Found this interesting article with some great tips on getting the kids to help clean.
Lessons in Cleaning House
Lessons in Cleaning House
Monday, August 16, 2010
Cassidy (my nephew) and his friend
This is my holiday house in South Africa and my nephew is doing the dishes with his friend from a few houses away. I brought all 4 of my kids up to clean and share in the housework and they LOVED helping out. I have videos of them washing the car and scrubbing floors and doing windows from the age of 2. To them it was just another game. Today they have no problem doing their own houses. They are now 30, 28, 23 and 19 years old.
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