Creative Ways to Tackle Chores for Homeschool Families

Household chores are one of those things that no one really wants to do, but they are necessary. Without them, the home would quickly become unlivable. Depending on the size of your family, tackling chores for homeschool families can be extremely time-consuming, making it difficult or even impossible for one person to take care of it all.

 

The best solution is to have everyone in the household contribute by assigning chores to every member of the family. Even toddlers understand the concept of putting away their toys when they’re done playing. However, getting everyone on board may be a challenge.

Here are a few creative ways to tackle chores for homeschool families to help make cleaning time a little less stressful and demanding for everyone:

• Make it fun. Chores are often boring and repetitious, but there are ways you can make it a little more exciting. Turn cleaning into a game or competition to see who can pick up the most toys in five minutes. Another option is to turn on some music and dance around the house with your kids as you clean and it won’t feel so much like work.

• Create a reward system to help encourage your kids to do the chores assigned to them. This could be anything from allowing them extra play or computer time each week to paying a predetermined amount of money for each chore. For example, the pay for washing dishes may be a dollar and the bathroom may be worth two dollars.

• Have a list of age appropriate chores to do and let each child pick from the list which ones they want to do on a routine basis. If everyone wants to do the same thing, then assign chores and rotate them each week so no one gets stuck constantly doing something they hate.

 

 

• Keep things clutter-free and organized. When your home is free of clutter and well organized, cleanup is much easier. You know exactly where everything goes and dusting is much easier when the spaces are free of clutter.

• A little praise and a thank you will go a long ways. Everyone feels a little better about doing chores when they feel their work is appreciated. Remember to tell your kids or spouse thank you for a job well done. It will encourage them to help out more, and an added bonus is that they are learning essential life skills!

• Set timers for each job. If the job should take 15 minutes, set a 10 minute warning to help keep you focused on the job at hand. The warning lets you know you should be finished in five more minutes so if you’re procrastinating, it’s time to get busy.

• Do it right the first time. If you do it right, the job is over when you finish. If you try to go too fast and cut corners, you may find yourself doing it all over again and that takes double the time. Doing your very best will also give you a sense of accomplishment that makes doing chores a little more enjoyable.

These tips will help everyone tackle those chores and get them done faster so there’s more time for the things you enjoy doing.