Studies Show Positive Outcomes with Children Doing Chores If You Follow These Tips!

Many of us grew up having to manage certain responsibilities around the house. Many of us also disliked these chores very much. The question remains: did we gain anything from those experiences? I think that the majority would agree that by doing chores, we learned certain household care skills as well as built our work ethic and responsibility. There have been several studies surrounding children doing chores in the home.

According to CenterForParentingEducation.org,”Research indicates that those children who do have a set of chores have higher self-esteem, are more responsible, and are better able to deal with frustration and delay gratification, all of which contribute to greater success in school.” There is definitely some teaching and reasoning that needs to be done through this process from the parents to build these skills. The children will complain at some point. Why? They want things right away. It is hard for children to wait for anything that they want in the moment. They also do not have a great sense at to the amount of work it actually takes to do different household tasks and may feel like the task could “take forever” or that it may be “impossible”. They are also just naturally self-absorbed and it is difficult for them to think of what others may go through when caring for the home. If the parent can stand the whining and can remain strong and consistent, the child will soon develop into a more empathetic and less impulsive citizen of the house with better judgement.

In an article from The Washington Times online titled, Study Finds Having Kids do Chores is a Good Thing, written by Kimberly Dishongh, the discussion about children and chores focuses on the importance of parental guidance. “One thing … that parents don’t spend enough time on is really being specific about exactly what the chore entails and even demonstrating how to do it and how to do it properly,” says Nicholas Long, director of the Center for Effective Parenting at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. It is not a good idea to tell kids that they did a poor job. It is better to use positive language such as, “I really appreciate your help around the house. Next time, do it like this so that it gets really clean.” Take the time to demonstrate how they should be doing the chore. This may have to be done a few times but if a parent is patient, it typically pays off.