Photo via @ourcityhouse on Instagram
My six-year-old daughter is a wonderful little assistant, from putting away clothes to setting the table. But her four-year-old brother would rather be playing with Lego instead.
This isn?t a surprise to London, Ont., parenting expert Andrea Nair. ?This is the age they realize they have choices,? she says. ?Before, we sang ?Let?s tidy up,? and they did what they were told. Now, they have independent thoughts?and they are being asked to do something that isn?t enjoyable. It?s a tough sell.?
A survey by World Vision Canada found 89 percent of Canadian parents believe kids should do chores. But more often than not, Nair says, we end up doing these tasks ourselves. ?Many busy parents are rushing out the door, so they?re doing jobs their little ones should be doing. I worry we?re unwittingly creating older kids who won?t know how to do things for themselves.? Richard Rende, co-author of Raising Can-Do Kids, says we sometimes unintentionally teach kids that chores are lousy jobs to dread. ?Kids don?t inherently ?know? chores are ?crummy.? Kids actually like doing the things we label as chores. In our research, we have seen they are experiential, hands-on learners. They are natural helpers at an early age.?
Erin Kerr, a teacher at Liberty Prep, a Montessori school in Toronto, sees this daily with her three-, four- and five-year-old students. ?Children love to water plants, put away puzzles and tidy up.? The Montessori method uses a step-by-...