Child Training Tuesdays

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Child Training Tuesdays. If you missed the first, please check it out by looking at the catagories for Child Training Tuesdays!!

This week, one of my burdens for training my children is to help them learn to be diligent in their work (chores and schoolwork). My tip for the week for child training is to make a good quality checklist for your children, so that they always know what it is they are supposed to be doing. In my house, we have zones for our three oldest children. My 11 year old has the kitchen and the laundry room. My 9 year old son, takes care of the dining area and the school room. My 7 (almost 8) year old does the main bathroom and hallways. These are their daily responsibilities in addition to their bedroom, which the three of them share with their littlest brother. Now, I found that if you just tell them....clean the kitchen, they will not be able to process everything that needs to be done, even if you show it to them a hundred times.

So, what I have done is create checklists for each of them for each area. The checklists have to be very thorough. I walk them through every single step of that area, and what they are expected to do. This includes check boxes that they can check off and that I can look at to approve that this area is indeed finished. I put the number amount of check marks for how many times I expect them to take care of that chore during the day. For example, Owen's list has three check marks for emptying the dishwasher, as it often needs to be done that often in a day.

One of the ways we can follow God's command to keep our children from wrath is to very clearly train them in their work, and make sure that our guidelines are always clear to keep them from frustration. It helps them, and it helps us. I just print out there checklists in the morning, and expect them to do the work. There are also consequences for not getting it done in the alloted amount of time (in our house this usually means taking time off of bedtime). If they do not do the chore properly, or skip steps, they are called back (no matter what they are doing), and required to do it again, until it is right.

I hope this inspires someone to be specific in their guidelines with their children. It is so important to train our children to work, and to work to the best of their abilities, as this is God's calling for all our lives. It is not always easy, and I am not always as consistent as I should be, but the benefits to our children will last them their entire lives!!

Now, I'm dying to hear you stories, thoughts, ideas about any area of training our children today. Please post about it, and leave me the link, or just leave me a comment, whichever you prefer. Feel free to use my homeade banner if you like!! Just link it back to me. God Bless you all, as we endeavor to do the most challenging job on Earth.....training our little ones!!