blessedx5 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 8yo dd struggles to clean her room without it going under the bed, in the closet, in the corner etc..... she thinks if the middle of the floor is clean then it's good enough:001_huh: She has a place for everything so why can't she put it there? She has a bad habit of dragging out too much stuff and then is overwhelmed trying to put it all away where it goes. I find legos, playmobil in her dresser drawers :tongue_smilie: and she KNOWS where it goes... there are designated containers for each.... Just curious how your 7-8 year olds (she just turned 8) do in cleaning their room... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 usually I have to tell him step by step what to do-usually one task at a time.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My kids from age 6 up can clean their rooms well. Some attract clutter more than others (my 12 year old is a hoarder) but generally speaking they understand the basics of nothing on the floor, clothes put away, bed neatly made, books neatly on a shelf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Dd will clean her room, as in pick up her things, if I first go in and make a big pile in the middle of the floor. I put everything in the pile:clothes, trash, toys. This helps her focus and deal with one thing...the pile. Her room is clean when the pile is gone. Since I started doing this, her room stays cleaner and clean up is easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 8yo dd struggles to clean her room without it going under the bed, in the closet, in the corner etc..... she thinks if the middle of the floor is clean then it's good enough:001_huh: She has a place for everything so why can't she put it there? She has a bad habit of dragging out too much stuff and then is overwhelmed trying to put it all away where it goes. I find legos, playmobil in her dresser drawers :tongue_smilie: and she KNOWS where it goes... there are designated containers for each.... Just curious how your 7-8 year olds (she just turned 8) do in cleaning their room... This sounds like my (almost) 9 year old. He was born with the messy gene. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splinter Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My four share a room (just for sleeping, their choice) and my oldest (9) cleans it without a problem. As in, putting clothes in the hamper, toys in the playroom, books on the shelves, garbage in the garbage can. They each make their own beds, but he finds it easier to do the rest himself than to tell the younger ones what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 8 yo can clean the whole house BUT I had to teach her how, explain the steps, etc. I think a big mess confuses kids and they need to be taught how to break it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Queen Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Very well, but his room is tiny and bare; bed, dresser, closet. Legos live in the playroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Mine did well, but I found the less I kept in their rooms, the easier it was for them. I did coach step by step--my girl did better than the boys, but she is pretty neat, although she has more stuff than they do (did, at that age). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Well, my 4 and 6yr olds can clean their rooms independently, but that is because cleaning their rooms require making beds, putting up clean clothes, putting dirty laundry in the laundry room baskets (separated, btw), having floor neat, no trash, drawers neat. They have VERY few toys in their rooms. The 6yo has one toy set in her room and 5 dolls/stuffed animals. The 4yo has even less. All our toys are in another room. We have a limited amount of toys available at a time. Legos are in one bucket. Big blocks in another. We have one crate of various toys (plastic animals, dinosaurs, matchbox cars, etc) and one tub of stuffed animals. Regularly, a stray toy will be in the wrong place; but for the most part, all three littles can put things up appropriately. I would expect that any ONE of them would do worse though just because of the amount of time it would take. I'd have to supervise the boys a great deal if they were having to clean independently. I'd have to check and correct each time for the 6yo. Ideally, by having to fix it over and over until it is correct each time, they would learn, by 8, they may as well do it right the first time. Train, supervise, check & correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadianmumof5 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 They are usually pretty good (all 3 of the olders) but it is when they have too much stuff in there that it gets overwhelming. So we regularly have to purge stuff from their rooms. I would say once every 2 months or so and then we help them re-organize it. By age 8, they should definitely be able to keep their rooms tidy. I have had to really change my expectations for what tidy means though. Tidy for me is not the same as tidy for the kids. Not that they leave a huge mess but I've learned not to freak out if things aren't organized and put away exactly as I would do in my own room. It doesn't have to be magazine-ready at my house (anymore :lol:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momdm Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 7 yr old daughter folds her PJ's every morning and put it away. she cleans her desk when she thinks it too messy. I organize clothes in her closet. she used to do her bed, but now since its a bunk bed she doesn't do it as much. I have to remind her to put her books ways. but she does it whenever reminded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 8yo dd struggles to clean her room without it going under the bed, in the closet, in the corner etc..... she thinks if the middle of the floor is clean then it's good enough:001_huh: She has a place for everything so why can't she put it there? She has a bad habit of dragging out too much stuff and then is overwhelmed trying to put it all away where it goes. I find legos, playmobil in her dresser drawers :tongue_smilie: and she KNOWS where it goes... there are designated containers for each.... Just curious how your 7-8 year olds (she just turned 8) do in cleaning their room... My dd just turned 9 and she does the exact same thing! The middle of the floor is clean, so she thinks she's done. Never mind that there is stuff on every other horizontal surface, as well as between things (It's amazing what can fit in 3 inches between a desk and toy box!) :grouphug: You are very much not alone on this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My dd is just like yours. However, I think if I took the time to consistently train her, she could do much better. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 It is easy for my kids to clean their room bc all they have are clothes in there. No toys allowed. My four oldest share a room. It is the 3 year old's chore to clean their bedroom, do all the kid's laundry (I help with half), pick up the hall and pick up the kid's bathroom (not wipe). If there is a place for everything and there isn't an obnoxious amount of stuff/junk in there, and you have walked dc8 through it a few times, surely an 8 year old could do it. Cleaning definitely has to be taught. I wouldn't expect a child to know what to do in a horrendously dirty room that has a bunch of stuff that belongs in the trash. Everything must have a place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 7 & almost 9 yr. olds share a large room. I have made a very detailed checklist on the computer that I print out for them whenever they clean their room. Otherwise, it would be like before, when I used to stand there and tell them step-by-step what to do. I had done that so many times before, and thought they should know by now how to clean their room, but they still need direction, hence the checklist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom25girls Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Train, supervise, check & correct. That works here too. None of my girls keep many toys in their rooms except for my 8yr old who has her Calico Critters dollhouses in her room. I think that decluttering is the key to easy clean-up. If the bedrooms get really messy, it is overwhelming. One of my daughters (she's 10) has a harder time keeping her room clean. It might have something to do with the overwhelming sense of gravity that causes objects to fall from her hands and drift to the floor...all over the house:001_huh:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheApprentice Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Surprisingly, my ds8 just cleaned his bedroom a couple of days ago. He was so proud of himself.:001_smile: And he did a fabulous job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misidawnrn Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 This last year my now 8 year old does a great job. Before it was "stuffed" in every corner. Now I say "clean it like I would clean it, or I AM going to clean it". I am all for purging and she knows it. She cleans good now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My just turned 7 year old can clean and organize toys with no problem. She struggles with folding clothes. I am happy if she rolls them into a ball and shoves them in a drawer. My new theory is if they can't pick up their stuff (her and the four year old), they have too much stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 8 yo can clean the whole house BUT I had to teach her how, explain the steps, etc. I think a big mess confuses kids and they need to be taught how to break it down. Very well, but his room is tiny and bare; bed, dresser, closet. Legos live in the playroom. :iagree: My 9 year old can go in and clean the boys (they share) room as long as it's not completely destroyed. But he does well. My almost 8 year old is s l o w e r than molasses. But that's just his personality (we are working on diligence though). I would have to tell him what to do. For now, I have him work where I can see him and have DS9 do the bedroom. When we finish the addition, they'll have a bigger room and each child will have a zone to clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) My 8yo dd struggles to clean her room without it going under the bed, in the closet, in the corner etc..... she thinks if the middle of the floor is clean then it's good enough:001_huh: She has a place for everything so why can't she put it there? She has a bad habit of dragging out too much stuff and then is overwhelmed trying to put it all away where it goes. I find legos, playmobil in her dresser drawers :tongue_smilie: and she KNOWS where it goes... there are designated containers for each.... Just curious how your 7-8 year olds (she just turned 8) do in cleaning their room... My boys pile their toys on top of the dresser which is designated to hold toys. Because apparently it's so much easier just having 50 action figures all piled up. :tongue_smilie: They do relatively well with getting all the toys off the floor, which is my main complaint. So I can't say much. I do tell them, about once a week, to get all the toys off the dresser and put them in the drawers. I couldn't care less how it all ends up put away - the specific places for specific items was too much. I am not going to go through and make sure it is all in the right place, so I let them determine how it gets put away. Also, when we did specific toys in specific places (Transformers here, Cars here, Ben 10 here, etc) it didn't do much for the boys getting along with each other - DS7 wants everything where it's been decided it should go (a true melancholy - I just want it out of my sight!) whereas DS6 will put it away, but it'll end up where it ends up. They would get to fighting with each other over it. Obviously that isn't the case with your DD :) . As far as the actual 'cleaning' aspect, like vacuuming and dusting, etc, they do all right. :) ETA: The boys pick up all their toys/etc every evening. One is in charge of cleaning up after dinner, making sure there are no toys/etc on the floor or out of place in the living room, sweeping under the table if necessary, drying any pots/pans I've washed by hand, and wiping off the table. The other goes in and cleans the room. Both are supposed to make their beds every morning. All their toys are in their rooms - I don't really like toys being all over the house, and while right now we only have 3 bedrooms, if we had 4 I would still prefer each kid have their own room over having a designated play room. Edited January 4, 2012 by PeacefulChaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 4- and 5-year-olds clean their rooms every morning and they do a great job as long as they've cleaned every morning. On Saturdays, I go in and vacuum and double check any trouble areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyinND Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My 8yo dd struggles to clean her room without it going under the bed, in the closet, in the corner etc..... she thinks if the middle of the floor is clean then it's good enough:001_huh: She has a place for everything so why can't she put it there? She has a bad habit of dragging out too much stuff and then is overwhelmed trying to put it all away where it goes. I find legos, playmobil in her dresser drawers :tongue_smilie: and she KNOWS where it goes... there are designated containers for each.... Just curious how your 7-8 year olds (she just turned 8) do in cleaning their room... My 9 yr old dd cleans just like that. Into the closet or corners wherever. You might walk in & think it's clean...just don't open the closet door:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 All my kids can clean their rooms or any other rooms well. I'm very organized and want a place for everything, so I think that's why they are good at it. They know what I expect from them. If it's not right, I've made them do it over again.:) Now they know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamedesignmom Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Today I spent 1.5 hours organizing and decluttering DD8's room. She basically had been cleaning her room by taking everything off the floor and sticking it on whatever horizontal surface she could find. She is also a PROLIFIC crafter/artist/writer and never sorted any of her creations. Now she has storage for all of her craft supplies and papers and I hope that she can keep her room neat, (crosses fingers) but it wouldn't surprise me if we had to do this again in about six months. Like mother, like daughter. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 The girls share a room, so they go in together and clean it up. I'd say they do a pretty good job of it; Becca is very good at "spreading" the beds. There are usually only a few odds & ends to correct when I check their work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I'm probably pretty hard on my 8 year old but my method works for both of us. He has a very, um, cozy room with one wall of windows and one wall of bookshelves. There is just not a lot of walking room available. He is expected to keep his room reasonably picked up throughout the week. On Saturdays, he has one hour to clean his room. If he can't do it in an hour, it tells me that his "stuff situation" has become unmanageable for him and that I need to go in and help him choose some stuff to get rid of. He likes having a neat room so this method works for him. (I should probably add my definition of "clean" in regards to an 8 year old's bedroom: Nothing on the floor, nothing under the bed that's not supposed to be under the bed, bed made, books on shelves, Legos in bin or on display, dirty clothes in basket, no toys in the underwear drawer. I'm not concerned with the organization of the bookshelves or toy bins. I'm not bothered by Nerf in with Bakugan. I don't care how well the bed is made.) My dd6 is a different animal entirely. My amazing awesome parenting skills have no effect on her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Did you say "clean the room alone"?:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Oh, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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