Chores for Only Child

[homeschoolof1]

My dd is six, and all her life I've struggled with picking chores for her. She's helped wash dishes, fold laundry, scrub the floors, etc. But I really feel I should give her set chores and an allowance. Does anyone know any good books or websites on picking jobs for an only child?

[*********]

I'm curious why you feel you need to give her set chores.

 

And the allowance thing is a whole other subject. :D

 

We've had both allowance and chore threads on here before. There are some who give set chores, and some who have an 'everyone helps with whatever needs to be done' approach. Some give allowance tied to chores, some give allowance not tied to chores, and some don't give allowance at all.

 

We are a 'everyone helps with what needs to be done' and 'allowance not tied to chores' family. It's what works for us.

 

IMO, the point of chores is to teach the child that we all contribute in a family, as well as teach them how to do various tasks.

 

Others may have different goals in mind regarding chores and allowance.

 

I think the best thing to do is to decide what your goals are regarding your dd, and then come up with a chores/allowance plan that helps you meet your family's goals.

 

HTH.

[Mrs Mungo]

What smallish jobs do you most often forget or most dislike? Feeding pets? Emptying dishwasher? Emptying the small trashcans around the house? Those are all jobs that are fairly easy, but annoying to me. ;)

 

I remember posting a link a while back that had appropriate chore lists for various ages. I am not sure what being an only child has to do with it?

[homeschoolof1]

As for only child, all the books I've read have broken it down by family member. I feel some small allowance should be tied to chores, but I don't know what chores to use and what a reasonable allowance amount is. I never had chores growing up, and I was asking the same questions at her age, and I was also an only child. She's asking why she doesn't have chores, how can she get an allowance, etc.

[Mrs Mungo]

As for only child, all the books I've read have broken it down by family member. I feel some small allowance should be tied to chores, but I don't know what chores to use and what a reasonable allowance amount is. I never had chores growing up, and I was asking the same questions at her age, and I was also an only child. She's asking why she doesn't have chores, how can she get an allowance, etc.

 

My kids receive allowance based on age/need. A six year old in my house would receive $5/week. It is used for bubble gum, comics, etc. Sometimes they would save it up for a DS game, Lego set or something like that.

 

She could do the chores of a few kids. Fewer kids in the house means less work. Start with a daily chore or two, like feed pets and empty dishwasher. Then, you could have a weekly rotation for other chores like sweeping her bathroom on Monday, emptying trashcans on Tuesday, dusting on Wednesday, something like that?

[myfunnybunch]

I'm not sure chores and being an only child are related issues. I'd address it this way: Any person in the family capable of helping around the house has chores, regardless of how many children there are. :)

 

Pick one or two small daily chores that she's capable of doing independently.

 

Some ideas:

 

Clean all the doorknobs and stair handrails.

Wipe down the bathroom sinks.

Dust.

Fold and put away towels and dishtowels.

Feed the pets.

Set and clear the table before and after meals.

Sweep the kitchen nightly.

Take out the compost or recycling.

Wash windows or mirrors.

 

And my favorite: Help willingly when asked. ;)

 

Obviously there are many many more things you can ask her to do. I picked the little things I kept seeing and thinking, "I need to do that...as soon as I am done with this." Heh. Some families also include self-care tasks, like making one's bed or brushing teeth on chore charts as a reminder to the child.

 

I have a chore chart for the kids with a different morning chore each morning, and they all help with dinner clean-up by clearing, wiping the table helping put away food, sweeping the floor and so on.

 

ETA: Allowance. We do not tie allowance to chores because chores are not optional. A family member cannot decide to not do chores. We do tie allowance to responsibility. If a family member is old enough to take responsibility for helping with household chores, s/he is old enough to share a small part of the family resources. When each child started getting an allowance, we took him (or her) to the bank and started a savings account. Half the allowance goes into savings; the other half is for the individual to spend as he wishes.

 

We also have a chore list of optional chores that can be done for pay, like washing the car or scrubbing toilets. Most often, charmingly, my kids use these chores to earn money when a sibling has a birthday. Sweet boys.

 

HTH. :)

 

Cat

Edited February 29, 2012 by myfunnybunch

[DragonFaerie]

For allowance, my rule of thumb is half their age. My 10-year-old gets $5 per week. My 9-year-old gets $4.50. They both have chores to do, too. They empty the small trash cans and Swiffer the floor twice weekly, in addition to taking care of the dog daily.

[elegantlion]

We did .50/year when ds was younger. At 6 he didn't really have set chores, maybe he had to empty trashcans or help feed the pets.

 

With an only child I've tried to keep balance so he doesn't end up being like Cinderella, doing everything while we do nothing. We kind of folded him into the household team, my dh is cleaner too.

 

His first and still chores are trash and dishwasher. We all load, he unloads, trash and dishwasher both. When he was younger we had a cabinet that was his height for all the dishes.

 

We slowly moved into vacuuming, which is now his job as well.

 

As far as allowance, we paid for things that are not part of normal pick. He's never been paid to pick up his toys. We pick around the house just because we're fairly neat people. He's working on doing his own laundry now too. He'll also get paid to mow the lawn this summer.

 

Some people don't pay for chores. We have a two-fold purpose. My dh was self-employed for many years. We wanted ds to understand earning money takes effort. No one is just going to hand you money because you're cute.

Two, we wanted him to learn money management skills before becoming a teen. He's been getting an allowance since he was about two. He just bought a new TV after saving for months, and negotiating a little help from Grandma. He's good with money.

 

At this point trash, dishwasher, and vacuuming are his main chores. He also helps with dinner every night and helps clean the table. He helps with pet care too.

 

hth

[Parrothead]

Dd has only recently been given a specific set of chores. She is 12. Prior to that helping was seen as her chores. So if she did the things your dd does (as you listed above) that would be her chores.

 

Now her jobs are to clean her room, put away the dishes, vacuum the living room rug (the only rug in the house), put away her laundry and anything I ask her to do that I need help with.