Do you know the technique of small steps? This idea, which proposes to design the new learning to be acquired as a multitude of small steps to be taken progressively, will not only allow you to more easily obtain the cooperation of your children in carrying out household chores , but also to offer them the chance to calmly develop new skills without becoming discouraged by the magnitude of the task. In order to help you modulate the different tasks that you wish to assign to your children, here are some examples of the steps (always add the next step to the previous ones when these are well mastered by the child) that you could plan for some of them.
I want my child to put his plate in the dishwasher after the meal.
Step 1: Child brings his plate to the kitchen counter after meal.
Step 2: The child empties the leftovers from his plate into the compost or the trash.
Step 3: The child rinses his plate and puts it in the dishwasher.
I want my child to wash his own clothes.
Step 1: The child puts his clothes in his dirty laundry basket after taking them off.
Step 2 : The child brings his dirty laundry basket to the laundry room when it is full.
Step 3: The child puts his dirty clothes in the washer after emptying it and putting the clothes in the dryer.
Step 4: The child does all the washing of his clothes alone.
I want my child to clean the bathroom.
Step 1: The child picks up and puts away objects lying around the bathroom.
Step 2: The child cleans the bathroom sink.
Step 3: The child cleans the bath.
Step 4 : The child cleans the toilet, sweeps the floor and washes the floor.
I want my child to prepare his lunch alone.
Step 1: The child takes the lunch prepared by the parent and puts it in his lunch box himself.
Step 2: The child prepares the accompaniments for his main meal (fruit, dessert, raw vegetables, etc.).
Step 3: The child prepares his entire lunch.
Obviously, don't hesitate to adapt these different stages according to your child's level of development and their ease in acquiring new skills!
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