Authoritative parents expect that their children will contribute to the well-being of the family by taking on the responsibility of certain family responsibilities. Three areas of basic life skills which should be expected are: cleaning a house and keeping it that way, planning/selecting and preparing healthy meals, budget and making appropriate purchases. Expecting a child to participate in a family’s organization not only encourages the development of necessary virtues, it also allows the workload to be shared between parent and child, which should leave more time for activities that bring the family together.

Parents must make sure the child knows exactly what is expected. Be sure to do the following;

• Have your child observe others doing the task.
• Give them instructions along with principles or “whys”.
• Let them ask questions about the task.
• Offer compliments and encouragement along the way.
• Occasionally work with the child, helping with part of the task to make the job more enjoyable.
• Break the total job into small parts for easier mastery.
• Build on past successes.

The following life skills are suggested for learning at home. Note the age range behind each task. The first number indicates when the child should begin taking on the task and the last number is the age when you can expect your child to master the task.

Credit:  Extension Office of Wisconsin   401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work At Home