Most chores around the house are handled by the homeschooling parent. The spouse may lend a hand when possible but the bulk of the work is handled by the one who stays back home. There is considerable debate about making homeschool students do chores around the house. Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t feel guilty about setting chores for homeschool students to complete in addition to their school work.
What Doing the Laundry Teaches Your Homeschool Student
Washing clothes is not really getting an education, you would think, but you will be surprised how much a young one can learn when taught how to do the laundry the right way. They learn categorization when they separate the whites from the coloured clothing. They boost their literacy by reading and following the instructions on the care tags, the detergent box, the washer and dryer. They learn sequencing in the right manner to get the job done with the least amount of fuss and mess, which they learn to responsibly clean up on their own. They even learn how to measure out the detergent required for each load based on brushing up their maths skills. So the next time you wonder if you should be teaching your child to run the washing machine, think of the number of favours you are actually doing them. Plus they gain a helpful life skill forever.
Getting them to Cook a Meal or Two
If you thought that cooking had to be the adult’s job only, you couldn’t be more wrong. Not only is the kitchen a place where your homeschool students can be taught a number of skills that they will find useful later on in life, it is also a place where they can showcase their creative selves. So help them read recipe books and expand their vocabulary. Teach them how to organize their material so that they can sequence events with ease as they follow the instructions. Have them articulate what they are doing and describe each step along with the reason why they need to follow that particular step. They even get a taste of problem solving when things don’t go exactly as planned in the kitchen.
