Form a family team with age-appropriate chores

What age do you think that kids should start contributing to household chores?
Kids of all ages can and should be taught by their parents the value of organizing and cleaning up after themselves. If parents teach them in an age-appropriate, structured way, it’s a value that will stick with them throughout their lives and help them to be successful.

Parents can teach their kids by establishing regular routines for other things, like bedtimes, meals and chores. Kids will soon learn what is expected of them and it won’t seem like work to them. If you have multiple kids, you can even assign tasks according to their ages. In my home, we use the “Mom Can I Help Around the House” chore system. The idea is really simple. Each of my kids has a personalized chore binder assigned to them. Each chore is clearly written so they understand what they need to do. They are expected to complete their chores between Friday after school through Sunday at noon. Each of my kids learns to manage their time, set goals, experiences the satisfaction of accomplishing a task and is praised for their efforts. All without my having to “nag” them!

Here are some chores your children can do for their specific age group:

Kids under 6 should be able to these chores:

• Pick up their toys.
• Hang up coats and put shoes away.
• Set the dinner table.

Kids over 6 can (and should) help with:

• Help with laundry
• Clear used dinner items after meals and help with washing dishes.
• Help with caring for pets.

As your children grow, add responsibilities to your children(s)’ chore folder that include more steps and instructions. Be sure to praise them along the way and give them every opportunity to succeed. Keep in mind that you’re not doing them any favors if you follow behind your children and correct their work. In the real world, this won’t be done for them. Give them real world exposure by providing feedback and have them correct less than acceptable work. This teaches them, above all else, a sense of responsibility and accomplishment for a job well done. You will be able to maintain a cleaner home and your children will have learned valuable skills that will last a lifetime.

Originally posted 2008-09-29 06:28:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Dresserz™ Dresser Knobs Make Kid’s Bedroom Organization Fun and Easy

When I work with families, organizing the kid’s bedroom is always one of mom’s challenges.  Kid’s go through so many developmental stages – infant, toddler, pre-schooler, pre-reader, reader, elementary school age, etc. etc.  so it is always a challenge to develop systems that work at each stage. Recently I found a great decorative solution for organizing kid’s clothes that also reinforces pre-reading  and organizational skills.  Dresserz™ dresser knobs for boys and girls:

Dresserz™ dresser ceramic knobs are 2″ in diameter and come in 2 styles (boys & girls)  in a set of 6 dresser knobs, available as individual knobs, or in packs of two. With Dresserz™ knobs, mom doesn’t have to make her own picture labels to place on the dresser drawer as I’ve seen many moms do.

Here’s what the sets looks like:

For warm weather, four new styles were just added:

Three for girls: shorts, skirts and tank tops

And one for boys:

What a great organizational solution for moms and kids!  Why didn’t I think of this??

What I also like about these knobs is that each knob is multi-colored, making it easy to match most kid’s room decor. And installation is easy – anyone can do it.  Each ceramic knob measures 2″ in diameter and comes with a 1″ screw that fits most dressers.

We now carry these fun, colorful and educational Dresserz™ knobs in The Simplified Home e-store.

Originally posted 2010-04-29 11:02:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Janet In the News – How to Get Kids to Help Around the House

Last Friday I received a call from Julie Marsh, a writer/reporter from a small city in northern California, who was writing an article for her Redding, CA paper about how to get kids to help around the house. I was excited to learn that she had found my blog and read about my book ‘Mom, Can I Help Around the House’ on-line and wanted to interview me for her article.

Even though we live on opposite ends of the US, and will likely never meet personally, as moms of two children of the same ages (12 & 9), we were like old friends in no time. We had a wonderful conversation about bringing our children up with Christian values, how we felt about our role and responsibility to our children to teach them to be self-sufficient, yet servants to their family, and later to be self-sufficient servants as adults in society. We also shared what life was like in our little corner of the world and some funny stories about how we each get our kids to help around the house. 

I thoroughly enjoyed sharing time on the phone with a fellow Christian mom.  Our conversation strengthened my belief and mission to continue in my role as my children’s first and most consistant teacher of home management and of life.  Thank you for that Julie ~ you did a great job on the article.

Here is a link to the article that appeared in the Redding, California newspaper on Feb. 9.

Julie’s Article – How to Get Kids to Help Around the House

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on how you see your role as your child’s first and most consistant teacher of life.

To learn more about my book and household chore system that she references, visit: http://www.KidsandChores.net or The Simplified Home.

Janet, The Organizing Genie

Originally posted 2009-02-10 20:05:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Organized Student – back to school tips for an organized school year

A new school year is once again upon us. Ugh! Is it just me, or do you dread the back to school rush too? Our summers are getting shorter and shorter every year! My kids had the shortest summer yet – just 2 months. 

As parents, we have great hopes for a smooth transition from relaxing summer days to the hustle and bustle of homework, tests, project deadlines and school activities.

It’s easy to think that just by purchasing that new trendy school supply, your child will instantly transform into an ultra organized student. Although having the right tools are important to establishing an organized environment, even more important are the habits and routines we encourage in our children.

Throughout this month, I’ll be discussing ways to help you simplify your life during the school year.  I will be bringing you tips on how to reward your child for sticking with the schedule and also what to do if the schedule does not seem to work.  I’ll be discussing strategies for maintaining an organized desk or locker at school and setting up an efficient study space at home. Finally, I will be talking about school paper clutter.  What do you do with all those papers that come home?  How do you know what to keep and what to toss?

First up, let’s consider the importance of planning and identifying past challenges for which you’d like to find a solution. 

Plan, Plan, Plan First by Identifying the challenges

As you ponder how to best help your kids be more organized (and therefore, more successful) in school (and in life), consider what has troubled them (and you) the most in the past. Once you identify their challenges, concentrate on simple solutions, and watch them reach new academic heights. Here are some common student organizational challenges and solution paths.

CHALLENGE:  Struggling to complete homework. There is no defined study area and/or time. School supplies are hard to find and family noise and activities are distracting.

SOLUTION: Determine when and where your child will do after-school homework. Set up a homework “command central” that includes all the supplies and tools needed.

CHALLENGE: Time management issues, such as turning in assignments late, being frequently late for school or activities.

SOLUTION: Teach your child how critical it is to use a student planner and  calendar to track activities, upcoming tests, and assignment due dates.

CHALLENGE: Difficulty maintaining a clean desk or locker, resulting in disorganization at school, like lost homework and books.

SOLUTION: Pop in before or after school periodically to help your child organize his desk or locker. Give older children proper tools and advice to organize their desks and lockers.  Teachers are beginning to understand the connection of organization and grades, and often plan desk and locker clean out days throughout the year.

If you notice your child struggling because of disorganization, don’t wait until it’s too late to give or get help. Disorganization has a snowball affect – it negatively affects grades and your child’s sense of control, which can then negatively affect their self-esteem and confidence. Discuss these issues with the teacher, create a strategy for open communication and success with your child, and consider bringing in a professional organizer for added guidance, support, and creative ideas.

Here are some suggested tools to help both parents and kids to get an organized start to the new school year:

Mom, Can I Help Around the House - the beauty of this system is the routines and habits it establishes in your household.

By the Book – How to Take Care of My Kids –  Use this organizer if your kids have after school care, a tutor or caregiver. It’s great for organizing babysitter information as well. 

 

Task Clips – These action specific clips will help your student organize his work by action – To Do, Read, File, Send (could designate papers to send to school)

Next up … Tips for organizing your daily school schedule

Originally posted 2009-08-22 15:34:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Organized Student – Kids, Backpacks and Papers, Oh My!

I’m a busy mom with school-aged kids, so it goes without saying that we experience hectic school day mornings. If your mornings are chaotic like ours, follow these get-organized tips to ensure a smooth to and from school routine.

• Make mornings flow smoothly by getting everything ready the night before.
• Have school bags packed and placed by the door and tomorrow’s outfits laid out.
• Organize your kid’s departure and arrival spot (I call this the launching and landing pad). Declare a home for backpacks close to the door they leave and arrive. Install hooks at a kid-friendly height. My kids have a square wicker basket close to the door that they enter and leave for school where their backpacks go and other school related items. We place everything that needs to go to school in that basket. When they get home, everything, including shoes get placed there so they don’t get strewn all over the house.
• Keep school shoes by the door to eliminate the mad morning rush to find two matching shoes (this also cuts down on cleaning since kids leave dirty shoes at the door when they come in)
• Pre-pack the non-perishable parts of school lunches, so you can simply pop in a sandwich in the morning. Prepare for breakfast the night before by getting out cereal bowls and cups.
• Create a Kids’ Morning Routine checklist so no essential task gets overlooked, like forgetting to brush teeth or comb hair, and post it on the fridge and/or bathroom mirror.
• Likewise, create an “Out the Door” list of items they need to take to school, and post it on or near the exit door. Include items like homework, lunch, library books, gym shoes, instruments.  Include the time they need to be downstairs for breakfast and when they need to exit the house to meet the bus. This builds their time management skills rather than just waiting for your yelling “the bus is coming” to prompt them. I’ve included a  sample checklist that I created for my oldest daughter when she entered first grade. This made a huge improvement in her ability to stay focused and on task in the morning.

Place a clock in strategic locations in your children’s morning routine , like the bathroom, kitchen and their bedroom. Both my daughters have missed the bus at least once through the year by losing track of time while primping in the bathroom when there was no clock in sight.

 

After we adopted these strategies in our home, our mornings were much less chaotic. And my kids haven’t missed the bus since and gone are the days of mid-morning phone calls from a frantic child begging me to bring their homework or packed lunch they left at home.

To learn more family management strategies like this, my Home Organization Secrets for Busy Moms ebook is now on sale for $9.99 and can be immediately downloaded.

My Daughter’s Morning Schedule (in 1st grade)

Upstairs: Wake up at 7:00am

        Get dressed …

• Put on clean underpants
• Shirt & pants
• Socks – to match outfit
• Shoes – to match outfit
• Brush teeth & tongue
• Comb hair

** 30-45 minutes to get dressed – be ready to come downstairs by 7:45am **

Downstairs: be downstairs by 7:45am

• Come downstairs to kitchen to eat breakfast
• Check backpack to be sure everything has been put in
• Put on coat, gloves, hat
• Walk out door for bus at 8:05am

Originally posted 2009-10-26 22:05:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Back to School 101 – Organize Those School Supplies (on Fox 59)

I was thrilled to be invited to appear on the Indianapolis FOX 59 Morning News segment BACK TO SCHOOL 101: Organize School Supplies. Here’s the video:

 

Originally posted 2010-08-14 17:16:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Organized Student – create a designated study space for school success

After you’ve considered and established your student’s daily routine, it’s time to create an efficient study space to maximize your child’s study routine.

If you want to raise successfully organized students, you must give them the tools they need to succeed. A proper study space, that is both comfortable and fully stocked with school supplies, is essential to get kids motivated for after-school studying.

Start by deciding where your kids will do homework. Involve them – ask where they prefer to study, considering their age and independence level. Do they like the privacy and quiet of a desk in their bedroom? Or do they want to be near you in a centrally located area such as the kitchen or family room? It’s also important to consider your child’s learning style and ability to focus. Given the choice, my daughter would study in front of the TV, but I know that doesn’t work for her with all the added distractions. Whether she likes it or not, I know that for her to be successful, she needs to do her schoolwork in a quiet area with minimal distractions. Students need to understand that although parents will consider their preferences, the parent may make the final decision on the most effective study space.

Once you decide on the best study space for your child’s learning style, maturity level and routine, make sure it’s well stocked with supplies. If your child has a desk, you may choose to organize supplies inside the drawers or in containers on top of it.  Make sure to categorize, containerize and label items (such as writing utensils in one area, paper in another) so the desktop and drawers don’t become chaotic catch-alls.

For those that study outside their bedrooms, create a portable office. This will allow them to work anywhere inside (or even outside) your home. A tackle box or any type of small storage box (even a shoebox) will do. For storing school papers, like graded tests, handouts, etc. I like small desktop file boxes like the Show Off by Sterilite. Notice the lid with handle that allows for easy mobility.

Fill the portable supply box with supplies such as pens, pencils, sharpeners, crayons markers, highlighters, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, tape stapler, paper clips, ruler, calculator, sticky notes, paper, and any other supplies that your child frequently uses. Keep an age-appropriate dictionary and Thesaurus handy. Also consider keeping small stock of rarely needed but important project accessories, such as report covers and poster board.

At the end of each study session, remind your students to put away any home supplies they used and pack up their school materials so they’re ready for the next day’s use. Teach them to make a list of items that need replenishing. Maintain consistency but allow for flexibility for happy and confident kids!

Suggested tools:

Task clips:

Informative File Folders:

To Do Notepad:

Originally posted 2009-09-04 16:29:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

7 Strategies to Make Laundry Day Less of a Chore

With families so busy these days, the laundry room can be one of the most cluttered areas of a home. Kids are notorious for changing clothes frequently and adults often drop items as they come in the door. Often by the end of the week, the laundry room and hampers are overflowing and the weekend is spent performing the arduous task of doing laundry. So how does a busy family spend less time doing laundry and more time enjoying the weekend? By organizing the laundry process and laundry room to make the task a less time consuming chore.

Here are some tips to make laundry day much more efficient:

1. Assign one to two days a week as laundry day. If you run your washer and dryer less often it saves time and money on your electric bill. In our home we do laundry over the weekend and one load mid-week on Wednesday.

2. Make laundry day a family affair. There is no good reason for the home manager to be responsible for the family’s laundry without help. This is a chore that children need to learn and it makes the job much more manageable when everyone pitches in.

3. In a common area between bedrooms, replace the traditional one basket hamper with a three to four section laundry sorter. Clothes are then sorted by color as they go into the hamper, saving the entire step of sorting laundry by loads (color, whites, etc.) In our home, we use a laundry sorter that looks like the chrome example below, but there are several styles to choose from. Take it from my experience however, don’t pinch pennies and buy a cheap model ~ this system will get lots of use, and from my experience, the less expensive (less sturdy) models don’t hold up over time. This one tip will save you about 20 minutes per weekend.

4. Train your children to wear a piece of clothing at least twice. This was a habit I had to break in my youngest daughter, who found it easier to throw every piece of clothing she took off into the laundry basket instead of hanging it up. I developed a sign that hung over my kid’s laundry sorter that said “STOP, is that item really dirty? If not, hang it up and wear again.” Setting that expectation reduced our weekly laundry volume by about 30%.

5. Set up an organizer that contains your most used laundry supplies near the washer and dryer. That means detergents, softener, stain removers, hangers and baskets all in one place.

6. Assign each family member a basket or designated area for their clean clothes. As clothing comes out of the dryer, each family member is responsible to fold and put away their own items, then return the basket. Use these handy sorting labels for hanging clothes Simple Division Garment Organizers to separate clothes in a laundry room by each family member. Each family member can easily find their clothes to return to their room.

7. When purchasing new clothes, get into the habit of reading clothing labels and select fabrics that hold their color well, resist stains and wrinkles, such as polyester or rayon mixes. This will reduce the arduous job of ironing. I don’t even own an ironing board anymore.

I am in the process of developing a laundry sorting tool into a product that has helped many, many of my clients. You’ll be amazed how this one tool will reduce the time you spend doing family laundry. I can’t wait to introduce it to you in the next few months.

Originally posted 2008-09-20 08:16:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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