Chores for my FIVE year old? Folding laundry....

What CAN he do??

In this day and age when parents are SO eager to get back to teaching their kids to be responsible, we find ourselves asking, HOW??

How do we know when they’re ready for chores?

How do we know which chores?

How to we start?

How do we teach?

How do we survive waiting for them to learn it properly?

How? How? How?

There are SO many cute guides to age appropriate chores. Just google 'age appropriate chores'... a step further is to search images specifically. There's a TON. Like this one:

by Heather at Sports Mom Survival Guide

But these are simply that, guides. Each child is their own person. My oldest was reading 2nd grade books as she entered 1st. My middle one is almost 5 and barely getting around to caring about the sounds letters make. So why would they be able and ready to do the same chores at the same ages?? They’re NOT. PLEASE remember, these info graphics are guidelines.

So #IcarusRex is now able to fold laundry. How do I know?? I watched him ‘fold’ blankets and napkins and saw that the manual dexterity was there. The concentration was there. The desire was there…. so I gave him a lesson. Guess what?! He was able to do it without fussing, with a certain amount of ease, and still with a bit of room for improvement. 

SO what IS our ‘laundry folding’ lesson?

Step One: 

Lay out the shirt ‘picture side’ down. I do this part during our first few tries. (I know he can do this part because he does it for getting dressed daily, but since this is a new lesson, I do the first few for him)

Step One

We place the picture side down, for 2 reasons. 

1. picture side down is how he gets dressed, it ensures the picture is on his front instead of back. 

2. we can see the picture when it's in the drawer, making choosing it easier.

Step Two:

Fold one side over to the other. (left to right or right to left, doesn’t matter)

Step Two

Step Three:

Fold arms over body of shirt. (just so the sleeves no longer stick out)

Step Three

Step Four:

Fold bottom up to cover sleeves. (create a rectangle/square)

Step Four

Folding in Action ;) 

He LOVED that he did every shirt alone. We also had a lesson on folding bottoms that day. So #IcarusRex was especially accomplished by the end of our chore. 

 

There is NO task in our day or life that can’t be broken down into manageable, age appropriate, steps. All we, as parents, need to do is think logically about the task and assess what each child is capable of. My youngest (now 2 years old), can move laundry from basket to washer to dryer to basket. LOVES to in fact. Would I expect her to fold and return the clothes to the dresser? Of course not. But SO many parents do this, or something similar. They see their child doing part of a chore and assume they can do all of that chore. Take it easy folks! 

Have fun with each stage of each child’s go at life. Through that fun… you’ll witness and observe, not only their abilities and skill but you’ll observe SO many moments, otherwise missed. 

ING

!jen

Comment below and let me know what chore you're planning to give a lesson on or loved giving a lesson on previously. OR let me know which chore you have NO IDEA how to teach effectively and I'll blog it ;) I'm all about helping you Montessori your life and lessons.