How to Include Chores in Your Homeschool Routine

Sick of doing all the household tasks? Get the kids involved! Here are some ways to include chores in our homeschool routine.

As parents, it is our job to prepare our children for life. As homeschool parents, we can do this easily as we go throughout our day to day lives with our children. They see us “out in the world” on a daily basis; they go with us on errands to the grocery store, bank, and doctor’s offices. They are home with us and see us do laundry, clean the house, cook and more. But, how often do we complete our household tasks and NOT involve our children?

As homeschool parents, we have ample opportunities to train our children to complete daily tasks and household chores. It is our job to train our children to work, and this can start at a young age. Even a preschooler can put his dirty clothes in the hamper. A 5-year-old is more than capable of picking up her room, and your 8-year-old is old enough to be responsible for unloading the dishwasher.

We can even include chores in our homeschool routine. Here is how chores work in our home, and this may also help you include chores in your homeschool routine as well!

• Choose age-appropriate chores. To find chores that are appropriate for your child’s age, check out this printable from the Happy Housewife.
• Set a time each day for chores to be done. For our kids, this is right after breakfast. Chores are expected to be completed BEFORE book work starts.
• Count chore time as school. For logging purposes our school day begins at 8:30, book work does not start until 9. In this time our children are completing household tasks. You could consider this home ec, or something else, but for us, it is an important part of learning. For example on some days my oldest does laundry, my middle feeds the animals, and my youngest helps me clean up from breakfast. All these things are teaching our kids something. Another example is cooking. This is a valuable skill and one that many kids do NOT know how to do. Getting kids involved in it as a young teaches them measuring, temperatures, and in many cases patience….
• Reward your children for their work. Our kids do get an allowance. It is a set price per day that chores are completed. For us, this teaches them the value of a dollar and teaches them that they do NOT get paid if they do NOT work.
• Save and Give. If you choose to reward your children monetarily, be sure to teach them the importance of saving and giving. This allows them to learn the importance of saving their money, and the importance of giving back to an organization they care about.

As a homeschool family, we are busy. And, one of the things we all realize is that we cannot do it all, and we shouldn’t have to! Our children can be built in helpers, and we are teaching them many valuable traits in the process.

Misty Bailey is the owner of the blog Joy in the Journey and podcaster at Joyfully Homeschooling. Her goal in this online space is to encourage and inspire you on your homeschool journey by providing practical tips for real life homeschooling. Through real stories, real struggles, and real life, Misty shares how to embrace imperfection and strive for a more joyful homeschool.