How to Teach Your Child Responsiblity

Teaching your child responsibility can start as early as 1 or 2 years old. Responsibility means accountability and helping your child to understand how to care for their belongings and themselves. Children can best learn responsibility through examples set before them, and by being rewarded, praised and encouraged to be responsible. Although some experts disagree, one of the better ways to teach responsibility is to reward good habits and behavioral patterns.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rewards and Treats
• Praise
• Stickers
• Responsibility chart

1. Determine what age appropriate responsibilities you want your child to have. The following are suggestions:
   Ages 1 to 2 years old - putting away toys in toy box
   Ages 3 to 4: washing hands before meals, putting trash in the wastepaper basket, putting on their own clothing.
   Ages 4 and 5: helping to wash dishes, cleaning off the table, brushing their own teeth, making up their bed, helping to make lunch sandwiches and tying their shoes.

2. After determining age-appropriate home responsibilities, write out each responsibility on a chart. Place the chart in a visible area. For toddlers, a chart is not necessary. For each day of the week, each time the child completes the task or responsibility, he should receive a sticker or a star. When they receive 5 stars or 5 stickers, determine what treat or reward they can get for accumulating stars and stickers.

3. Set an example for your child by explaining to them what the responsibilities are for each family member in the home. Let them see you doing these responsibilities. This will help the child to understand her role when it comes to chores and responsibilities in the household.

4. Each time your toddler child does something responsible, such as putting away his or her toys or throwing away trash in a wastepaper basket, be sure to give them praise. Clap and cheer and say nice things. Smile and tell them how happy you are to see them doing such a great job.

5. With small kids ages 5 through 8, sit down with them and determine what rewards and treats they will receive for being responsible at the end of the week. Make the rewards comparable to the responsibility. For example, if they made up their bed and kept their rooms cleaned all week long without having to be asked to do so, then they will be allowed to choose their favorite food for dinner or receive extra play time. If they helped out around the house, did their homework and did all the things they were supposed to for more than a week straight, then allow them to have a sleepover with a few friends. Or take them to some place fun and special.

6. Allow your children seeing you reward yourself for being responsible. Make sure that at the beginning of the week you take time to write out a list of what you want to accomplish for the week. Let children participate in helping you to develop the list for both yourself and for them, or for the family as a whole. At the end of the week, look at all that you accomplished and celebrate your progress by going out to dinner or taking a nice family weekend getaway.

Tips & Warnings

• Having your child sit down and develop task and responsibility list will teach them at a young age how to plan, schedule, prepare and manage tasks and responsibilities. It encourages them to develop good habits.
• Don't reward every single little thing. Kids need to learn to be responsible without always thinking they will receive something in return.
• Make sure your rewards are equivalent to the tasks completed.
• Try not to reward with food or candy, which can end up having your child become overweight or develop bad eating habits.

Resources

• Kidsource.com
• Easychild.com