When discussing a child’s early developmental period, their academic success and extracurricular activities have a higher chance of dominating the conversation. While a child must do well in school, it is also important that they learn skills and behaviours that they will not find in a textbook. Research has shown that giving children small responsibilities like folding the laundry or cleaning up after a meal has a significant impact on their development. ‘How is doing these chores predicting the future success of a kid, exactly?’ one might ask.
Well, a Harvard Grant Study, the longest longitudinal study ever, identified two key aspects that play a crucial role in adults being successful and happy. The first aspect is love, and the second one is work ethic. While the first aspect is highly based on the child’s environment and social situations, the second aspect can be cultivated early. It was found that giving them responsibilities and getting them to do a few chores was a huge predictor of developing work ethics. It inculcates qualities like time management, accountability, teamwork, and much more.
Why are Chores Important for a Child’s Development?
While it is true that assigning children even the smallest chore might take a slight burden off the parent’s chest, it is also an essential life skill. When they complete a task, however small it might be, they feel accomplished, which does wonders for their self-esteem. It was found that children who were assigned chores in their developing period were more successful in their professional and personal lives irrespective of external factors like their financial background, gender, and parental education. Some of the qualities that these children developed were:
Prosocial Behavior
Prosocial behavior can be described as an action done for the betterment of someone and their well-being, without thinking of its benefits for oneself. It involves donating time or money, helping someone out, comforting someone, or protecting someone from harm. The children who engaged in chores frequently were seen to have high prosocial behaviour. They were more helpful, attentive, and empathetic than the children who did not.
Life Satisfaction
As the name suggests, life satisfaction measures how content one is in one’s life. It is an individual’s overall assessment of their life and includes various domains like family, friends, relationships, work-life balance, etc. Studies showed that children participating in chores reported higher life satisfaction later in their lives. They are happier in every aspect of their life, both personal and professional. They are also satisfied with the people and things they currently have in their lives.
Self-Competence
Self-competency is the ability to believe in oneself and gain success. They believe that they are in complete control of their actions and that they are capable enough to make the right decisions. Children engaging in household chores of their level reported that they found themselves competent enough to make the right choices and believed that they had a bright future ahead of themselves.
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Peer Relationships
Peer relationships can be defined as the social interactions an individual develops with people of their age. It helps them to cultivate empathy, emotional skills, cooperation, teamwork, etc. Growing up, peers tend to have a very powerful impact on values, habits, and behaviour. Kids who were allotted age-appropriate chores from an early age were seen to have better peer-group relationships. It included the number of friends they had, how easy it is for them to make friends, do they think that they are likeable, and do they get along well with people their age.
Academic Success
One of the biggest concerns of the parents is their child’s academic performance. They want their child to study hard, take the exam well, and pass with flying colours. All the children want to meet their educational goals and achievements as well. This aspect measures how good a child is at reading, writing, and arithmetic according to their age group.
Children who frequently engage in chores showed higher academic success. This is because being good at academics requires time management, discipline, critical thinking, and self-efficacy. Other than the factors that have been researched widely and for a long period, some other factors
develop in children when they are allotted chores. They are-
Accountability
The children develop a sense of accountability when they are handed some responsibilities by adults. They also learn how their action leads to outcomes and how these outcomes not only influence them but also the people around them. They develop an attribute that makes them feel that whatever happens to them is in their control and can be improved.
Teamwork
Home is where a child learns the most important aspects of their lives. One of them is teamwork. When they participate in household chores, it makes them feel like they are part of a team. It makes them feel included. They can later apply this skill in different areas of their lives like school assignments, sports, and later their professional life. Teamwork also teaches children how to cooperate with their fellow members and
work together to accomplish a particular task.
Independence
When children complete a chore, they feel like they have completed the task, which increases their confidence. This fosters independence among them, which is a crucial aspect of an individual’s personal and professional lives.
Emotional Regulation
These chores given to them might not always be enjoyable. It thus helps them to deal with stressful, unwanted situations and regulate their emotions effectively. Moreover, it helps them to build resilience which is a very important quality to possess.
Read More: What is True Independence?
How To Get Children To Do the Chores?
Now that we have seen all the benefits it has, children may not always be cooperative, especially when they are firmly told to do something. While some may label children as ‘difficult’, there are some things that can be practised-
- Foster a Connection: Develop a connection where you explain to them what it is that they have to do and why it is important. Furthermore, give them one task at a time so that it doesn’t get overwhelming for them.
- Try to Take a Fun Route: Children might not willingly do a chore when it feels like a chore. Instead, make it into games like ‘let’s see who can do it fastest’, ‘whoever completes this first gets -’, or ‘I need your help with this, can you please do this for me?’. It promotes teamwork, and healthy competition, and boosts efficiency.
- Give Them Visual Cues: Children comprehend visual cues much faster than auditory ones. Write their tasks down for them and ask them to tick them off once they are done with each task.
- Help Them Out: Children constantly need help. Be kind and assist them. Show them what they are doing wrong and appreciate them for what they have done correctly. This also leads to enhanced cooperation and teamwork in the future.
Conclusion
When children are given age-appropriate chores that they can complete without being overwhelmed, it has various positive effects that last long-term and are useful in their personal and professional lives. They develop self-competence, accountability, independence, better social relationships, cooperation, academic success, and more.