Age Appropriate Chore Chart & Training

I love the book by Merrilee Browne Boyack entitled The Parenting Breakthrough. The author not only lists what jobs are age appropriate, but goes into details on how to really TRAIN your kids to be able to master their chores. She doesn’t just send a kid into a bathroom to clean it and expect them to magically understand that they were supposed to wipe down the walls, the mirrors, and clean the toilet in a certain manner. She has training sessions where they are repeatedly shown the proper way of cleaning. Once they master the skill, she lets them do it on their own and simply checks their work when they are done. The beauty of this system is that you don’t always have to be the trainer. If it’s the year to learn how to change a flat tire, you can enlist Grandpa as the trainer. If it’s the year to learn to make bread, you can enlist an aunt or a close friend to come and teach them.

The author also links certain skills to certain privileges. For example, before her kids are allowed to babysit, they need to complete a first aid training class, be certified in CPR, and know how to cook some simple meals. Brilliant! If the kids that are being babysat get injured, her kids will know how to handle it. If they are hungry, her kids know how to cook some simple meals to feed them! She doesn’t have to worry about how her kids will do because she’s made sure her children are prepared.  

Here are some of the age-appropriate chores:

SIX	Take shower
	Dust
	Load dishwasher
	Empty dishwasher
	Clean sinks
	Run microwave
	Water plants
	Make and answer phone calls

TEN	Do own laundry completely
	Maintain personal journal
	Participate in exercise program
	Rent videos clean stove
	Clean oven
	Make several kinds of salad
	Understand basic nutrition
	Use leaf blower
	Plant plants
	Know articles of faith
	Write creatively
	Can peaches
	Make jam
	Mow lawn
	Set personal goals

THIRTEEN
Plan a vacation	Keep a simple budget
Sew simple items	Pay household bills
Shop for clothing and other items	Use ATM
Find bargains	Certify for CPR
Plan parties	Type without looking
Have own recipe files	Go to movies without parents
Shop for groceries	Understand prescriptions
Care for plants	Learn meat-handling rules
Learn etiquette rules	Sell items on internet