Tag: Chores

  • Summer is A Time For Learning, Inside the Classroom & Out

    My Town Tutors is a great resource for parents & teachers. Find qualified tutors in your area today!
    Top Joke Pages

    1. 180 School Jokes
    2. Clean Jokes
    3. 365 Family Friendly Jokes
    Top 100 Teachers on TwitterTop Education Blogs We have some great blogs for teachers Top Summer Blogs for Parents and Teachers Author Bio: Sophia Bruun is a graduate of Vanderbilt class of '15. Psychology major. Baltimore native. Moved to Boston in May to work with entrepreneur Woody Klemmer (founder, Vanderbilt '13) and his brother Teddy (operations manager, Vanderbilt '15) to build GladlyDo - Boston's premeir odd jobs service. Her role in the company is diverse - from social media marketing (twitter, facebook, pinterest, tumblr, instagram), design (logo, flyers, t-shirts etc), to working with the web developer on building our vision for the full site (launching July 2014), among numerous other tasks. She has always had a love of learning - both inside the classroom and out, and believe that hard work and passion leads to success. Please Share!

    The capacity to learn is our greatest gift. Without learning, spoken and written languages would not exist. The towns and cities that evolved from our ability to communicate would never have come to be. We would not bask in the same artistic and scientific glory that characterizes our species. Without learning, our brains - the creative engines that drive society forward - would be utterly useless. Human history would dissolve into a muddle of archaic survival tactics, with end results landing far from greatness.

    Instead we are blessed with the ability to take in information, acquire new skills, and use our knowledge to bring about positive change. As such, learning comes in many forms, from academia taught inside the classroom, to practical knowledge learned outside of school hours. The process of learning is particularly important in the developing years, from childhood to emerging adulthood, when the brain is in its most plastic form.

    From Fall through Spring students and teachers work diligently to achieve at the utmost level of academic greatness. Unfortunately in the Summer half of the school year’s lessons are often forgotten. Our sharpened minds are dulled by the hot summer sun and lazy days at the pool. However, this does not have to be the case. In fact, there are many opportunities in the summertime to continue learning. From tutoring to working a job, young people can expand their repertoire of experiences that lead them towards success.

    In Boston, there are great tutors at the ready in the summertime, here to help with any lesson your child needs extra help in. Academic achievement has never been so easy.

    But how about real world experience? Practical skills? Out of the box learning?

    That’s where we, GladlyDo, come in.

    GladlyDo hires students and recent graduates to get your to-do’s done. Working for GladlyDo is an incredible opportunity for emerging adults to have a paying job that teaches real-world lessons, from learning to put IKEA furniture together to improving interpersonal communication skills.  As an odd job service, you never know what you’ll be doing. When faced with a challange, you learn to arise to the occasion. You learn how to be professional, gain credibility as a trusted worker, and make connections with your community along the way.

    40% of millennials are unemployed. We want to change that. But first and foremost we want to deliver the best odd job concierge service out there. Thus, we have poured time and energy into research and planning, to come out on the other end with a safe and reliable system to deliver our services to greater Boston.

    Along with an application form, we require that all employees are referred, interviewed, and background checked. Once a job is completed, clients have the opportunity to review their workers to ensure accountability is upheld.

    The goal is to improve everyone’s quality of life - by giving our clients more free time to get stuff done, or to simply relax, while also providing emerging adults with a great learning experience with the added bonus of getting paid.

    Remember - just because it is summer does not mean the learning needs to stop! We hope you are as excited as we are about GladlyDo’s potential as a resource for the Boston community - for emerging adults and adults alike.

    Please check out our current page (full site launching soon!) to request jobs and find out more about GladlyDo at www.gladlydo.com.

  • Getting Kids to Do Chores without Turning them into “Little Devils”

    Even if we had a big “S” on our shirts to make us SuperMom or SuperDad, there just isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish everything on our ever growing lists.  To maintain sanity, we need our kids to pitch in and help with chores.  If they can do it with minimal whining and complaining – wow what a bonus!

    Two songs come to mind when I think about my kids and chores.  The first is Billy Joel’s Angry Young Man.  The song has been quite appropriate at my house when it comes to chores. Many times this is what occurred in my house when I told them it was time for chores – 3 angry young men… and eventually a grumpy mom and dad.  The second song is Josh Turner’s song Everything is Fine which really put it all into perspective.
    The refrain says it all:

    Everything is fine, fine, fine

    Through the sunshine and the rain.

    I got a peace of mind

    You know I can’t complain.

    I make it a point to thank the Lord

    When I got Him on the line.

    I’m feeling good and everything is fine.

    For the most part, this is the world in which I choose to live.  I am a very positive person who is happy and thankful for what I have, not angry about what is missing. Unfortunately, my “everything is fine” attitude is challenged when I face three grumpy boys who really don’t want to do chores.  So, for our own personal sanity my husband and I developed some strategies for minimizing the wailing and gnashing of teeth which often occurs as a result of the words “I need you to {insert name of any chore here}…”.
    Ages 0-5: The Big Help
    Search Institute identified 9 Parenting Strategies based on the 40 Developmental Assets which help children become healthy, resilient adults.   Giving small children opportunities to help you and others is great way to introduce them to the importance of being a contributing member of their community.  Most importantly, it lets them know you value their help and that they are an important part of your family.
    When my boys were little we didn’t call them chores.  Instead, we asked questions like “Do you think you are big enough to help feed the dogs?”  “Are you strong enough to carry in this bag of groceries?” The boys would look at us with excitement in their eyes and a smile on their faces, say “I’m big!” and off they went to do the work that they didn’t even know was a chore. (Boy do I miss those days.)
    Ages 6-12: Game Time
    I actually saw this idea in an article about household chores and an article about avoiding routines at work.  While I haven’t tried it myself, I am looking forward to using this strategy with my 10 year old son who watches his high school age brothers try their best to get out of chores.   The strategy is to make it a game or set challenges for getting the chore done well in the shortest amount of time.  For example, instead of giving the order to take out the trash, rephrase it like “How fast can you take out the trash?”  Maybe set a goal for the amount of time it should take and give a small reward when he beats his record.
    Teenagers
    If teenagers inhabit your house, God bless you! As a mom with two teenage sons, there are days I understand why some animals eat their young. At first, I thought I would use the intellectual approach and explain things such as dishes, lawn care and doing their own laundry are critical life skill for college and beyond.  However, after reading Dr. David Walsh’s book Why Do They Act That Way: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen I realized this approach won’t work because teenage brains just aren’t hard wired for that yet.  Then, I got cranky but discovered cranky mom doesn’t work either.  It just moves me into the Angry Young Man scenario when I want to be in my Everything is Fine world.
    Now I opt for a more covert approach.  First, I removed unnecessary tasks, focusing on having my boys do the important ones well.  For example, I joined “keep your bedroom door shut” club.  If I don’t have to look at it then it doesn’t stress me out.  Instead we focus on having them do things that are more visible to neighbors and guests like dishes, lawn and laundry.  Over the last several years, we also began having periodic conversations with them about their chores and giving them the ability to choose which chores they will do regularly.  I also strategically identify which chores must be done before they can do something they want to do.
    When it comes to dishes and lawn care, we give them deadlines such as this must be done before you play Xbox or go out with your friends.  At that point, we don’t hassle them to get it done, we simply hold strong by only allowing the privilege once the chore is finished.  As for laundry, I am a firm believer in natural consequences- when they run out of clothes, they do laundry.  While this strategy doesn’t eliminate the whining and complaining, it does help create a framework through which I can say – you know the rules, you know the consequences.  The rest is up to them.
    We know chores are a necessary evil.  Like them or not, they teach important independent living skills and help children learn everyone in a family plays a valuable role.  At the same time, it is also important to keep in mind that as kids grow, it is important to change how we view their roles and chores.  Some things are worth the fight and others are not.  If you are struggling to get your kids to do chores in general, check out this ParentFurther.com blog Getting Your Kids to Do Household Chores.

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    Sources:

     

    1. Lyrics to Josh Turner’s song Everything is Fine – www.cowboylyrics.com

    2. 9 Parenting Strategies – Search Institute – http://www.parentfurther.com/why/9-parenting-strategies

    3. Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets – http://www.parentfurther.com/why/research-and-real-world-experience

    4. More Than A Chore – http://life.familyeducation.com/allowance/jobs-and-chores/36039.html?page=1

    5. How to Avoid Mind Numbing Routines While Working – http://epiclaunch.com/avoid-routines-at-work/

    6. David Walsh, Ph.D., Why Do They Act That Way: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen (2004, Search Institute Press)

    7. Getting Your Kids to Do Household Chores – http://www.parentfurther.com/blog/chores