Cut that excuse!
Children pick up numerous skills from chores
Making excuses for why your child can’t wash the dishes, is teaching that to make excuses for other real-life tasks.
The activities of daily life, or practical living activities, touch on all facets of life. The child witnesses these activities taking place in the environment and learns through practical application, how to carry out life skills in a meaningful way.
These pursuits reflect the child’s time and place and are culturally relevant.
A sense of identity and belonging is fostered in the child through participation in daily life with you and other practical life activities.
The child discovers his culture and all there is to know about being a human through engaging in chores. The two areas of practical life are generally where activities take place:
- Caring for oneself,
- Caring for the environment.
Lisa introduced her daughter to dishwashing at age four. For her, it was for fun, and then realized it played a huge role in other areas of her daughter’s life.
However, to avoid loss, Lisa said she allowed her daughter to wash light dishes and gradually increased them to the ones that require extreme carefulness.
Let us review skills your five-year-old child can develop through washing dishes.
Soft skills Children can Develop Through Washing Dishes
Organization Skill
Every home has a location for arranging different dishes. This helps to keep the kitchen in order and organized.
At age 5, a child would understand that every item requires a position for better organization. Introducing dishwashing by hand helps child stay organized and plan better.
Hence, developing organization skill need in managing businesses.
Prioritization Skill
Children learn to prioritize events by washing dishes. You may wonder how this can happen.
Oftentimes, before you commence washing dishes, these dishes are stacked.
This is done to give them time to let them soak. Stacking dishes few minutes to allow them to soak teaches children the importance of prioritizing things and events.
Attention to details
Dishwashing requires that the washer pays attention to any form of particles. No one wants to pick up a dish and realize that it’s oily.
Lisa’s ensured her kids take turns to wash dishes. Her older child at 7 years struggled lot more than her 5 year old. In a meeting, Lisa admitted to have realized the importance of dishwashing to children before her younger child turned five.
One day, my older child had just completed washing the dishes. The younger ran out to me in order to inform me that the dishes washed were still oily.
Attention to details is required if one will successfully run a business.
Problem-Solving Skill
While Sisi washed the dishes, she discovered that the food particles in the plates were dried up. She couldn’t wash freely. I watched her and realized she poured water into those dishes then washed the others.
When she was done washing, she returned to the previously soaked dishes and washed them all off, Lisa said.
Every responsibility is a step towards getting a problem solved. Sisi was 4 years old when she discovered this problem.
Lisa had stated that she had never taught her what to do when faced with a dish containing the dried substance.
However, you may be forced to intervene, allowing kids figure out things on their own can help them develop problem solving skills. One of the numerous benefits of washing dishes is that, it helps them succeed in their future profession.
See Also: Maths Skills: How to improve your child’s Maths skills as Parents.
Responsibility
By working independently on tasks children learn to be responsible and take pride in their accomplishments. In fact, your kids may ask for more responsibilities when they realize the more you trust them to do as they’re asked, the more freedoms you may be glad to give in return.
Dishwashing makes children work independently on task, thereby giving them that sense of responsibility. This helps you raise an independent thinking child.
Hence, grooming your child with employabke skills.
Why your child needs to get involved in Dishwashing
- Washing dishes takes children to take pride in their job.
- Dishwashing helps the personal development of every child.
- Children learn to take up responsibility when exposed to washing dishes.
- Dishwashing helps children learn to face challenges when confronted with one. You know what there are times when a dish is so difficult to clean up.
- Washing dishes teach children to handle and care for things.
- Holding firmly to breakable dishes while washing teaches children ownership and carefulness.
- This helps you raise an in depended thinking child.
- Children learn to be sensitive to minute signs and issues around.
- They learn to ensure safety in their environment.
- They become hungry to take up more tasks and responsibilities.
- Skills develop through washing dishes help children succeed in their future professions. An entrepreneur needs to wear ‘many hats’.