TEAMWORK
Working With Others
Real Work, Not Make-Work - Younger
*Study Skills
*Building Relationships Between Schooling and Career
Goals
Talk with your children about jobs that need doing
at home. Ask what they think they can do. It can be
surprising how willing and eager they are to tackle
jobs...when they're still young and not expected to
enjoy working.
Set attainable goals with your child. Start with
easy tasks and work up to harder ones. Example: A
four year old can bring in the paper every day and
wipe the kitchen table.
Turn jobs into games. Set the same task for you and
your child. Race each other to see who wipes the table
or retrieves the newspaper faster. Chances are, your
child will win, on the up and up.
Remember, show your children how to do the work -
- but do not redo their work. Example: The first time
a child uses a vacuum, show how to do it and what
to pick up. One mother turned a six year old loose
without instructions, and within thirty seconds a
new baby bib was in the sweeper. It was a lesson for
both of them.
Divide and Conquer - Older
*Study Skills
*Developing Work Habits by Sharing Tasks
One of the best ways to organize a household task
is to divide it into parts. Teach children to accept
and carry out household responsibilities as a member
of the "family team." You need paper and
pencil.
Pick a job that has several parts. A good example
is preparing a meal. What do you do first? What do
you second? Your list might look like this:
Plan the meal.
Shop for groceries.
Prepare the food.
Set the table.
Clean up afterward.
Ask everyone to choose from the list one job to do.
Some coordination is needed, just as if the family
were a football team driving to the goal line. A team
spirit is build when each person does part of the
bigger job. And don't forget to pass around a heaping
helping of praise!
