Chores that teach

I've been needing alot of help around the house lately since bending and standing for long periods of time are too difficult. Our daughter who is 6 can do alot around the house on her own which I am thankful for, and I'm even more thankful when she does it willingly without being asked. She helps alot with laundry, dishes, and clean-up and our 4 year old has been getting more involved as well. There are certain chores I like him to do because they are very teachable ways to involve schooling with housework.

One of my favorites for him is shoe organization. If you were to see our pile of shoes, you would think 10 people lived in the house. Everyone has Sunday shoes, running shoes, and sandles which is at least 15 pair of shoes always on the go. By the end of the week, our organized lined-up shoe mat is one big heap! I get our 4 year old to organize the shoes (teaching matching pairs) and I can change it up to have him order them from biggest to smallest, smallest to biggest, organize in groups (all Sunday shoes, all sandles, all running shoes)...etc...teaching how to sort.

Another favorite is tidying up the bookshelf of kids' books. Again by the end of the week, our organized vertically stacked books are thrown in one on top of the other. This teaches more problem solving than anything. Watching him yesterday was quite funny. He has to figure out how to keep the books standing upright while he reaches for more. Usually the books he has already stacked fall over when he lets go. I allow him time to figure out methods of keeping the books stacked upright on his own ......until sometimes the tears start flowing cause it's just not working!!! Yesterday he was talking to the books telling them how frustrated he was getting that they were not co-operating. Many times he would tilt the last book to keep the rest from falling but yesterday he was having a tough time. When I saw he was getting too frustrated I showed him a heavy toy that was near him and how he could use that to help keep the books in place while he was stacking.
He also helps with folding the laundry into each person's pile and other little things around the house. I'm trying to get them more involved around the house. I am the type that likes to do things myself because it will get done the way I like the first time! But I know they need to learn things so it's just a matter of patience and time on my part :)