STEM PROFILE OF THE MONTH: RESPONSIBLE
RESPONSIBLE IS OUR STEM PROFILE OF THE MONTH. We define Responsible in our conversations with children as: “I take care of doing my part. I make good choices. I can be trusted to do what is right.”
Preschoolers want to play an important role in the home, like they see you doing, which will serve to develop a responsible child, teen, and adult. How can responsibility be developed in the home?
- Choose age-appropriate tasks. Most preschoolers will not be able to follow through with “go clean up your room,” but they can handle, “Put your shoes in the closet.”
- Show and tell. Show your child what it means to be responsible by being a good role model with your own belongings. Keep things tidy, put your car keys where they go, and put your shoes away too. When you give your child their own small tasks to do, shoe them exactly how to do the task (repeatedly, day after day, for a while). Say, “It’s time to ____. Look how I am going to ____. Do you want to help me do that?” If children need continual demonstrations, scale back.
- First things first. Teach children that work comes before play. Say, “Sure, I want to go to the park, but we have to clean up toys first.” Be firm and matter-of-fact about it, admitting you prefer the fun too, but you have to balance being responsible.
- Establish a routine. If parents set a routine, children will learn responsible habits, such as putting their dirty clothes away, putting toys away, etc.
- Phrase it in a Positive Way. Instead of falling into the “If you don’t, then you won’t” trap, instead say, “When you’ve done ___, then you get to ___.”
- Pour on the praise. Specific, positive praise will reinforce that you appreciate his or her efforts. “You did so well putting Garfield’s food right in his bowl,” after he/she feeds the family dog.
Paraphrased from: “The Responsible Child: How to Teach Responsibility,” from The BabyCenter.com, http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-responsible-child-how-to-teach-responsibility_65726.bc, 3/29/15)