Reaching Families

Unraveling the Frazzle of Homeschool Life

  • Resources
  • Curriculum
  • Travel
  • Home
  • Parenting
    • Motherhood
    • Fatherhood
  • HomeSchool
    • HomeSchool Resources
    • Private Tutoring
    • Elementary Reading
    • Middle School Reading
    • High School Reading
    • HomeSchool Archives
  • Frazzled
  • Travel
  • About
    • Salvation Choice
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
  • Subscribe

Cultivating Self-Care Independence

Disclosure: This post may contain Affiliate Links.
Please read my full Disclosure Statement HERE.

12/05/2016 By Eujeana Chism 1 Comment

Self Care Hygiene

Self-care needs to be taught early.  Begin at the young age teaching children to care for themselves. We automatically begin teaching them as they become toddlers and begin walking. If they can walk, then they can pick up their toys. This is just the beginning of teaching them self-care in picking up after themselves.

Teaching them to brush their teeth seems like a simple task, but is important to self-care. One day they will need to interview for a job, and clean teeth and fresh breath is important to the success of the interview. We are not going to be there to hold their hand for everything.

Important tasks to teach:

  • walk
  • dress themselves
  • tie their own shoes
  • brush their teeth
  • eat healthy
  • wash hair
  • laundry
  • cooking
  • directions

When Do We Teach Self-Care?

At what age do we teach each self-care tasks? That is a simple question to answer. When they are ready! The sooner the better. Only you, as the parent, knows.

Learning to walk is a skill that is developed, but it is also taught. We help them and pray we don’t miss that first step. Big SMILE.  Children learning to dress can be a bit tricky, but we need to let them try and praise them for the accomplishments. Remember, though, only a mom will give an honest opinion as they get older. So don’t hold back, be sincere and give the opinion in love.  As they begin to fine tune their motor skills, they should be able to learn to tie their shoes. It is not helpful to avoid lace up shoes. When they have to wait for you to tie their shoes, it will encourage them to learn how faster. So don’t always get those easy Velcro shoes. While those are great and easy for us, they are not always helpful for learning self-care independence.

Personal Hygiene

Brushing teeth is simple to teach too. Provide a simple rubber tooth brush for them to begin brushing with while you brush your teeth. Setting up the routine is key here. Let them see you doing it and they will want to also. When they are little they always want to mimic what we do.  Washing themselves and their hair is simply a task to teach as they are ready. Encouraging them to wash, and help in the process. Once they master each portion, begin letting them do it themselves. The quicker we let go of a task, the quicker they will learn the task well, and it will become a habit.

Laundry Care

Doing laundry is a skill that I have found a lot of  my own peers didn’t teach their children. It takes several steps, and each step can be learned at different stages.  Kids can start sorting laundry as soon as they learn their colors. Mine all knew how to do their own laundry by nine years old. Now that didn’t mean they enjoyed it and it didn’t mean Mom didn’t still do it for them sometimes. As a general rule, though, I organized a way that they could do their own laundry.

Cooking

Cooking is necessary to teach kids. They love to be in the kitchen because they love to eat. Kids love to lick the spoon and stir the batter. However that love for learning to cook has to be developed and taught. Again, start young by engaging your child to help in the kitchen from setting the table, to making the meal, to cleaning up afterward.

Following Directions

Following directions is key to all of the self-care. Teaching and insisting on our children following directions when given in a process of learning is imperative. We want them to learn to take care of themselves. Teaching children to follow instructions can be very difficult but don’t give up and you will see the rewards.

Watching my own children as they have entered adulthood, I am thankful that I taught the self-care skills needed for them to move forward into adulthood. They all know how to run a household as well as how to care for themselves.

When do you begin teaching self-care to your children?

Your Key to Success: Cultivating Independence

 

Teaching Self-Care

 

subscribe
Welcome Back! Join in the conversation by leaving a comment! I enjoy hearing from you.
«
»

Filed Under: Motherhood Tagged With: cooking, directions, healthy, homeschool, independence, laundry, self care

About Eujeana Chism

Eujeana has had the privilege of being a stay at home mom and Home Educator for 20 plus years to four wonderful children. She began consulting via HomeWorks by Precept in 2004 with homeschool families from all over the nation. Currently she is a Senior Consultant leading a team of consultants to further the homeschool blessings across the nation. Attending and speaking at conventions throughout the summer is just an added blessing to the homeschool journey.

Trackbacks

  1. Your Key To Success: Cultivating Independence says:
    12/05/2016 at 10:24 am

    […] >>Self-Care […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome!

Mark Eujeana Chism Reaching Families

About

We are Mark and Eujeana Chism, veteran homeschool parents of 20 plus years. Our four children have graduated from our family homeschool. We have thoroughly enjoyed our journey and continue to enjoy what life's journey brings to us. … Read more ...

Managers of their Homes


Connect with us

Visit Us On FacebookVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestCheck Our Feed

Follow us on Instagram

Instagram

Teach Them Diligently 2020 Homeschool Convention Registration is now open.

Amazon Disclosure

Here on the Reaching Families site, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

</>

Home | About | Contact | Privacy Policy | Disclosure Policy | Subscribe |
Visit Us On FacebookVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestCheck Our Feed

Copyright © 2023 Reaching Families