Wanna Incorporate helping behaviour

[Darcy]

hi everyone,

recently i came across this article which talked about how music can incorporate helping behaviour in children. ain't that interesting!!!

[carang]

??? ummm... where's the article?

i've always encouraged "helping" with my kids. just last sunday, they spent hours on the balcony "helping" me to clean it.

today, they've been "helping" hubby clean the rooftop. my eldest ALWAYS helped his younger sister with getting nappies/wet ones etc. now, she's old enough to do it herself and she often wants to help him.... by offering to carry his school bag etc. my kids have ALWAYS cleaned up their own toys. they "help" to change the sheets on their beds, to hang up the wet laundry, help to sort the laundry, even put the dirty clothes into the machine and add the soap. they also help to take the clothes out of the machine. when i'm cooking, they help to stir, add things to the salad/bowl....

don't think you need music to teach kids how to help... would be interested

[thanka2]

Well...it would be interesting to read the article.

We encourage our son to help out with anything that a toddler his age is capable of doing--picking up his toys, putting his dirty clothes in the hamper, cleaning up...basically anything we think he can handle, we either have him do or help us do.

I do see how music can be incorporated. For example, in our house, when we do heavy duty cleaning we always blast music to help us work. At my son's playgroup, they have different songs they sing to indicate different activities--there is a "snack time song" , "tidying up song" , "hello and goodbye songs" etc. etc. Music just makes the process more understandable and fun for kids and also solidifies a routine.

But, I'd have to see the article to know exactly what you're talking about.

[carang]

at my playgroup, we also use songs, "hello", "clean up", "good-bye" etc. but i don't rely on them to teach kids how to help. it just makes it fun.... you know, "A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR" and all that.

[southside852]

yes, recently we've been doing lots of helping to clean up time too!

when my son is finished with his bath, he helps put away all his toys into the plastic bin and his letters into the netting. before we put him to sleep, he puts all his megablocks into the plastic container as well. When we walk in the front door, he now knows to take off his shoes and put them next to mine on the side. I don't expect him to clean up the entire play area, but give to him what he can handle and eventually i'll just add more and more. I definitely use the songs, he knows from his classes to reinforce clean up time and kids always learn best by modeling the behavior. If he sees me do it, he will do it too!