Teaching Children About Responsibility with Free Printable

In a world where the "I want it now!" and "It's not my fault." mentalities are so strong, my husband and I feel that teaching children about responsibility is extremely important. We work hard to help our children understand that their contributions to our family are valued. We teach them that working hard to improve themselves is it's own reward.

To help with this process, we created a checklist or free printable for our children to use on a daily and weekly basis. If they have completed all daily responsibilities they are given free time for media devices and play. If they don't complete all that's required on their checklist, they don't get to enjoy their fun time. Instead they continue working until all tasks are finished.

Exceptions to these rules include days when a child is sick with a fever or vomiting, errand days, appointment days, "going out" days, and vacations.

Saturdays are free day with unlimited fun time, so long as their weekly chores are completed. They are able to complete them during the week or can wait to do the weekly chores on Saturday morning.

Sunday is the Sabbath in our home. Media devices are turned off. If we're able to attend church, we do.

My husband and I feel that by teaching our children about responsibility when they're young, it will be much easier to acclimate to life in the real world when it comes time. The basic lessons we try to help them understand are that work comes before play and that hard work pays off.

My responsibility list with free printable

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Our Responsibility List

The responsibility list that our children use is divided into five categories:

Morning Routine
Learning Time
Daily Chores
Bedtime Routine
Weekly Chores

Most often they have finished their list right after dinner and are able to enjoy the evening relaxing and having fun. There are moments during the day when they also take "play breaks" during transitions from one task to the other, but these breaks don't involve media devices of any kind.
Let's take a closer look at the responsibility list!

Morning Routine

The children are responsible for their rooms and themselves, being ready and prepared for the day. They pick up rooms in the morning because they're usually too tired to do it at night and play until they fall asleep. Once teeth are brushed, they're ready to move forward.

Daily Chores

Daily chores usually follow the morning routine. The children rotate chores weekly. Dinomite, Bulldozer, and Princess are fully capable of completing all chores on their own without parent support. If you're interested in our daily chore rotation chart, click HERE for details.

Note: Chores are only done in the morning, so if the chart says wash dishes, it mean wash breakfast dishes, etc.

Learning Time

We're a homeschooling family. In order to complete their responsibility list the children must:

Complete their three hour work period (Montessori Shelf Work)
Participate in read aloud during lunch
Spend 60 minutes on reading and writing assignments
Exercise for 30 minutes or more
Watch the nightly news

Most often we fit in more than an hour of exercise, outside if possible. This usually takes place after chores as it helps the kiddos stay regulated while learning. Their focus is so much better.

Bedtime Routine

We've noticed that once free time for media devices starts, bedtime routines go out the window. The kiddos are too distracted and zoned in to their play. If they complete bedtime routines before free time, things gets done. One parent usually helps kiddos with the bedtime routine (with the exception of brushing teeth) while the other prepares dinner.

Weekly Chores

Just like daily chores, Dinomite, Bulldozer, and Princess can complete weekly chores without assistance with the exception of washing their own laundry and preparing for FHE. We help them with those. All three kiddos do know how to sort, fold, and take care of their laundry.

Clearing off their bedroom tables requires them to put away all of the LEGO pieces that have piled up over the course of the week. Daily routines require the floor be clean, but not their table, as they're always working on some sort of building project.

FHE stands for Family Home Evening. Each child has a responsibility whether it be to prepare a snack, say prayer, lead a song, prepare a lesson, or plan an activity. Our family has FHE on Sunday evenings, so all must be ready.

Each child participates in meal preparation one night a week. They select the dinner meal, cook and then serve it to the family.

Lastly the children are responsible for completing one chore task in each living area of the home, their bedroom, and outdoors. They do this because they are part of the family. It's important that everyone participate in cleaning responsibilities.

A sample my responsibility list for kids

Some may say that we require too much, but the truth is it's our responsibility to raise our children to be capable human beings who can contribute to society. In order to do this they must know how to take care of themselves. They must understand the importance of working as a team to accomplish big tasks. The best place to do that is at home working with family members.

For those interested in creating a responsibility list for their own children, I have created a free printable for subscribers. Be sure to click on the subscriber's link at the bottom of this post for your copy today!

Your lists may look different from ours, and that's okay. If you don't homeschool, Learning Time and Exercise may consist of completing homework assignments, practicing instruments and playing outside.

When they reach adulthood, our children won't have someone beside them doing everything for them. Their ability to understand responsibility will affect their personal lives and relationships. It will determine their success in the work place and at home. Responsibility is one of the most important things we can teach our children while they are young.