There was once a classroom of students who decided to do an experiment. When their teacher walked to the left side of the classroom they all yawned, looked out the window and looked generally bored.

When the teacher walked to the right side of the classroom they all sat up, were attentive, asked questions and tried to learn what the teacher was teaching.

The teacher quickly learned subconsciously that he should always stay on the right side of the room.

The same principle is effective with children and kids housekeeping. Since children crave attention, they will do - even on a subconscious level – whatever gets them attention.

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If you aren’t giving them enough positive attention, they will behave negatively, to get negative attention. The natural reaction to this is for a parent to talk or yell at their child who’s not doing what she wants them to do.
If you want your child to be well-behaved or to do a specific task, give extra attention to those good behaviors and zero attention to the negative ones.

If a mother yells, her children will learn to yell, even if the mother is yelling, “We aren’t going to have any yelling in our home.” If a mother spanks her children, her children will learn to hit others. If a mother works on a computer all day, her children will learn that the computer is what they should value and where they should spend their time … you get the picture!

If a mother sets up a chore chart and doesn’t put “Mom” and “Dad” on the chart, her children will learn that when they are adults, they won’t have to take care of their surroundings and may not even take care of them as a child, since their parents don’t seem to think it’s important enough for THEM to do.

When I want my children to do something, I start doing it myself and verbally point out how responsible I am being. My children become aware that I am doing something worthy of attention. They then want some of that same praise for themselves and start following my examples.

I praise their efforts and give them extra attention because of their great behavior. You’d be amazed at the kid’s motivation it creates.

Kids housekeeping really can indeed be simple, easy and fun.

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Tags: Children, Chore Charts, kids, Kids Chores, Kids Housekeeping, Kids Motivation, Kids Organizers, Motivational Music, Parenting

Music is a POWERFUL motivator – for kids and adults alike. If you have ever gone to a movie and felt like crying because a dog died or felt great fear because a shark MIGHT be in the water, then you have experienced the powerful impact that music can have on your emotions.

If you saw the same scenes without the carefully chosen music, you might find that you feel bored watching the show.

Music not only instantly motivates our bodies to be completely filled with the emotion that it is portraying but it also makes us completely aware of the passage of time without having to look at a clock. When you become aware that time is moving on, the feeling of needing to make every second count becomes AUTOMATIC.

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The music selections on the Children’s Miracle Music game have been carefully and strategically chosen after years of research. The motivation that kids get is to FEEL LIKE doing their tasks. And part of the game is to be rewarded — with points that count towards their goals.

Sage, who is 8 years old says proudly: “the music makes me do it.” She’s right of course — music makes us do so many things.

I bet you didn’t know that there was music that could help your kids to FEEL LIKE doing the dishes — or cleaning the toilet! There is. My research – as a mom and a keen observer of kids’ motivation has determined the exact LENGTH OF TIME that each task could be accomplished in. Then both of these motivators are combined into the most effective motivational sequence.

The result is that kids chores can now be fun every time. All the kids housekeeping gets done, quickly and easily – with NO nagging.

There’s lot’s more to say about music and kids motivation. Music has become a joyful part of our family life. I am sure it can be for you too. I’d love to hear your questions and comments about how music motivates you and your kids.

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Technorati Tags: Children, Chore Charts, kids, Kids Chores, Kids Housekeeping, Kids Motivation, Kids Organizers, Motivational Music, Parenting

Tags: Children, Chore Charts, kids, Kids Chores, Kids Housekeeping, Kids Motivation, Kids Organizers, Motivational Music, Parenting

Football is a game that millions of people spend millions of dollars watching each year. They will sit though rain, snow and freezing weather to watch the game they love.

The players of the game love it so much that they are willing to suffer broken bones and have life long injuries from playing it. Many men would rather go out in the cold muddy field and play football after work than sit in a comfortable, warm office building.

So what makes this game so desirable that millions would give up their comforts, money, time and energies to play it?

The answer is – it’s a GAME. It has points, strategies, goals, deadlines, rewards and a way to “win”. Self-esteem is built because a job is well done and is being noticed.

What if these components that turn football into a game were taken away? Would anyone WANT to “play” or watch football? The answer would be “no”. The points, the goals and the score-board are what motivate players and spectators to be fully engaged in the game.

Any hard task can become a game worth playing. If you add points, goals, rewards, deadlines and strategies, ALL tasks can be fun and motivating. Self-esteem grows from the recognition of a job well done.

When viewed in these circumstances the focus shifts from the drudgery of the task to the strategy of the game and how to get to the “goal”.

Morning and evening kids chores can be a game too

We all need to accomplish the same tasks to take care of our bodies and surroundings — every morning and evening for THE REST OF OUR LIVES. Putting them into a fun game to make them motivational makes perfect sense — and they aren’t nearly as hard as football!kidshousekeeping.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/img-3923.jpg" border="0" alt="Kids Chores" hspace="4" vspace="4" width="220" height="165" align="right" />

You can turn kids housekeeping into a game that is fun to play – with all the same elements that make football so compelling. Make the score-board into a rewards chart (unlike so many
chore charts which are burdensome ‘to-do’ lists). And create goals worth playing for. The ideal goal for kids is a private date with either mom or dad – a special one on one time to look forward to.

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When there is a limited amount of time to accomplish a task, one tends to hurry to get it done. That is why when you want something done, you should give it to a busy person.

For example, if you know that you have a book report due at 10:00am tomorrow morning (a limited amount of time) you will probably work on it until it is finished even if it takes all night. If you do not have a deadline for finishing your book report, it may take you weeks or months to do what could be accomplished in one evening.

The same is true for children. If they feel like they have all day to make their bed, they will probably take all day to do it. Giving them a specific amount of time (2 minutes) to accomplish the task enables them to do it quickly, which frees up the rest of their day to do other things.

This is the principle that has been designed into Children’s Miracle Music after 15 years of research. Both morning and evening kids chores are set to specific timed music tracks on a CD.

The limited amount of time can also be a fun kids motivator — as ‘beating the clock’ becomes the game. Since a brain can only think of one thing at a time and the focus is now on seeing if you can finish the task before the set time frame INSTEAD of focusing on the task (eg cleaning the toilet), the time spent is like a game. And games are fun.

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The practice of defining expectations for your children and making lists of the tasks that need to be done for each room in your home frees up a mother’s time and energies so she can focus her time on important matters like training her children to be responsible, loving and successful adults.

There’s many tasks that need to get done in a home – and unless there is an effective system in place, parents find themselves doing what could otherwise be set up as ‘kids chores’. To divide up the kids chores, write down all of the rooms in your house and then add “dishes” and “laundry” to your list. Some people call this a chore chart.

Have every family member choose two “rooms” on the list. Let them know they will be doing a fast “ten minute clean up” in those two rooms each day. One room will be done in the morning and the other one in the evening.

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Let them know you will post exactly what needs to be done and when it needs to be done on a list in each of the rooms. Let them know how grateful you are for each of them doing their part to take care of their home. I always remind my children that “you only get to keep what you take care of”.

When a family member feels responsible for a certain room, a mother doesn’t have to be a ‘broken record’ any more, having to say things over and over. Getting the kid’s chores done now becomes a game and is part of the family fun.

It took many years of research and testing to create Children’s Miracle Music – but this is now the easiest way to ensure that all the kids chores are done on time – and without any nagging!

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For example: my eight-year-old son Tommy was responsible for keeping our ‘dressing room’ clean. He knew that every night he would be hanging up any clothes that were left on the floor. Because it was completely clear that this was HIS responsibility, HE was the one asking our younger girls to make sure and pick up their clothes after they changed.

The same thing happened with my six-year-old daughter Faith. She knew that it as her responsibility to take care of our ‘gathering room’ every night for ten minutes. Because of this, she would frequently ask family members to pick up things before they left the room.
I was no longer a dictator, taskmaster, or nagging mother. I had provided a system for our home organization where we could all do our part and everyone knew exactly what their ‘part’ was. If I helped my daughter pick up the things in her ‘gathering room’ she would thank ME instead of the other way round. This is a GREAT kids motivation tool.

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The two biggest frustrations in a home…

• Undefined expectations
• Unfulfilled expectations

The solution is to get THREE things clear…

• what is expected
• who should do it
• when they will do it

You’ll then find that your home life will become remarkably free and easy for all. Home organization now works on a whole new level.

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Being a Mom is like being a Manager

Many times mothers feel overwhelmed because their mind is full of a long list of “to do’s”, as they look around their home and feel that THEY have to do it all. This is NOT a mother’s job. A mother should look at herself as a manager of a small group of people – her children, and the building that houses them.

Being a manager means that you are responsible for making schedules, dividing up tasks, making the functions of the group run smoothly. This includes uplifting and praising your small group (your children), finding the motivational keys or tools and helping your group develop positive routines and habits.

One way to be a manager of the cleaning part of a home is to make a list of exactly what needs to be done in a room to maintain it. This is more than simply a chore chart. Write the person who is responsible for caring for that room at the top of the list and the time of day that he or she is expected to take care of it.

As part of your home organization, there should be one 10 minute room cleanup every morning and a different one every evening. Post the list in each room so that expectations are clearly DEFINED and can be easily fulfilled.

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Technorati Tags: Children, Chore Charts, kids, Kids Chores, Kids Housekeeping, Kids Motivation, Kids Organizers, Motivational Music, Parenting

Tags: Children, Chore Charts, kids, Kids Chores, Kids Housekeeping, Kids Motivation, Kids Organizers, Motivational Music, Parenting