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Convince your kids to do their chores: Science says when they do, they tend to do better at school

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The more the kids do their chores, the better their academic results, it seems.
The more the kids do their chores, the better their academic results, it seems.

Try as you may, you’ll never get the kids to fully commit to making up their bed every morning, clearing the table after lunch or sorting out the tower of clothes on the chair in their room before bed. 

I mean, is it a chair, or has it just become a DIY laundry basket? 

via GIPHY


Also read: "Just teach your kids how to do stuff!" – 10 Practical skills every parent should impart on their child

A new study published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Pediatrics, may potentially have given you the one up on the kids and the key to destroying that tower once and for all. 

Researchers compared the academic results – which included reading, maths and science – of 9 971 primary schoolers, and factored in the number of chores they carried out at home. Levels of competency, confidence, and even happiness was measured. Here’s what the researchers found: 

  • Children who carried out chores less often were 27% more likely to express lower levels of life satisfaction.
  • Further, children who rarely did their chores were also 25% less likely to express satisfaction with their academics, or rather, express that they felt they were good academically.
  • Children who hardly did chores were also 24% more likely to fall into the bottom group when it came to developing relationships with other children.
  • Children who did chores – like washing dishes or tidying up – had higher levels of self-confidence, which also resulted in them being more sociable and, simply, happier.
  • The primary schoolers who completed their chores also performed better academically. The assessments showed greater results in maths, reading and science tests, specifically. 


Also read: Parents, stop nagging kids not to forget – set visual cues instead

Is this it? Could this be the answer to all our begging and pleading for the kids to do their chores? Will we finally tear down that tower? 

We’re testing it out tonight. Because I’m pretty sure teeny-tiny creatures have taken residence in the Tower of Dirty Socks and Sweaters.

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