The Chore Curriculum

Abstract

Abstract A major transition in the child’s education occurs when play is gradually superseded by work. Play is appreciated as a means to keep children busy and out of the way. But virtually every skill is first encountered in play, and the “play stage” is seen as the essential first step in the chore curriculum. Once the child is perceived as making a real contribution to the family economy, others pay closer attention. Above all, the child for the first time will be assigned specific tasks. Indigenous children take on a variety of chores, and each task has its own curriculum or “ladder” of skills to master and then deploy. This chapter catalogs the varied inventory of child work and the learning process associated with each.