{chores}
Do you ever try something that works out so well that you positively kick yourself for not thinking of it sooner?
So is the case for us and Gracie and Luke's summer chore charts. I've hit the parenting jackpot here.
We've tried chores in the past and it has gone OK. We've started with lots of enthusiasm, but each time we ended up giving them up when life got busy. It always got to be too much of a hassle to enforce the chores and pro-rate the allowance if chores weren't done. For whatever reason, we've never had long-term success with this.
This summer I decided to try a little different approach. I thought of six tasks for each child- things that I knew were realistic and things that would make me a happy mama if they were completed on a daily basis. I created a chart for each child and offered to pay fifty cents at the end of each day to any child who had done everything on the list. I made sure to stress that the list was optional .
The lists are:
GRACIE'S SUMMER CHORE CHART
1. Sweep the dining room floor.
2. Pick up all of the toys and books off of your bedroom floor and straighten the top blanket on your bed.
3. Wipe off the dining room table.
4. Check the playroom and balcony windows for fingerprints.
5. Read independently for fifteen minutes and read one book to Drew.
6. Complete at least three skill pages from your schoolwork folder.
LUKE'S SUMMER CHORE CHART
1. Empty the bathroom hampers into the laundry room.
2. Pick up the toys on your bedroom floor.
3. Straighten up the books and puzzles in the upstairs playroom.
4. Empty the trash cans in the office and bathrooms.
5. Read independently for fifteen minutes and read one book to Drew.
6. Complete at least three skill pages from your schoolwork folder.
I can not believe how well this is working for us. The kids seem to like the control they have over the tasks. They decide when, in what order, and even if they want to complete their chores for the day. If they would rather play than do chores, they just don't get paid for the day. (This never happens anymore. )
It is so nice to have the kids helping me with housework and it makes me happy to see them learning these important life skills. I am also thrilled with the economic lessons being learned by the chore charts. It is simply amazing what the kids are willing to spend the family's money on but not willing to spend their own money on!
We were at Hobby Lobby yesterday and Luke was absolutely begging me for a $4 foam pirate hat. I reminded him that he already had a pirate hat at home, then told him if he wanted to spend his allowance on the hat, he certainly could. After about thirty seconds of thought, he decided the hat he had at home was just fine. Gracie really wanted some new ink for her stamps in the craft room. When I asked her if the ink was worth two days of chores, she thought for a bit before deciding it was. I found it interesting when she said if the ink had been any more than one dollar, she wouldn't have spent her money on it, but one dollar seemed fair for as much use as she would get out of the ink.
So far we are just a few weeks into this, but I'd say that up to this point it has been a huge success. We'll see if the enthusiasm continues through the rest of the summer.
Hooray for ideas that work!! :)
So is the case for us and Gracie and Luke's summer chore charts. I've hit the parenting jackpot here.
We've tried chores in the past and it has gone OK. We've started with lots of enthusiasm, but each time we ended up giving them up when life got busy. It always got to be too much of a hassle to enforce the chores and pro-rate the allowance if chores weren't done. For whatever reason, we've never had long-term success with this.
This summer I decided to try a little different approach. I thought of six tasks for each child- things that I knew were realistic and things that would make me a happy mama if they were completed on a daily basis. I created a chart for each child and offered to pay fifty cents at the end of each day to any child who had done everything on the list. I made sure to stress that the list was optional .
The lists are:
GRACIE'S SUMMER CHORE CHART
1. Sweep the dining room floor.
2. Pick up all of the toys and books off of your bedroom floor and straighten the top blanket on your bed.
3. Wipe off the dining room table.
4. Check the playroom and balcony windows for fingerprints.
5. Read independently for fifteen minutes and read one book to Drew.
6. Complete at least three skill pages from your schoolwork folder.
LUKE'S SUMMER CHORE CHART
1. Empty the bathroom hampers into the laundry room.
2. Pick up the toys on your bedroom floor.
3. Straighten up the books and puzzles in the upstairs playroom.
4. Empty the trash cans in the office and bathrooms.
5. Read independently for fifteen minutes and read one book to Drew.
6. Complete at least three skill pages from your schoolwork folder.
I can not believe how well this is working for us. The kids seem to like the control they have over the tasks. They decide when, in what order, and even if they want to complete their chores for the day. If they would rather play than do chores, they just don't get paid for the day. (This never happens anymore. )
It is so nice to have the kids helping me with housework and it makes me happy to see them learning these important life skills. I am also thrilled with the economic lessons being learned by the chore charts. It is simply amazing what the kids are willing to spend the family's money on but not willing to spend their own money on!
We were at Hobby Lobby yesterday and Luke was absolutely begging me for a $4 foam pirate hat. I reminded him that he already had a pirate hat at home, then told him if he wanted to spend his allowance on the hat, he certainly could. After about thirty seconds of thought, he decided the hat he had at home was just fine. Gracie really wanted some new ink for her stamps in the craft room. When I asked her if the ink was worth two days of chores, she thought for a bit before deciding it was. I found it interesting when she said if the ink had been any more than one dollar, she wouldn't have spent her money on it, but one dollar seemed fair for as much use as she would get out of the ink.
So far we are just a few weeks into this, but I'd say that up to this point it has been a huge success. We'll see if the enthusiasm continues through the rest of the summer.
Hooray for ideas that work!! :)
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