When the kids were little I tried to include them in "helping", even if I knew that they really weren't helping that much!! Folding towels & underwear, making beds, sweeping the floor, etc.
When Noelle was in K, (age 5), I purchased this wonderful "I did my chores" chore chart:
 |
The following year I got married & I purchased one for D and one for Micah. These charts were just PERFECT for that age. They are designed to be self-directed, although I personally still did plenty of reminding. They were a bit labor-intensive for me, b/c every night I would reset them for the following day. There is a "morning" hook, a "noon" hook, an "afterschool" hook, a "nighttime" hook and an "extra" hook. The kit comes with many plastic cards & stickers. You can make your own chores, you can use some of their premade stickers or do as we did, some of both. Once a chore is done, the card goes in the "I did it" box.
I would say that these chores were mostly what I would describe as taking care of your own stuff.
Put your clothes away
Pick up your toys
Do your homework
Study your AWANA
Feed your pet
Clear your plate
Brush your teeth
As they got older we did eventually add other things too.
During this time another mom really encouraged me with what she does with her family. She has a wide range of kids. They have to read 30 minutes every night, (they attend public school). The kids pile wood and do all the dishes. The mom has a lovely dishwasher, but she wants her kids to be contributing to the family, working together, and understanding the value of work.
By the way, I know that Dave Ramsey and other financial experts do not recommend giving kids allowances for "what they should be doing anyway." In spite of that, we do give our kids allowances. Currently they get $5/week. D gets the same amount, even though she is not here as much. 10% goes to tithing and the rest is split - $2.25 for spending and $2.25 for savings. They used to get $3/week, but I think we made the change to $5/week about 1.5-2 years ago. Obviously, this is not a lot of money. Sometimes they get money for their birthdays or Christmas, and that gives them more of a bulk to work with. However, they have used this money to buy all their souvenirs they've purchased, gifts for each other, and fun things that they want to have. This works for us.
I did start to feel, after awhile, that while the kids were doing a decent job of taking care of their own stuff - (we still have not arrived at this, at all) - we could do much better in getting them to help with family chores.
At one point I had the girls helping to clean the bathroom once/week, but I didn't stick with it.
So at least 8 months ago, but maybe more, we instituted some more chores:
~Micah is responsible for the downstairs bathroom trash & his trash from his room.
~Denali & Noelle are responsible for the trash from their room & the upstairs bathroom.
~They each wash the dishes once/week, with the idea that the girls may do it twice/week, although that rarely happens.
I put together this simple chart:
I identified 3 things that if done daily would make a big difference:
1. vacuum the black mats inside the door.
2. sweep the porch, (poop, you know.)
3. wipe down the downstairs bathroom sink with a Clorox wipe.
Generally speaking, those three things are done each day.
The girls have worked out a system for feeding the guinea pigs:
D every morning & on Sundays.
Noelle every evening & on Saturdays.
Micah & Noelle, because they are home most of the time, do a lot of other things too:
~Take the mail & get the mail
~Feed the chickens & collect the eggs
~Hang up laundry, fold laundry
~Every once in awhile cook a meal
My next thing to add, which I haven't had a lot of success with yet, is to have Noelle & D take turns dusting and sweeping their room. Done just once/week, so every other weekend would be Noelle's turn, etc.
(giving Clara a bath!)
When kids participate in chores which help the whole family:
~They take a greater ownership in their family & feel that their place in the family is valuable.
~They are more appreciative for what they do have.
~The home & world revolves less around them.
~They are developing their work ethic.
I would love tips from others on how they handle chores/jobs/duties. We do not have this completely under control, but I feel that we've made some progress.
Lastly, my friend, Jennifer Chiavelli, came up with this great idea for her kids:
No comments:
Post a Comment