Chores/Jobs | Imamother

Shopmiami49

Wed, Aug 06 2014, 1:43 pm

I would like to motivate my kids, ages 4.5, 5.5, 6.5 to do more around the house - for chinuch purposes, not heavy duty stuff Smile

I was toying with the idea of a chores chart and I would add on my dh and myself as well. Can anyone tell me their experiences with such a chart? What kind of chart do you use? Do you let the kids choose their chores or do you assign them age appropriate ones? Any other type of motivation?

Thanks!

Chayalle

Wed, Aug 06 2014, 1:47 pm

I'm terrible with charts. But when my teens were little, they each had an envelope hanging on the bulletin board in the kitchen. As they completed expected chores, they got a prize ticket in their envelope. When they had a certain amount of prize tickets (which could be upped as they got used to doing their chores) they got to choose a prize from the dollar store.

Some of their chores were: being dressed by 8 a.m. on school days; making their beds; laundry in the hamper; picking up toys; setting table, etc...

amother

Wed, Aug 06 2014, 2:03 pm

my 4 year old daughter often helps out. Thank G-d I know I'm very blessed that she's overall a good kid. Don't worry we have our temper tantrums, wining, dilly dallying etc... like the rest of them. I'm not in to prizes though.

You can do a gibbur chart where you mark stuff of but don't give a prize just compliment..

Personally we don't do charts or anything- we just make a big deal about how helpful she is, how clean the room looks after she cleaned up, often times we'll do it together or I'll tell her that I want her to clean up the playroom while I clean up the living room etc....

I also often ask her for help but I'll often say it as do you want to so that way she can say no so she doesn't feel like she's always being forced to. It's often easier to do stuff when you have a choice Smile

Sometimes I'll tell her to do stuff- like clean up the playroom but I think it helps that I sometimes ask instead of tell.

I also will tell her that if she gets ready nicely then she'll have time for me to read her a book etc... which works nicely when I remember.

Shopmiami49

Wed, Aug 06 2014, 2:25 pm

amother wrote:

I used to do this when my kids were slightly younger (3, 4, 5), but I feel like lately they are just not as interested. They pretty much make their beds and put their clothes in the laundry and clean up after they eat, but it's very shleppy and sloppy because they are just not interested. Also, I would like them to clean up the toys after they play (they used to do it beautifully! Sad

) and move on to the next level of cleaning up after themselves - like actually making their beds and not throwing the blankets and pillows in a heap on their beds, wiping their places after breakfast, etc. I'm not by any means a perfectionist, but I feel like they are definitely capable of more and in our particular case, for various other reasons, they should be doing more.

I also feel that with a few so close in the age, the dynamics have changed from when my oldest was the one doing it alone. He loves cleaning and helping out and "organizing", but now he's getting frustrated because the other ones aren't doing it as much as him and he feels resentful that it's all on him - and rightfully so. I'm really hoping that having set chores for each kid will help out this problem...

Shopmiami49

Wed, Aug 06 2014, 2:27 pm

mummy123 wrote:

I don't have a chart but my 3 year old knows he needs to put his pyjamas either on his bed in the morning or in the wash. He also puts his plate in the sink when he's done eating. And both he and my almost 2 year old put their clothes in the dirty laundry at the end of the day.

Start as you mean to go on! Very Happy

This is exactly how I started off...I guess things change as they get older and more opinionated Smile

MaBelleVie

Sat, Aug 09 2014, 11:10 pm

You can make it more interesting by having a spinner and a points system. So let's say every afternoon each child spins the spinner and whatever job it lands on, he has to do. You can customize the spinner with removeable jobs so you only include jobs that would be helpful on that specific day. Does that make sense? Each job also has a points value, and they earn those points when the job is completed satisfactorily. Then you have a list of things they can cash their points in for, which doesn't have to be anything that costs money... For example, prizes can be: get to go grocery shopping with Mommy and no other siblings included, get to choose which park they go to one day, get to choose dinner one day, get to stay up ten minutes past bedtime, etc.

Shopmiami49

Sun, Aug 10 2014, 3:08 am

That actually does sound like a lot of fun, but a little complicated to actually implement. I may use it for Erev Shabbos jobs, which are the ones that are not the same as the daily ones: vacuuming the couches (which is very coveted), sorting the toys from cleanup, opening diapers, light switch covers, preparing the wicks, etc.

But for the daily jobs, I don't really want it to be a choice. I want it to be part of their daily routine. This would include cleaning up after themselves at breakfast, brushing teeth, getting dressed, putting their clothes in the hamper, fixing up their beds, cleaning up the toys in the living room before camp/school. Same type of idea for bedtime routine. I guess I could make an individual chart for each child for this.

But what about the jobs that are a little more than individual care/routine? Helping out with laundry (pairing socks, folding towels/underwear, etc.) or washing the lunch/dinner plates, cleaning the toys? They are definitely more than able to do these things. Should that also be with a spinner chart?

sorry if this is all disjointed - I am thinking as I am writing. Thanks for bearing with me! Smile

Shopmiami49

Sun, Aug 10 2014, 9:28 am

MaBelleVie wrote:

For daily chores you can do a chart where they put stickers to indicate that the job has been complete. If you get stickers they like it's more interesting for them to get to choose which stickers to use etc. Also make it a part of their routine by requiring all jobs to be done before they do x.

I've done so many of the stickers and coloring in squares, etc., but it was just so hard to be on top of doling out stickers and markers and making sure they really did their jobs before filling it in. I think the dry erase board may be a better option because I can keep a marker attached to the board and they can fill it in on their own as they go along, with me checking periodically. If they fill one in by mistake, it will be easy to erase.

acemom

Sun, Aug 10 2014, 12:54 pm

mummy123 wrote:

I agree. If you start out as this being part of the routine, rather than a chore, the kids don't view it as such.