Chore Systems of the Past and Present

Chores are things we all have to do to keep a home, most of us are not always excited to do them, but such is life.  It is our goal as parents in our home to instill things in our kids to be productive members of society and chores, we feel are a part of that!   As Titus 3:14 clearly states, "¹⁴ Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives".  So in order to train them, I try to make it easy on both of us with chore system.

I have used a couple types of chore plans that have worked, but since my kids are 4 years apart, they have been different.  The most recent used, were chore cards for my daughter that had the chore on one side and an explanation as to what what expected on the back.  I got this idea after watching the show The Duggers.  Our daughter loved to do chores, but would not always do them as they needed to be done.  So I printed them on labels, then stuck on an index card.  I slid them into a badge holder and she would carry them around with her as she did the chores.  I had a pack for everyday and then weekend chores or ones that are not everyday.  You can see and/or print from here and here if you like this system. For our son I had a picture chart in his room that had Velcro pieces that he would take off and put back when the task was completed.  Below is his chart for his room.

This summer I am fine tuning our system into a universal plan, since both are old enough to be on the same plan.  As I researched to see what would work in our home, I took a little from some that I found.  We believe that kids must do things for just being a part of our home, so up until now the kids have not received allowance.  Since we feel that they have this concept under their belt, we will now be incorporating allowance at 50 cent/age/week so they can start learning to manage their money.  In addition to what is expected, they will have opportunity to do extra chores for extra money.

So after figuring this all out I came up with a chart that I will print each week, in case I need to change things up.  There are personal chores that need to be done before they play, watch TV, etc.  Then they have household chores that can be done throughout the day, finally weekly chores that typically will be done just a couple times a week.  At the bottom is where they can add extra chores, if they choose.  I attach that along with the list of possible extra chores and their allowance ledgers for them to keep track onto a clipboard. I will also be able to put other items they need to tackle, like their summer reading plan.
If you would like to see my son's example, you can here.  A blank copy of this can be found here.

In the past my kids have had their rooms stripped down to only their bed and dressers when they opted not to obey in cleaning their rooms.  Some of it was gone for months.  We don't have an issue with them cleaning their rooms when asked anymore, but the stray stuff left around the house is another story.  So, in addition to the new chore plan, I came across this great idea.  When the kids don't pick up like they are supposed to before bed, I will take those items.  In order to get them back they must pick a "chore" from the envelope to get their item back.  I got the idea and label from here.  I am assuming the box will be full at first, but hopefully over time will not be as full.  I used some of the these ideas for what they will be doing.  My only fear is they may leave things to be able to do some of the "chores", we will see :-)