Here's the rundown on the big board o' chores. It's actually not just chores. There are tags for everything my kids need to do in the day, including chores. For instance, in the morning their tags read: "prayer", "breakfast", "dress", etc. There is no need for me to badger them all morning to do the things that they often forget. It's there on the board. Once they finish their tags and each one is hanging on the "DONE", there is a token there for them (ranging in value between 1-3), which they hang on the token area. Tokens are redeemed every Friday (since we don't watch tv on school days). They can get cash ($5=30T), extra tv/wii time (15min=2T), movie night (16T), dollar movie w/friend (40T), Sonic slurpee (10T), free chore pass (5T), or late night w/friend (50T). Each week they can earn 20 to 25 tokens. I usually give 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, with a little variety thrown in there. If they don't complete the tags, then I take the tokens off. And they can lose tokens for bad choices or several reminders to do their tags.
As for the tags, if you do them, I would recommend doing at least enough tags for each child (ex.: 4 pajamma tags). I also wish I had color coded the tags morning and afternoon, since I hang new tags for each, so that were more easily identified. I plan to put the tags in a clear plastic binder to organize them. Oh, and I use a wet erase marker to keep a tally of tokens at the back and to fill in chores on a couple of blank tags I have.
To make the board, I found the framed chalkboard at TJ Max for $50. The tags were all made by cardstock cut on a Sizzix and vinyl letters applied and laminated at FedEx Office (Kinkos). Total cost was $70.
After a week, I'm loving it. Miss A has a hard time managing her time in the morning, so she's missed out on a few tags. Mr. M totally has the hang of it. There is no more nagging to brush his teeth or pack a lunch. My stress level has gone down several notches on school mornings. And Little C, he has pictures drawn on the back of his (you should see my bald boy praying) to help him recognize what tags he has to do.
Feel free to ask any more questions!
4 comments:
I am still back on the dry erase week framed thing from last summer, which I love and haven't recreated yet...
Elliot has so much time in the morning we don't need much of a chore chart. He is a late bird, drop off by 9. BTW I am so embarrassed at myself for a certain type of hand gesture I sent Mrs. Burns' way yesterday (while I waited 20 minutes in the parking lot to pick up). She is such an idiot. BTW it was just a clenched fist waving, but you know.
You are a genius!! Can I steal your idea when I'm a mommy? Loves!
Our to-do/chore system is pretty similar - they can earn day-to-day stuff like TV time etc. and then they also earn date nights w/ mom or dad after a period of time doing their chores.
I'm not sure if my kids are just too young (oldest is almost 6), or if they're just not motivated. They'll do it for a bit, then slack off and usually end up not doing it, and not earning anything, and they just don't care. Then nothing gets done, and they're causing trouble because they're bored and don't have any tickets/tokens to do anything.
After a week of them driving me nuts I usually give in and let them do stuff even when they haven't done their chores. And the whole system goes by the wayside. We've started and stopped 3 times now. I'm about ready to start again, but I just don't know how to make it stick for good.
You're kids are a bit older, and more motivated it seems, so you're sure to have better luck than me! I hope it continues to work for you!
i agree with Diana. i think you're a genius
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