Summertime is time to switch-up the chore chart!
I’ve done it every summer forever now. I pull the chore chart off the frig and switch things up.
After 9 months of doing the same old chores (hence the school year), it’s time to teach the children new tasks. Summertime is also a great time to potty train little ones due to the lack of schedule and warm weather.
Kids enjoy learning new things! Part of the reason that children find chores to be boring is because they are boring, but they don’t have to be. Continuing to challenge and encourage new skill levels is the key to making chores more fun and interesting.
One thing to keep in mind when introducing new chores is that skill level comes in increments. At first, your kids might not be all that great at their new chore, but they are just at the “introductory and training” stage. You are showing them how things should be done and why. To expect them to perfect the chore right away will only frustrate you and the child. Give them time to understand how and why you want things done.
“Adequate” would be another increment of skill level when teaching a child. They need the freedom to make mistakes and not be chastised. Give them room to blow it and ask questions. Encouragement goes a long, long way. I am guilty of not being encouraging enough…what am I holding on to my encouragement for, a rainy day or something?
Depending upon the chore and the age of the child, “mastery” of the chore could take several months or more. ”Mastery” means that the child can do the chore perfectly and can also train another sibling for the job. This is how to get promoted from a chore in our home.
Chores aren’t something that we pay for. This is just our family’s point of view. Chores are done as a family and for the family. It takes everyone’s contribution to make this house run, Mom cannot do it all. The only time we consider payment is for special projects that are unusually difficult, typically for the older kids.
Teaching our children how to manage money is done through the use of an “allowance system”, which I’ve written about previously, so I won’t go into that here.
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Your turn…how often do you change up your chore chart? Do you pay for chores? How does your family handle this?
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Great post Kelly!
I love the heart of it and how clearly you (and you husband) are focused on the development of the children on so many levels.
~ Erika
Erika,
That is so kind of you to say! We’re trying! Great to hear from you.
Hi Kelly! I haven’t commented in a while because something was going on with my computer, but that seems to be fixed now.
Could you give some examples of the promoted chores? So, a child learns and masters to clear the table and load the dishwasher, they teach another sibling, then what?
Molly,
Good question. Ok, well there are several chores that come to my mind. How active are they in preparing dinner? Around here, it’s a promotion to be involved in the cooking, more than just being a “helper”, like real help. They might be old enough to fry meat or chop veggies. Perhaps they could do more with clean-up like vacuum up crumbs and mop.
Other things that come to mind is to let the “next” child clear the table and let the “promoted” child go help little ones brush teeth and get pj’s on. Caring for a younger sib is a “right of passage” around here, that I can trust them enough to care for another is huge. I don’t know if that applies for you.
Hope this helps!
Great thoughts. We’re trying to figure out a way to change up our chore system while still making sure that they get the job down pat first. We’re struggling a little bit because sometimes they don’t like their chores and we’re hoping that some change up will make it more fun, but we also don’t want to do a change up just because they don’t like it. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you don’t sometimes have to do it. Right? We’re going back and forth about this.
We’ve sort of implemented the training aspect too, as a transition out of a chore. It’s good experience in being a leader for the older one, as well as teaching the younger one.
No, we do not pay our kids for their chores. We are teaching them that it is part of being a family and that everyone must do their share. I try not to shake up our chore list too often. My two younger (12 and 14) have ADHD so we nee consistency. My daughter (14) is spending the summer learning more basic home keeping skills. When my son gets home from summer school he does his regular chores and then runs with Dad to learn more of the manly things he needs to be learning. Living on a farm there is much he could learn.
Monica,
Thanks for sharing about how your family does things, that’s so helpful. I appreciate your comment!
Chores and learning to do new tasks are a major part of children’s lives. This week I changed up our chore schedule a bit to help things run more smoothly with our summer schedule as well as help my older two learn some new skills. So far they seem to be liking it pretty well.
We pretty much have the same set up at our home, except for meal preparation. We have an assigned day for each child, I have 5 kids so that works out well Monday through Friday. Monday & Friday I work in the kitchen with my boys (5 & 7 years old), they are learning by assembling ingredients, stirring, mixing and simple chopping. I give them two days a week to make sure they get extra practice. We work on kitchen vocabulary most of the time and they observe as I carefully explain what I’m doing.
My oldest three are girls and they started at the same age as the boys. They are now to the point where they each pick 4 dishes, one for each week in the month. The dishes are one of each ground beef, chicken, fish, and cheese. We keep the same monthly menu until all 4 dishes are mastered. We have gone from 3-6 months. Once mastered they get to put their recipe card in their own binder of recipes they can prepare on their own. I also allow one of the 4 dishes to be an old favorite. Tuesday is my eldest daughter (15) she requires a little advice and I look in on her from time to time (mostly to make sure we’ll have food ready in less than 2 hours!). Wednesday is my second daughter (13) she needs me in there most of the time. I make sure she’s doing the steps in the correct order and jump in when saving is required. Thursday is my third daughter (10) who I work with the entire time. I usually demonstrate then have her try on her own, I also take care of more advanced skills. All my help diminishes as they master the recipe. This has proved to be very helpful, if I’m not able to prepare the meal then one of the girls steps in. It is amazing to be out getting groceries and arrive to a prepared meal! My boys are also able to prepare eggs now. They can fry or scramble eggs and do so whenever hungry & Mom is on the computer!!
Not sure I am reading this right. It takes the children 3-6 months to learn each new recipe?
I agree change the chore list up! My kids love to help around the homestead and It’s my pleasure to teach them!
I love seeing my 3 year old daughter covered in dirty because she’s been helping in the garden!
We never had “chore lists”. Up to a certain point (not age, as everyone develops differently) I worked with them on everything. When I felt they were ready they were on their own. I also did not give allowances. They knew to keep up on their room and clothes and bathroom etc and whatever other job I asked for help with and then if they wanted money for a movie or water park in future they would most likely get it.
They all know how to cook and bake to varying degrees. My son’s cooking did not really take off until after college graduation and he moved away. They constantly facebook or text pictures of food they have prepared. For 4th of July the older daughter brought homemade baked beans and a spinach-artichoke dip and a roasted red pepper dip. The son brought roasted beet hummus. My younger daughter has more interest in baking so she usually does a couple desserts a week (she still lives at home while going to college) . Cherry pie and blueberry pie from the last of last years frozen fruit.
I know I did not drill recipes into them, just that with them constantly working in the kitchen with me they learned all the basic concepts. I think that is more important than learning recipes. One should be able to improvise (my favorite way to cook) or pick out any recipe and have it turn out good or even great the first time because they know how to read the recipe.
I’ve never seen “chore charts” transferring all that well to the real world. Children need to learn to hold themselves accountable as soon as possible.