I am constantly trying new chore systems to see what works best for our family. And every summer I want my kids to learn to work and not just have a wide open day to do whatever they want. Its important to play, but its very important to me that they learn to work too. And it makes everyone happier when the house is in order and things run much more smoothly. We've been doing Saturday family chores for over a year now and when they get them done saturday morning, they love having the afternoon free to play! I have known for a long time my kids LOVE checklists. Something about checking a box off that speaks to them...and me!! I still love that too! So its what we do on Saturdays and its what we often do in the summer. Each summer I come up with a new way to do the system but it comes back to a simple checklist. Their everyday checklist, and a chore chart. Plus, now we are implementing money to teach them budgeting and paying for their own things. In April, we went to Disneyland and for a month before we went, they did extra jobs for spending money in Disneyland. It worked AMAZING!!! We paid them an allowance for reading and practicing piano and money to do jobs they don't normally do - like cleaning baseboards, vacumming the vehicle, mopping the floor etc. It really motivated them to do jobs so they could earn extra money in Disneyland. Then, the best part, is they decided what to spend their money on at Disneyland. What was worth it? A $5 frozen lemonade or a giant lollipop or a pretzel...now that it was their money they really thought about the cost and if it was worth it and decision making was (saying no to a million treats) was off of me and Brian! win win. it was awesome..... anyway. back to the system. We want them earning money now so they can save, decide what treats/books/clothes are worth the money they have worked for and whats not. This summer, they have to do their daily checklist and we have a $2 job list. The job list is optional if they want to earn money, but their chores are not optional.
So, for daily/weekly chores they have to empty the dishwasher, clean the bathroom, clean their room, weed the garden, tidy playrooms and do a 20 minute chore of mom's choice. Those are not paid. That's part of being part of our family.
The $2 chore list is if they want an extra job to make money on the side for icecream and stuff. We'll add to that list as we think of jobs that are age appropriate that aren't just basic family chores.
And lastly, we pay them to READ!!! This school year we gave them allowance to read and practice piano. We feel these things are so important and nagging got annoying that we motivated them with money. It was an all or nothing system, they had to do both 5 times/week and if they missed, they got zero allowance. They responded well to it. Kennedy usually used her $5/week for Pizza Tuesday at school.
So, this summer we will pay them each $5/week to read 30 minutes a day 5 times a week. But if they miss, a dollar is taken off. So its basically a dollar a day. If they only read twice in the week, they'll get $2. This money is most likely going towards their slurpees/popsicle truck man. And I'm totally ok with that, because then its their choice if they get one and not up to me to say yes or no and find money for them. I get so tired of spending money on treats or saying no, so now they can afford 1-2 treats per week. Brian and I are pretty happy with this new system. Its tricky to find ways to teach kids to work and to teach money management. I like giving them more responsibility to make their own choices with money now.
And lastly, the boredom buster list I made! So happy about this. We decided they get 40 minutes of screen time a day (may change on date nights that Brian and I are out or on really rainy days that we decide to watch an afternoon movie). So they forget things to do or tell me they're bored in the summer or expect me to take them somewhere fun. Our weekends are filled with camping and boating, so during the week we will be home more and they can find things to do and be "bored" at home because thats good for kids too. And seeing the list already, they're like, oh great ideas!! They've already done 2 of the items this Saturday afternoon after chores!
We are also going to make some summer goals. One of Kennedy's is to practice typing. And I want them to write in their journal a few times!
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