Here's Lucy a few nights ago, Windexing the back door glass for some extra points
I think I am not alone amongst mothers in constantly trying new methods to get the kids to do chores. Sticker charts, marble jars, coin jars, reward systems, "circle jobs," and on and on and on. It seems like as soon as we discover something new, everyone's excited about it but then tired of it within a couple of weeks and it's back to nagging. (Although, for the record, the "circle jobs" was a big success around here and we will use it again someday.)
WELL. We have something new, again. But it's BETTER and AWESOME and after a full week of it, the kids aren't slowing down yet. It is... (drumroll, please)...
Whoever thought of this is a certifiable genius.
What you do:
1. Set up individual log-ins for your kids, and assign them chores and a point value for each. Chores can be daily, weekly; any recurrence you want or not recurring at all.
2. They log on, see what their chores are for the day, do them, and watch their point total grow.
3. You set up rewards, which can be big or small, long- or short-term, monetary or time-related.
4. The website has lists of possible chores, point values, and rewards so you don't even have to think very hard if you don't want to.
Why it's great:
1. The website keeps track of everything for you. No re-creating chore lists, no having to keep track of who does what or who is owed what reward. You get daily email updates on who's doing their jobs; but in my case my kids announce their point totals constantly so I just ignore the emails!
2. The kids LOVE to log on and check off their completed chores; also they can write notes to me (and I can write notes to them) which they think is super fun.
3. Flexibility: it's great to be able to assign daily chores (like brushing teeth and practicing piano), school-day chores (homework), every-other-day chores (cleaning room, unloading dishwasher), or weekly chores (bathrooms, vacuuming). Also, I have "extra" jobs listed for every day if the kids want to earn more points and their regular jobs are completed; like playing fetch with the dog or working on piano theory.
4. It takes a fair amount of time to get it all set up, but then it's done. So easy. I just go on there every now and then to add things as needed, or work on the rewards set-up (which we haven't finished yet).
5. The rewards can be anything. My girls all like the idea of having their nails painted and having friends over to play. Noah is "saving up" for a new Wii game. They can be individual rewards or "group" rewards like dinner at a restaurant or a camping trip.
Being not only my kids' mom but their piano teacher, my favorite result so far is all the piano practicing that's going on around here. The kids are completing songs and getting their theory done and both Noah & Zoe are about to move up to the next level (of piano books) so that's exciting.
So far, so good!
It is true what they say about puppies staying puppies until they're 2. Juno turned 2 in December and she really has been much better behaved the past couple of months; not destroying things, etc. She has been just delightful these days. (We do not encourage face-licking though; yuck.)
