Chore Chart

The homeschool room is not the only thing I am revamping….we have gotten really lax on the chore chart, and decided to give it a bit of an overhaul as well.  I modeled the function of it after one a dear friend of mine posted on her  facebook page, but the general design comes from Confessions of Homeschooler’s blog (including the printed cards I am using, though I did make a few of my own).

Now let me see if I can successfully explain how our version works. 

The top row has extra chore cards, they can choose to do these things to earn tickets (located at the bottom of the chart).  2 tickets can be traded for a small prize, 5 tickets can be traded for a big prize. They must finish their daily chores before they can do extra chores to earn tickets.

The next row is my oldest son, followed by a blank space to put completed chore cards, then my 3yo son’s chores, followed by a blank space to put his completed cards.  The columns are as follows:  Reward, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat/Sun.  In the Rewards column is a sticker chart with 9 spots.  For each day the complete all their chores they get a sticker, when it’s full…they get a big prize.  Also in the Rewards column for my oldest are media tickets…he gets 5 tickets each week, each media ticket is good for 30mins of media (tv, computer or leappad). 

In the final row are the tickets they can earn, and special cards for BEST BEHAVIOR.  The BEST BEHAVIOR cards warrant special prizes, and are given out sparingly for exceptional behavior. 

Under the chore chart is a potty training chart….I got it free from HERE.  This is an extra way for my 3yo to earn tickets…every time he goes potty he gets a sticker and a ticket (to start out…as he gets better at it he will have to go more often to get a ticket).  I picked the CARS version of the chart b/c the spots are in rows of 5 (it’s meant to give rewards for each step of going potty, but I will not be using it that way).  The smaller the chart, the quicker the reward, and as he gets the hang of it and goes potty more often, the chart will get bigger! 

Now PRIZES – what are small and large prizes, you are probably wondering.  Well you can make them whatever you would like…our ‘small’ prizes are in a cookie jar and are small little dollar store type trinkets, little musical instruments, stickers, small containers of playdough…mostly stuff you would find in a birthday party goodie bag.  Our ‘large’ prizes are higher dollar items, or just items that are of more value to them, like small lego kits, new books, matchbox cars, etc…  I stock up on these items from clearance racks mostly.  I also have coupons for thinks like ice cream treats, more media time, chocolate milk, etc…  The BEST BEHAVIOR prizes are also coupons for things like media time, eating lunch out, date with mom or dad, and other special treats!

More about the MEDIA tickets – I still reserve the right to say NO, even if they have a ticket to use.  They must complete their chores before they can cash in a media ticket.  Also, I do not count school time or family time media towards their MEDIA time.  We occasionally watch a video for school, and we like to have family movie nights…these would be in addition to his weekly MEDIA time.  Z does not have any media tickets, he basically just does whatever C does…so technically at this point they are ‘combined’ tickets.  We also have an egg timer that we set when they begin a media segment.

The Daily Chores (though some vary slightly from day to day) for each child are :

C (K) – Make Bed, Get Dressed, Brush Teeth, Feed Dog, Straighten Bedroom, Straighten Playroom, Set or Clear the Table, Practice Karate, Put away clothes, Finish Schoolwork, Collect Trash. 

Z (3) – Feed Fish, Set or Clear the Table, Straighten Playroom, Straighten Bedroom, Collect Trash, Put Dirty Clothes in Laundry.   

EXTRA CHORES- Wash dishes, put away dishes, clean bathroom, vacuum one room, mop kitchen/dining, sweep floor, etc…. 

I like this new set up b/c it teaches them to budget and save; they have to save tickets and earn them, and the have to budget their media time!  It’s a great pre-lesson to money management!

**Here are some more cards from Confession of  a Homeschooler, she has them as discipline cards, but I will be using them for more extra chore cards (things like wiping door knobs and light switches, wiping down outside of cabinets, etc...)

This is the pocket chart that is used