Chore Charts with links below & changeable grid:
- drag photos as shown in above PDF if your child has trouble reading still.
*Avarie (age 19) no link. One of the most rewarding things is having a 19 year old who does chores without being told. She is independent now! The goal we strive for as parents has been met! Avarie does all her own laundry, she does the family laundry several times a week (that's huge), loads and unloads the dishwasher, occupies her siblings, takes them for ice cream just for fun, she also holds a job in which she makes her own spending money. Her days of chore charts are done, but her work is not.I have joy in knowing she 'gets it' and she also sees her siblings are treated exactly the same way she was when she was growing. We all have a role in the home. I praise God for the promise of seeing little rewards during our parenting. Avarie has given me many rewards.
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Why Summer Chore charts?
Children wake-up and assume their day is all about them the moment their little feet hit the floor. In my heart, my life really does revolve around growing them God’s way, but that does not mean my life and the day revolves around them doing nothing productive. I also love to give them FREEDOM and Independence (so key in not being a helicopter mom). I like not "barking" at them all day. Therefore, chore charts allow our children to wake-up early and accomplish much before we as mom’s even wake-up (although I am an early riser- I am usually up before them). My children do not have a “wake-up” time in the summer, they are welcome to sleep in :-).. I love that feeling for them!! It is up to them when to wake-up. They do however still have a reasonable bedtime. Chores are done the moment they wake up.
One amazing note: Having my kids do chores and running laps outside often distracts them from wanting to just come down stairs and watch tv. My kids clean quickly then usually get into a Lego, or stop at the swing set. Getting them up and running really helps them NOT WANT TO be couch potatoes on games or electronics.
Little tasks, like making our bed in the morning, shows in research that we feel better about ourselves:
“In a survey of 68,000 people by Hunch.com, 59 percent of people don’t make their beds. 27 percent do, while 12 percent pay a housekeeper to make it for them. Here’s what disturbed me: 71 percent of bed makers consider themselves happy; while 62 percent of non-bed-makers admit to being unhappy. Bed makers are also more likely to like their jobs, own a home, exercise regularly, and feel well rested, whereas non-bed-makers hate their jobs, rent apartments, avoid the gym, and wake up tired. All in all, bed makers are happier and more successful than their rumple-sheeted peers.” -Psychology Today
Creating responsibility and habits in our children help them become respectful to others and other's property. Essentially they will become happier humans. They will also feel confident and have a knowledge of helping in other settings; such as, the classroom, other people’s homes, etc all because they learn chore behavior at home. Chores also create a common sense about taking care of other people’s homes and property because they understand what it feels like to take time to clean up after others. This is helpful when our children reach the age of having their own job too. I can proudly say that our daughter has learned to clean and do the extra whether it be when she babysits or even in her other job roles. Adults have come up to us and asked “How does she know to do that?”. I believe she knows this: "You leave a place cleaner when you leave than how it looked when you came" ...because she has been taught this! We fully give God all the Glory. He gives us a guide to live by when it comes to having order and organization and taking care of what he has given us. We also learn to treat other’s how we want to be treated.
Forming Habits— gobs of research says it takes 21 days to form a habit. UCL research and European Journal of Social Psychology says it takes 66 days to form a “new” habit. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if it’s a habit at age 5, they will just do what they are told to do out of obedience. I can tell you this though, if you do a chore chart through your child’s life, they will become routined into doing it and it does form a habit. My 10 year old and my 18 year old will make their bed whether they are told to or not. They have a habit of doing it just like brushing their teeth.
Why is Bible Reading/ Proverbs on my kid's chore chart?
When we grow older our habits become our priority. Brushing our teeth, bathing, and making our bed are all things we are taught to do in order to have order and routine in our lives. We respect the blessings God has given us (our bodies and our home). But, what if every mom and dad who said, “brush your teeth” or “say please and thank you”, told their kids “Did you read God’s Word today?” What if every dad who asked their kids if they practiced their sport for the day asked their kids if they read the Bible today? Many hurting souls would be getting repaired today if this was taken into consideration. Not because reading the Bible is a chore, but because we know God’s Word is alive and active and sharper than any double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).
In the summers we have our own Bible time in the morning along with our prayer journals (with Mom) and at night as a family (usually dad does devotionals), but I encourage my kids to read one Proverbs verse a day. Later in the day I will ask them, “what was your Proverb about”….**KEY NOTE, I ask what is the Proverb about… I do not emphasize the memorization of the Proverbs verse daily on this assignment, but I do emphasize them explaining what the Proverb means. If our kids can understand God's Word, it will make a lasting impression in their life. There’s an old saying that goes, "there’s a lot of people living in hell today who had scripture memorized but never had it hidden in their hearts." As parents we want God’s Word to be hidden in the hearts of our children through the understanding of God's Word. (Psalms 119:11). That does not happen unless we enforce the natural habit of it being important in our our own lives as parents and even enforcing it when our kids are little. Only by us parents praying, can we know that the Holy Spirit is working through those verses. The chore will make a habit and a habit will make a lifestyle. We want our children's life to be set on a lifestyle of reading God's Word and reflecting His Word and praying for it to be in their hearts.
*I continually tell my children I want them to read God’s Word as a format or treasure map. They have found a guide for their life. I do not want them to read it as if it’s a chore.
Why do I choose Proverbs?
King Solomon wrote Proverbs. Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. Despite his downfall in his later years, he was still an amazing instrument to teaching us God’s heart of what true knowledge and wisdom is. The Book of Proverbs holds vast wisdom about all areas of life and is very clear in meaning. Since our oldest daughter was eight or nine years old we have always had summer Proverbs readings. The purpose of this reading is to instill valuable wisdom, even if memorization isn't up-to par. I am certain the ideas, reasoning and the ideology of life is being poured and formed into our children based on God’s standards through Proverbs. You will be shocked what your kids learn by reading Provers ((ex)...not to be foolish, save money, be kind, how Godly women act, how foolish men scheme, etc..).
Thank You Cards:
Last year we started implementing a once a week "Thank you card", or "Get well" card. This is helpful in teaching our children to be thoughtful, thinking of others and being relational.
Allowance:
Allowance is a great tool to teach our children to be rewarded when they work hard. They can be taught how to tithe (10%) and save. That is what we do in our home.
Last year in particular, I had one child really struggle with the idea of tithing. He has done it each year and when this year came around he was upset about that idea. Of course, we talked a long time calmly and kindly about how our money isn't ours and it’s God’s money to begin with. We have to be good stewards of all the gifts God gives us. This year, as my one son was upset, and I mean almost crying over this, I was reminded how just last year he was a different being and he really loved to give. Our kids change year in and year out and we never are done shaping principles into their lives. We have done this method all throughout his life and even now he needed to be reminded the Biblical principles to “why we can have joy in our giving to God and to others”
Deuteronomy 15:10
Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
Additional chores:
Believe it or not my kids have other chores they do which they do not get paid for, chores not on their chart. One lovely chore is cleaning their chicken coop. That’s a doozy one and I do not help with that. The reward is the one who cleans it gets to light the match and throw it on the pile of chicken poop and wood chips. My kids collect and clean eggs daily. They also have jobs outside and floor and toilet scrubbing when I tell them too. They have to clean their coat and shoe cubbies and also put their own laundry away daily. They have additional life chores that come with living in our home. 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not a God of disorder”…
1 Corinthians 14:40 “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
Grace and Mercy:
An excellent way to show authority and 'mean what you say' is by sticking to the chores you choose. A child more than likely will not be happy about their chores, but trust me, they will feel good about themselves after. The goal of the chore chart is to instill principle and require obedience. The idea is not to strive for perfection but to create a structured and organized way of living for your family to have routine. If your 5 year old makes his bed terrible the first few times don’t scold or yell at him. Praise him and show grace in places that are hidden even in the errors. Errors in doing chores is different than not doing them or not doing them the best we can. For example, my kids work really hard at certain tasks and get rushed and lazy on other areas. They look for short cuts and in my mind that’s the same thing as cheating the system. I do in-fact correct and make things right. I try and look to praise them in their charts because they are just learning. Their ideal of order and neat is much different than ours. We set the standard, but we can show grace and mercy while teaching that standard. Colossians tells us to work for the Lord and we are to work with all our hearts. When our children have put their hearts into their work we have to value their work with compassion.
But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.
2 Chronicles 15:7
Below is a some photos of Bible in the mornings, Kannon and Koko cleaning windows, Thank you cards and Kashton writing his favorite Proverbs, swing set (my kids swing on the swing set 24/7), Kannon does reading with me still. ALSO, lego building, and of course swimming with friends! WE LOVE SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!