Mmm. Yes. About the chore chart. We have had two actually.
In the past we had a 'chore chart' that was specifically for dish detail. One cleared, one loaded, one set and one swept. Simple. There was just a little chart on the refrigerator.
What I wanted by not having a chore chart was to teach my kids to recognize things that needed to be done and to do them. I wanted them to not be commanded in all things. I wanted them to serve our family by doing the dishes out of love, not because they were assigned. I wanted them to stay and finish help whoever until the work was done. It's a good idea right?
So I asked my children about having a chore chart. I explained to them what I thought they could learn by not having one. They voted to not have a chore chart. It was four to zero. They only asked that I would make a list of all the things that needed done and hung on the refrigerator until they learned all the dish chores better. Perfect!
Our housecleaning chores have never really been assigned. We have cards for how to do each job but we never use them. The kids have learned when I say "dust" they know what to do for example. I've always just assigned kids to do certain jobs that day. I'll say you dust, you clean the bathrooms, you vacuum and you do the laundry and they do them. Or on other days I'll say who wants to dust, clean the bathrooms....
After we get that down then I'm going to work on them doing the vacuuming and the bathrooms with out being assigned. That will be the day!
Again, this is just for our family, our personality and our schedule.
Oh, we now do our house hold chores for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
3 comments:
It sounds like a great way to focus on the "Be" and not just the "Do" and that scripture applies beautifully! Thanks for sharing that! I would love to approach it that way with my kids...and will do so when my little core phasers have down first the idea of responsibility and have learned how to do those things correctly. Line upon line, milk before meat I think is what it will look like for now. But now I also understand better why it is important to explain to them NOW the WHY (reason) they are learning these things and explain that they will eventually be expected to do them because they want to BE responsible and accountable and be a contributing member of our family - not just because those things need to be done for the sake of having a clean kitchen/home.
Sorry - one more thought I left out - above all, I hope they will come to love working together as a family because we do love each other, as you said - yes, a great idea!
That's the way my mom raised us. It worked beautifully. I have a hard time understanding, say, 17 year olds who still need to be "commanded" to do things. It will work. It's all about accountability.
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