Welcome to Day 4 of the Homeschooling Enrichment series! Today we are going to discuss responsibility and how we can motivate our children to contribute to the well being of our home instead of drain it (mom) of energy!
How many of you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus the end of the day? (It’s okay you can raise your hands it’s all anonymous *wink* )
How many of you can barely find the time to read these posts? (Even though I’m so riveting that you can’t bear not to so it’s now midnight and you’re finally getting around to it?)
Well, today we’re going to take the edge off of your chronic fatigue syndrome which will in turn benefit your homeschooling by teaching your children responsibility. At the same time it helps relieve the stress you’ve been feeling trying to “manage everything on your own”. Now instead of thinking about those toilets you that need to be cleaned you’ll be alert and focused during your school day!
God’s Word tells us that “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”( 1 Cor. 4:2) “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:21
It is important to teach our children to be thankful for all that God has blessed our family with. 1 Thess 5:18 says “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” We all want to hear those blessed words “Well done good and faithful servant”. Let’s take that and bring it into the home!
Whether you have a little, or a lot, God has blessed you! Now, when we look at our possessions as not ours, but as God’s, how are we to take care of them? If God gave us a gift would we toss it on the floor? Step on it? Allow it to get broken, dirty and finally thrown away? Heavens no! We would be extra careful to take good care that we treated it with the utmost respect.
Our homes, our furniture, our toys, our animals, and our siblings are all gifts from God. They are not ours, they belong to Him, and we have received them out of love from our Lord. Let’s take care of them!
Note: If you haven’t done my character study on being a Good Steward, now might be a good time to pull it out!
Oh my beloved chore chart, how I love thee! Ever since implementing and being consistent with chores, my life has been…well, simply beautiful. Not only do my kids LOVE this thing, but I literally LOVE this thing right back! Click here for details on how this wonderful thing can bless your family!
The idea behind this is simple. God has given us a house full of things to take care of so let’s be faithful! Each of my children are given approximately 4 chores per day to complete. When they complete their chore, they turn the card backwards. At the end of the day I give them 1 ticket for each chore completed, which they can later redeem for a prize.
My kids love this setup. They like knowing what is expected of them for the day, and they really like knowing that they’ll be rewarded for their hard work at the end of the day. I like that things get done, and that the kids who were once destroying my sanctuary are now helping to take care of it!
I am not a child laborer by any means, if they choose not to do a chore they simply don’t get a ticket. My system is conveniently arranged so that the amount of tickets they earn in 1 week = the amount needed to purchase a prize. If they don’t choose to do their chores, they don’t get a prize.
If mommy has to do their chore, then mommy gets their ticket (which can later be redeemed for a morsel from the secret chocolate prize box that they aren’t aware exists…shhh!)
Today’s Challenge:
If you’ve been procrastinating on the chore chart, now’s the time! Print, cut, paste, staple, or whatever else you have to do to get this done! I promise you won’t regret it, and by the end of the week when you’re looking over your oasis of beautiful-laundry-folded (and put away)-clean playroom-shiny toilets-squeaky clean-house you’ll thank me!
Click here to download the chore chart!
Stick around tomorrow for Day 5 of Homeschooling Enrichment where we’ll be talking about 1 Corinthians 13 in regards to homeschooling!
Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.
Your chart is brilliant! And I love that there are ones for little guys too. I have a two year old and I'm sure he'd love to be rewarded for helping Mommy.Now, for my teen….I love how you opened your post today and I've copied and pasted it for her. Her room is my pet peeve…one of them ;), and if she could realize it was all from God…maybe she'll pick it up! AMEN!
Thanks for the reminder about the chore chart! I have a simple one but I think my son could handle a bigger one like yours now, especially if he can choose a reward :)How much do you have your littlest kiddos do chores? My daughter is 2 1/2 and loves to help and put stickers on her chart, but her "chores" are very basic, i.e. put away your clothes, pick up your room, brush teeth, clear dishes (mostly all with help of course). Curious to see what you do if you have a minute.
fantastic!! Thanks for including a chart for littles too. My eldest is 4 and she *loves* sticker charts, but I never seem to remember to give her another one when she gets one filled up. This is simple, and cute to boot!Now I just need to go buy a pocket chart…
KIRK,JENN etc: My 4 year old does things like setting & clearing the table, cleaning the playroom, feeding the animals (they rotate), puts away her laundry, helps unload the dishwasher, helps fold laundry, takes out the recycling, things like that. Some things I help her with, but she still does them!
We love your chore chart. We started using it about a month ago, and my almost 5 year old daughter does great with it…far better than I expected. She'll even go through the chores not posted for the day to find something else she wants to do. Right now she puts away the silverware, makes her bed (like a 4 year old), puts away clothes, feeds the animals (fish, cats, dogs), sets the table, clears the dishes, and has even helped with some bathroom cleaning. I rotate the cards so she has about 4 or 5 per day. Some days she does all of them and other days she doesn't. And she's so proud of it she shows it off to everyone who comes over. Thank you!!!We do our "rewards" a little different. For every chore completed she gets a quarter, and then once she has 10 quarters we divide them 1 quarter to share/tithe, 1 quarter to save, and 8 quarters to spend.