Jun

Summer Chore Chart

Summer has already been busy and it seems like school just let out. I think that one reason things have been so busy is because we are no longer on a schedule or routine. We just seem to go about our day without a plan. For the first couple of weeks after school let out that felt good but now it is just too unorganized for me! I knew that I needed to do something.

This week was the perfect week to start our summertime routine because Gabriel started Summer Playground at our local Civic Center. It’s a great program and he just loves it. He gets to go 3 days a week for 3 1/2 hours and it is packed with activities. Matthew gets to attend starting next year. However, when we are all home together we need a new routine so I went to my favorite place to figure out a solution…Pinterest!

I decided that a chore chart might be best. Gabriel has been asking questions lately about money and how we pay for things. He likes to collect change and then use it to pay for a piece of candy at a little shop that we go to up by the Lake. So, we now have a new chore chart that will allow the boys to receive an allowance and will help to keep me organized this summer.

The best chore chart that I found on Pinterest was at Confessions of a Homeschooler. She has so many free printables and there is a chore chart for older kids and one for younger kids. I used a combination of both for our family. Also, take a few minutes to look through her site. She has some great stuff on there!

For our chore chart I used the following materials:

Alphabet letters

Tri-fold presentation board

card stock for printing the printables

Printables found at Confessions of a Homeschooler

6 envelopes

Round sticky/adhesive Velcro

Family picture

Picture of each child

I decided to use each narrow section of the presentation board for the boys’ chores. They each received a section. I then used the larger center section for my things to do list. I don’t put all of my things to do on there but I am using it for organizing my cleaning. Maybe I will keep up with it better if I have it on the chore chart with the boys’ chores The printables that I used, which are all on Confessions of a Homeschooler’s blog, have pictures instead of words so that really helps the kids with visualizing what needs to be done since they cannot read yet.

On the center of the presentation board I put our family name and under that I put Things To Do. I used alphabet sticker letters. I then put each of the boys’ names on each narrow side of the presentation boards with the word Chores underneath it. I then placed a picture of each boy under their names. Next to each boys’ picture I put the rough side of an adhesive Velcro circle. I took one of the blank chore cards and wrote “Kid of the Day” on it and I place it next to whichever one is Kid of the Day. I will explain more about that in a later post.

I listed the chores underneach their pictures. I used a printed chore card for each chore they could do. I placed Velcro dots on the presentation board and on the back of each chore card and hung them up. As the boys complete a chore they remove the chore card and place it below in an envelope (also secured with a Velcro dot). The chore card is then replaced by a ticket which is stored in an envelope at the bottom of the chore chart. Now there are way too many things for them to complete each day but there are a few that need to be done each day (ie, brush teeth, get dressed) and then the others are just chores for them to earn extra tickets and learn some more responsibility. At the end of each day we count up their Velcro tickets and I give them just plain tickets to put in their Tickets Earned envelope. I did it that way so that I did not have to Velcro every single ticket. We then replace the chore cards back on the board for the next day.

The picture below shows just some of their chores. Once I had it all done the boys decided that they wanted all the chores posted at once instead of me mixing them up each day. So, that’s how we ended up putting all of the chore cards up. I ended up having about 16 chore cards with about 4 or 5 that need to be done everyday. (Sorry about the quality of the pictures. I lost my camera and have to use the camera on my smart phone.)