In our home, everyone works. I usually have a clean house and it's because we
all contribute to it everyday. Afternoons are filled with homework, extra-curricular activities, church activities and family fun so the morning is when we get our work done and out of the way. I used to just have a schedule printed out on paper and it worked fine, but I had a hard time figuring out who
still needed to do what before school. That's when I found frameable chalk/magnet boards at Aaron Bros. Art Mart. I made a plan! I found vintage pictures online that represented each task, printed them, cut them and glued them on foam core squares (I used Elmer's Glue and it bled through
the pictures in green. When I have time, I'll re-do them all with different glue) and laminated them with packing tape. I then glued a magnet on the back of each one. I had an old, gold frame that I brushed some bronzer paint on to antique it a little bit. I framed the chalk/magnet board, ordered a chalk pen from www.chalkydoodle.com and drew the chart.
As the kids finish the task they move that picture from
"Do It!" over to "Done!".
Here it is in the morning before the kids start:
Each child has 4 matching magnets representing
(from left to right):
make bed, practice piano, get dressed, eat breakfast.
The fifth picture represents the
cleaning job they have that week.
These jobs rotate up on Sunday.
Dishes:
Vacuum family room:
Trash and T.P. refill:
Vacuum upstairs hall:
Wipe down bathroom counters:
This is the chalk pen from Chalkydoodle - one of my
favorite things!
Some questions you might have:
Do my kids really do the work? Yes, every morning or they get to do another one.
Do my kids have time to do the work before school? Yes, they make their lunch, pack their backpacks and lay out their clothes the night before so everything is ready.
Do they complain? Yes, a lot. But work is not an option, it's a part of this life - and I remind them that we have a clean house every morning and are able to spend the rest of the day focusing on other things.
What age do they start the clean job? My toddlers and pre-schoolers are Mommy's Helpers. When they start Kindergarten, they are added to the rotation and get a little help from Mom each day until about the middle of 1st grade when they don't need me to help.
I love having systems. This just happens to be pretty enough to leave out and be seen!
