The Royal Chore Chart

Here it is. Our current chore system, The Royal Chore Chart. (I was feeling rather Narnia-ish the day I re-vamped our old system, hence the name...)

Our chore system has evolved since we started using one about 5 years ago--I've (somewhat) learned what works and what doesn't work for us, and I'm certainly not against trying something new. In fact, I've been known to switch things up a bit, just for fun. My husband (Mr. Don't-Change-Things-On-Me) loves that about me. Absolutely adores, I tell you. [insert evil laugh here]

First, here are my rules for any chore system...(categorize this as "things I have learned about chore systems and our family)
1. The kids must understand it and be able to accomplish it without my help. (That is, after all, the point, isn't it??) This is, of course, after the initial training period. And don't kid yourself, any good chore system WILL have a training period where it seems like you're doing all the work...quite possibly because you are. (More on that later.)
2. It must be easy and fast for me to maintain or organize. I'm not talking about getting the system set up in the very beginning, because I'm willing to spend a LOT of time doing things right and thoroughly in that department. I'm talking about day-to-day, week-to-week, divvying out the jobs, re-setting the chart, whatever. THAT part must be fast and easy, or I've found I just don't get it done. For example, for one of our (failed) systems, I had to remove chore cards from a plastic packet every day, for each child, and replace them with their new chore cards. It was the every day part that killed me.
3. I must be able to see, at a glance, if the kids have completed their chores or not (assuming they're being honest about it.) For one system, I made a very organized check-list that detailed from room-to-room what was to be accomplished on what days by what child. Yeah. It didn't happen.
4. It must be flexible, but not so flexible that it confuses the kids because there's no pattern to it.  A chore system that has no flex to it will kill us. One that has too much flex will get frustrating because no one knows what to expect.
5. It must be fairly easy for me to see what chores each child has each day. We tried each child's packets in their own rooms, but I couldn't ever remember if child #2 was today's kitchen helper, and child #1 had clean-a-toilet duty, or the other way around.

So, now that the rules are established, here's how it's set up...

• Our chart is set up for all 3 chore-age children for one week. (The 4th line is set up for future expansion when the Wee One gets old enough to re-stock the toilet paper.  For now, I'm supposed to be using that line for my OWN jobs....supposed being the operative word there....)  This is what our chart looks like at the beginning of the week, before any chores have been accomplished. (click on photo to enlarge)

• Each child has their own line, with 5 spots labeled Monday thru Friday.

• Each labeled "day spot" contains a stack of chore cards for that day. Each chore card details the specific chore to be accomplished, and usually has an image to go along with it. Here's Tuesday's stack for my oldest:

• What kinds of chores do I put on the cards? It varies. Like a LOT. 
• Our first attempt at the chore-card system 5 years ago, we included things like brushing your teeth, and putting your pajamas away. Why? Because those were serious tasks for 3- and 5-year-olds. 
• As they got older, the jobs got harder--I pulled the personal hygiene stuff because they had that down, but added things like vacuuming the living room, emptying the dishwasher, and gathering the trash. 
• Just recently it seemed like the older kids were getting a LOT of little tasks to do each day, so I decided to mix things up again and just do "Room of the Day" cards. They're actually doing more tasks than before, but it doesn't seem like it to them because their stack of cards is smaller than before. Plus, one walk into "their room" and I know if they've done a good job or not, rather than checking on several different chores around the house.
• How much and what kinds of things do I assign to each child?
• Although the cards vary from child to child, they can count on a certain pattern. For example, my oldest (age 10)  knows she has Reading Time and Math Facts every day. It may seem silly to include these things as "chores", and I really don't consider them as such, but this was a super-easy way for me to make sure she did them. Otherwise, I would forget to remind her, she would forget altogether, and 6 months later we'd realize she can't add 2+9. Anyway, she also knows she has a Room of the Day every day except Wednesday (lighter chores on Wednesdays because of other scheduled activities) and Friday. Just recently (after I took the photos), the Friday Room of the Day was replaced by the Take Out the Trash card, and the Clean the Shop card, the latter being a paid job. I know, a paid job should not be in a chore chart, but it helps us keep straight what days they do what things, and if we need to rearrange, we can. Sue me.
• My son (age 7) does not quite take a shower every day (yet...although that time is coming very soon) and he would/could go all week without giving a shower a second thought, so we include the Take a Bath card in his stack on his scheduled shower days. Not really a chore, but again, I don't have to think about it or remind him....usually. He also has Reading Time and Math Facts every day, and a Room of the Day schedule like his older sister. He goes thru spurts of forgetting regular hygiene items (won't his wife love that someday), so I'll throw those cards back in when I see a lag, until it becomes habit again.
• 
  My 4-year-old daughter's cards include Take a Bath, Study Awana (for the older two, that is one of their school subjects, so no Awana card for them), and she also has a Room of the Day, although she has the easiest rooms in the house. She is a diligent cleaner, so she was ready for the Room of the Day (especially if I'm not too picky) but I would imagine the average 4-year-old would do better with individual tasks like Restock the Toilet Paper in each Bathroom, and Dust the Stairs (both of which she was doing before.) You'll be amazed at what a pre-schooler can do if trained properly.
• I try to only pick chores that they can accomplish by themselves. For example, once I had "Mop the Sunroom Floor" as a chore, but the kids were young enough that I had to fill the bucket, haul it out to the Sunroom, and take care of it when they were done. This doesn't seem like much, but it is just much better if they can be completely self-sufficient, from start to finish. Trust me on this.
• Yes, I know, I'm kinda psycho about including clip-art or actual photos on my chore cards. That's just me. (And when we started using chore cards, my kids couldn't read, so they needed the pictures.) A chore method like this will work just as well with hand-written cards. Hand-drawn images or stickers would work, too. I did, this revision, resist the urge to laminate all of the cards...although some of them have already been returned looking like they were dropped into the toilet....

Here's how you run the chart...

• Monday morning just before or after breakfast, I move all of the star cards from the front (hopefully they're at the front of each stack, meaning all chores were accomplished) to the back of that stack, for the whole week. I also move the Room of the Day cards to the front. (see rule #2 on ease of maintaining) 

Monday Morning--before school and chores

• I think about our week and re-arrange, add, or remove cards as necessary. (see rule #4 on flexibility)
• The kids know that there are NO VIDEOS OR Wii until their school work AND chores are done for that day. So when their school work is completed, they check their stack and set to work on their own. (see rule # 1 on understanding and accomplishing) This is, of course, after the training period. (Again, more on that later.) 
• As they accomplish each chore, they move that card to the back of that day's stack.  I don't care if they do the chores in order, as long as they get done, and the star is in the front of the stack when they're done. (see rule #3 on checking at a glance)

Wednesday Afternoon--chores are "in-progress"

• At any point in the day, I can glance at the chart (which is hung in our hallway just outside the kitchen) and know who is done and who isn't. Because I put the Room cards in front, which are typically the only cards we switch around from week to week, I also can tell with a glance who has what job that day. But even if I had other "switchable" cards in the stack, a quick flip-thru of their cards would easily tell me what jobs they were to do that day. (see rule #5 on easy investigation)

Friday Evening--or at least what it is supposed to look like Friday evening!

Finally, more on the training period...

• One thing I can guarantee--ANY AND EVERY chore system will not live up to your expectations if you do not properly train your children to accomplish the exact tasks you are asking them to do. Do not assume they know how to do it. Do not assume they will know how to do it after you show them the first time. Do not assume you will not need to re-show them how to do it several times before they really "get it", or that you will not need to re-show them in 6 weeks when they're testing where the "this is not acceptable" line is.
• And for the love of raising the next generation's workforce, PLEASE teach them how to get OUT the supplies they need to accomplish the task, and (more importantly) how to PUT AWAY AND/OR TAKE CARE OF said supplies. Our motto around here is, "The job's not done until the stuff's put away."  I said that was our motto, not that we've got it 100% down yet. Know any adults who need this motto stamped on their foreheads. Yeah, me too. (Sometimes myself included.)

FAQ's...

• How did I come up with this?
•  I didn't. It is a modification of Teri Maxwell's Chore Pack System. If you think I'm intense about chores, you should meet this lady. Her book, "Managers of Their Chores."is a great resource and offers an excellent explanation of why chores are important to raising responsible adults.
• Where did I get the pocket chart?
•  It is a 28"x28" mid-sized pocket chart. I got my from Amazon here.  Any school supply store should have pocket charts.
• How do I come up with chores? What chores are appropriate for different ages, particularly young children?
• When we first started a chore card system, which was actually 5 years ago, I thought long and hard about what jobs simply needed to be done around the house. I went room-by-room and wrote everything down I could possibly think of. I mean everything, in specific detail. That list was very long. Then I added person hygiene items and the list became longer.  Then I thought about which jobs were critical that the kids, at their various ages, could accomplish. We assigned, tried it, and tweaked from there.
• How do I make the cards?
•  I use Photoshop and print on cardstock (and sometimes laminate), but Word would work, too. Any program in which you can make a box, add text and maybe images, and print, should work. Hand-made cards would work, too. The point isn't to make pretty cards (although that makes me happy) but to create a chore system.
• Do I pay an allowance for chores? 
• Ok, I know that is a loaded question. People have very strong opinions about this topic. I can just tell you what works for us because it makes sense to us, but I'm not out to convince you our philosophy is right and everything else is wrong. Ready? Here we go....
• We believe the purpose of chores is to prepare kids for adulthood. As adults, there are things we do because it is our personal responsibility. We don't get paid for them. (Wouldn't it be nice to get paid for brushing our teeth and making sure our clothes make it to the hamper??) But also, as adults, we have the opportunity to take jobs to make money. So.....
• Our kids do not get paid for regular chores. They also do not have a choice whether they do them or not. They just do. Well, they just do because they want to play the Wii and watch a video. And eat supper. Just kidding. I feed my kids, don't worry. We don't run a sweat shop around here.
• My kids also have two paying jobs--mowing the yard and cleaning the shop. These are things we asked them if they'd like to take on, for pay. We treat it like an adult job. Adult responsibilities, adult pay. If they don't do the job properly, they get sent back to finish or they don't get paid. We had been paying to have our yard mowed the last several years, so we try to treat them exactly like how we would have treated Tyler. They bought their own mower, pay for their gas and repairs, and give us an invoice each month for the same amount we were paying Tyler. When the tire went flat and was un-repairable, they paid for a new tire. We want it to be a real job for them, so when they get a real job with someone else as their boss, they will know how to act and what to expect.
• That said, they're still 10 and 7, and we're still their parents, so we take the responsibility of training them and doing certain things they simply can't do. Like picking up the new mower tire from the tire shop and putting it on the mower. What? You thought we made them carry it home on their backs and let them slave away all day putting it on??

Lastly, I thought it might be helpful if you saw some of our chore cards from over the years. I didn't include any of our Room of the Day cards. And before I close, if you're starting or revamping a chore system at your house, remember to consider what you want to teach your kids through the process of chores, and then figure out what kind of system will best do that within your family dynamic.