Chore Wars

The generation-old battle between parent and child and the completion of chores continues on in my household.  My kids are fairly good at getting things done, but they often rush through it just to get it done, skip steps, etc. 

A couple things I've learned about my kids:

• They are easily distracted (like raccoons and shiny objects)
• They do better when they only see what they need to do, and are able to check off when things are done
• They like knowing ahead of time what is expected of them
• They do better when they can touch, feel, physically check something off, etc

We used to have a weekly chore list, and they'd check it off each day.  Some of the chores alternated between the two of them, and we found that they'd often get confused who was doing what on which day. 

I came up with the idea of a small, individual checklist.  I bought 1/2 sized clipboards at Wal-Mart.  I made chore lists for each day, then put them back to back on a piece of construction paper and laminated them w/ the self-lamination sheets you can get at the store.  They have chores for Mon-Sat.  They use a dry-erase marker to check of when they're done, then they will get a parent signature to verify that it is done to expectation.

At the end of the week, they will turn in their clipboards and we will calculate their allowance based on the percentage of the work that they completed.  For example, if they did 80% of their work, and their allowance is $5, they will get $4.   We still haven't figured out the amounts, I'm trying to determine what would work best.

Here are some great links and resources for chores as well:

Age appropriate Chore List: http://www.familyroi.org/Family_ROI_Age_Appropriate_Chores.pdf
Online, interactive chore chart: http://www.chorewars.com/