Are you looking for a way to get chores under control in your home? Chore charts can be a great way to help keep your children on track so they understand what you expect from them. Here are some tips that you may find beneficial when creating and implementing chore charts for your household, followed by links to free charts provided by LTK for you to use.
Eight Tips for Using Chore Charts in Your Home
1. Ask Your Children for Ideas
Give your children some choices about the kinds of chores they will be doing. In every household, there will be some chores that no one really enjoys, but need to be done just the same. The fair thing to do is to rotate the chores that need to be done so that one person doesn't get stuck with the "yucky" jobs all the time.
2. Decide How Chores Link to Privileges
For some families, chores are something that everyone is expected to do, simply because they are a part of the family unit. For others, whether the children receive an allowance is based on how well they complete their chores. Another option available to you is to assign a point system to different chores and once the children accumulate a certain number of points, they can use them to get something they want or to do an activity that the whole family will enjoy. Whichever strategy you decide to use, choose one and stick with it.
3. Make Charts Easy to Read
You will want to make sure that you and your children can take a quick look at the chart and know what chores need to be done and which ones have been completed. You can use check marks for this purpose or use stickers. Again, let your children have a say in the way this is handled. If they will be more motivated if you use colorful stickers, then that is the right choice for your family.
4. Set the Right Example
It's important for parents to do their own chores to set the right example for their kids. Children pick up on how their parents behave more than what they say, and if you regularly decide not to do your own chores, your children get the message that they really aren't all that important. There may be circumstances where you don't get things completed in a timely manner, such as when a family member is ill or an emergency happens. When these situations come up, explain to your children that you are not slacking off doing your own chores and that you will get back on track as soon as you can.
5. Provide Positive Feedback
Provide your children with positive feedback when they do their chores. Notice when your children do something right and compliment them on it. It can be easy to get into a rut and only talk to them about their behavior when you need to discipline them. If you make a point of giving positive attention as well, they are more likely to continue to do their chores the way you expect them to.
6. Monitor and Change as Necessary
If the first set of ideas for chore charts you try isn't working, then try something else. It may take a bit of tweaking before you come up with a system that works for your family. You know your children best and what will work best for them. If you need to have separate charts for each child to keep them motivated, then that is an option to consider.
7. Teach Children How to Perform Chores
It's not enough to simply assign your children to certain chores. You will also want to make sure that they know how to do what you would like them to do. If they aren't able to do their chores correctly, they may become frustrated and will not want to continue. Work with them to make sure that they can perform the activity or give them something else to do.
8. Establish Consequences for Not Doing Chores
If your children don't do their chores as assigned or don't do them correctly, there needs to be consequences for their actions. Make sure that they are aware of them and keep them consistent every time the child doesn't behave the way you expect. That is how they learn responsibility.
Printable Chore Charts from LTK
Now that you have some ideas for creating and using chore charts, take a look at the printable chore charts from LoveToKnow Kids. You're sure to find one that motivates your child into doing chores.
