My son will be turning seven in just a few short weeks. He is at a great age to begin doing small chores around the home to teach him life skills and give him a sense of accomplishment. A chore chart for children and teens is a great way of helping them keep an organized list of their daily/weekly responsibilities and see what areas they are succeeding in and what areas can be improved. We recently tested out such a chart from Goalforit and it was so easy (and fun) to set age-appropriate and attainable goals for my son.
Setting up an account and chore chart at Goalforit is quick, easy, and FREE. Once you’ve registered an account and selected an age group, a list of age-appropriate chores will be offered. A few things I wanted my son to begin working on was dressing himself completely, picking up his toys, minding his manners, listening in school, and practicing his reading. Here is a sample chore chart from their website:
The charts are customizable according to themes and since my son loves anything to do with the military, we chose the camouflage chart theme. Once I chose the chores I wanted him to work on, for every day he completed them, we would fill in the circle with a star. At the end of the week, the results are tallied for each chore and you can choose to reward your child with a success sticker or a sticker that says they need more improvement, plus whatever reward you see fit. These charts can be used online or printed to use in your own home. You can also create an optional reward system for additional positive reinforcement that allows kids to earn points while they learn. If your child loves being rewarded (and what kid doesn’t?), then they will really like that feature. Their points are stored into a piggy bank and you can choose the rewards and how many points they have to earn to spend them.
For our own personal use, I haven’t activated the feature to earn points yet, simply because he gets a weekly allowance and we wanted to incorporate these new responsibilities into that. So far, he is being a lot more helpful. He still balks at homework, but I know it’s perfectly normal. I’m proud of his behavior in school (which is recorded in his folder and sent home daily) and he is taking more responsibility for his own self-care (bathing, dressing, brushing teeth). This chore chart seems to be motivating him a little more, but we still have plenty of work to do on picking up toys. I know he will get there eventually.
I work with children on a daily basis and I see the power that positive reinforcement can have on how they choose to behave and how focused they are on getting a job completed. I think this chore chart is an excellent motivating tool for any child and just might make your daily routine a little easier.
I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Select on behalf of Goalforit.com and received compensation for doing so. All opinions are strictly my own.
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
They designed that in a way that kids are sure to love!