Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sanity Saving Routine Charts for Kids

It was the week before school was to start and I was dreading the inevitable fighting in the morning to get ready for school, the afternoon to do homework and the night to get ready for bed and the new day.

I was trying to forget about all that when I came across a post at New Nostalgia about routine charts. Now, we had tried chore charts in the past with no success. But, I decided to give it another go for the sake of my sanity and mother/daughter relationship.

I am glad to report that it has been a success for the past two weeks!! Maybe Kaylee just wasn't mature enough before, or maybe I was just too lenient for it to work before. Either way, it is so wonderful not to have to tell her step-by-step what to do every morning, afternoon, and night.

I thought about what reward to use and decided on an allowance system. She gets $0.50 for each that she completes every one of her tasks. She gets paid when we get paid, which is every two weeks. She can use her pay for the student store, book orders, Dollar General, whatever she wants. It is her spending money and once its gone, its gone.

Here's what we did for her charts:


I used DLTK's Custom Chore Charts to print them off. Then we pasted them onto colored posterboard. Kaylee decorated them with stickers and then I put them into a page-protector so she could use a dry-eraser marker and we could just wipe it clean at the end of the week. (I couldn't find laminating supplies at Wal-Mart.)

We taped them on the back of her bedroom door so that she has easy access to them.


Morning Routine:

Afternoon Routine:
Bedtime Routine:
I think you should be able to read what we have included in each of her routines. If not, let me know and I can type them out. Really though, you'll have to personalize them to suit your specific needs in your household.

I hope we can continue having success with this system. So far, so good!

Good luck to you! Let me know if you try it and how it goes.


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5 comments:

  1. Hey, great minds think alike! I just recently wrote a post on my kid's chores too (although I won't be posting it for a few days).

    I love how bright and colorful your charts are. I think chore charts really motivate kids, and mom can see if things are done instead of saying "Did you DO it yet?"

    Thanks for linking up to Making Your Home Sing Monday!

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  2. Thank you for sharing this! I'm headed there now to check it out. We need something like this to keep track of what we need to do and when etc. So glad to hear it is working with your family! Thanks again, and blessings to you.

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  3. I love DLTK - that is one of the greatest web sites! We use charts for my kids - it's amazing how well they work.

    Great blog!

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  4. Your charts look great! I really need to do this for my youngest. Thanks for the motivation!

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  5. What a great idea!!! I think I could even start a simple version with my 2 1/2 year old! Thanks for sharing!

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