Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Few things that I do around the house...

This blog post features a few things that I do around our house.  I love hearing what others do, so let me know if you have something that works for you and your kids.

Responsibility Chart:
I am always looking for new ways to improve things around our house in order to make things go more smoothly. and so I don't have to do everything by myself.    I have had a chore chart for my girls for almost a year now, but we forget about it and I just randomly pick someone to help me (whoever is closest to me usually).  My kids...including Easton now...cheerfully help, but it seems like I tend to put the burden on one person more than the other.  I hung the chart in our laundry room...a place I only like to visit twice a week, so we really didn't use the chore chart very much and it started to gather dust.  I read lots and lots of blogs and I came across a really cool example of a chore chart.  Using her ideas I was able to use my current chore chart and change it up a bit to make it a little more exciting for our girls.  I also hung it in their closet so we won't forget about it!  Each night I reward the girls with tickets for each assigned chore that they completed.  Once they get 15 tickets they can redeem it for a prize.  Prizes include a piece of candy, stickers, bouncy balls etc.  They also get a little sticker on their reward chart and once they get 6 of those they can get a bigger prize like ice cream or a pony ride at the zoo.  Some of their chores change each day, but some will stay the same like picking up their toys.  There is also a Bee-havior ticket...this is only given if they are extra good and don't get into trouble during the day.  I give two tickets for being extra good.  Here is a link to the actual blog post where I downloaded the idea:  Confessions of a Homeschooling Mom
This is what my chart ended up looking like.                                                                            


Quiet time!!!
Jocelyn doesn't take naps anymore and if I don't have something planned for her to do during naptime, she follows me around like a little puppy dog asking me to get things out and she drives me CRAZY...therefore for a few weeks I was not getting a break from our little ones until bedtime.  So I made up a whole bunch of cards with activities and she chooses three things that I will get out for her during naptime.  She then stays in our basement until naptime is over and works on her three chosen activities.  A break for me and some well needed quiet time to get things done!
 What things do you do that makes your house run a little smoother...and so you can have some quiet time?



4 comments:

  1. Is that the Melissa and Doug Responsibility Chart? I *Almost* bought that today!!

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  2. Do you have a printable you can share of the cards she choses activities from during naptime? I love them! That is a perfect idea that also gives them a visual of choices :)
    I also just made the chore chart from Confessions of a Homeschooler and just started using it today.

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  3. Yes, please, I would also like a copy of the quiet time activities, if possible.

    Thanks!

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  4. Linked over here from another blog looking at ideas for chore charts. Looks great! For now what we will implement - I have chores listed on cards and each day each child randomly picks one and that is their extra chore for the day. On top of that extra they have their "regular" ones that we really don't outline but rather just expect them to do (dirty clothes away, help put their clean clothes away, pick up whatever they took out, make their beds, etc). I am finding that simply outlining how much they are helping is enough reward for them and encourages them to want to do more! They are 4 and 7. I'm hoping to forgo the rewards part and stick to the helping part...but we'll see!

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