Charts, I Say!

Now that Sam has started school, it seems that our lives are now ruled by dots, little squares, and pieces of tape.

Sam has a behavior chart at school, and boy is she into it! Every day each child gets a colored dot depending on how well they behaved: BLUE - outstanding, GREEN - good, YELLOW - warning, and the dreaded RED dot - unacceptable.

Sam got all blue dots in August and could tell you exactly how many she had. She has only gotten one green dot to date. The day of the green dot she said, "Mom, I got a green dot today...but that's okay. That's okay, Mom." Yeah, some days are green dot days. In fact, I'm having one myself.

If you get all blue dots one week, you are part of the "A Club" and get to visit the treasure box. Hooray! More small junky toys at our house!

Since this system is working so well for her at school, I decided to start some charts here at home. We have a responsibility chart and a chore chart. I don't worry about the behavior part. I'm more concerned about consistently teaching my children how to work; something I've neglected up 'til now. Not to mention the fact that I've been needing some help with the housework.

I was a little worried about starting the charts, since I have a tendency to balk at schedules and such, but it's working very well. Every day the girls complete all their *responsibilities, they get to put a marble in a jar. When the jar is full, we have our very own treasure box to visit! Even more dollar store toys to enjoy! It takes about two weeks of hard work to fill the jar and we just had our first treasure box visit. I'm excited that it's working so well. I'm also excited that the chores I picked for the girls are dependent on me doing my own chores as well, so it's helping keep me in line and the house clean.

I tried to pick chores that would be age appropriate for Sam and Charly, as well as something I wouldn't mind helping them do...(It's all about me, right?)

Monday: Make beds/put sheets back on (I wash towels and sheets on Mondays.)
Tuesday: Take out all trash
Wednesday: Mop bathroom floors (I supposedly clean the bathrooms on Wednesdays.)
Thursday: Gather laundry
Friday: Fold/put away laundry (Clothes laundry is done on Friday.)
Saturday: Vacuum bedroom and toy room (Jon helps them do this, as he's the better and more particular vacuumer at our house.)

The era of charts has begun...how long will it last, I wonder?

*For those of you who are curious, their daily responsibilites include: make bed, brush teeth, pick up toys, daily chore, clear dishes and get dressed. Again, I tried to pick things that wouldn't be overwhelming to me.