Getting Organized for Fall- Chore Charts

I have always loved fall. For me fall is my "fresh start."  I think it is because fall was the start of a new school year, and since I have spent the better part of my life in a school system, from Kindergarten to Graduate school, this is what feels natural to me I guess.

Even though I'm enjoying the choas  freedom of summer, taking the kids to the pool, traveling, picnics, etc.  I am really missing the weekly schedule we used to have during the "school year."  I am amped for this upcoming year.  I have kept Mimi in her dance class and added soccer to the mix.  We also are starting a Kindergarten homeschool curriculum, and plan to do some field trips and such with our playgroup.

I am excited to get back on a more regular gym "schedule" too.  Before our trip to CA and the wedding trip I took, I was hitting the gym 5 days a week.  I need to get back at this, because I feel amazing when I work out more.  The kids both really enjoy the YMCA.  Olive gets to see other kids and gets lots of hugs and holding, and Mimi enjoys the kid fit and the arts and crafts.  Trips to the YMCA will definitely be in our rotation for fall!

We are taking the month of August to get organized.  We are currently deciding which homeschool curriculum to try.  We have re-worked our budget and are going back to a cash/envelope based system for spending.  We are setting up our calendar to organize our weekly activities, and scheduling some fall camping trips.    I plan to blog about all of the above.

Here is one thing I finished today.

Mimi's new chore chart.  Mimi is now 4 years old.  In my opinion a child her age can be expected to complete the tasks we have chosen (maybe even more). I had seen this chore chart on a homeschooler blog (which you can print for free) and it seemed too intense for our needs.  Mimi has 4 tasks per day.  She is to feed our dog morning and night.  She is asked to clear her dishes after each meal.  She needs to clean up her room before bed each night. She needs to brush her teeth twice a day.  For every day that she completes the said task, she gets a star (something like these).  Now, you will see at the bottom that there are a range of allowances granted for her work on a weekly basis.  If she receives between 5-10 stars in a week, she will receive $1, 11-20 stars she will get $3, and >20 stars she will receive $5.

Originally I wanted to giver her $5 a week in allowance.  I thought that realistically, there are days she will not complete all of her tasks, and wouldn't warrant the full allowance, but certainly deserves some reward.  Hell, I don't even do all my "chores" daily sometimes.  I thought this would help her see that she reaps the benefits of her work.  The harder she works, the more she gets.  I am not sure if this will work, but we'll give it a try.

We also have stopped buying her things when we go out just because she asks.  I think I'm the culprit here on this bad habit. I grew up pretty poor, we never got "stuff" every time we went to the store just for asking.  When Mimi was 2 and 3 I got in the habit of rewarding her good behavior with a toy or treat every time we went somewhere, now she just flat out expects us to buy her stuff for no reason and throws fits when she doesn't get what she wants. Now we tell her to save her money and she can buy things with her own money, or wait for her birthday or Christmas.  This makes her feel excited to save, and in control of her choices.  She has her eyes set on a new princess dress (like this one).  We keep reminding her of how much it costs and how she can keep saving.

I'll have to check back with you all in a month or two and see if this is working.  If you want to know how I made this, I can easily do a post on it.  It can be personalized however you would like.

Do your children do chores? Do you give an allowance?