CHORES

 A line in our book discussion caught my attention. It said that as we mature we begin to initiate. She was talking about ministry and loving....but I instantly realized THAT was a part of the problem around here. For YEARS I've had youth that initiated work without having to be told exactly what to do. They were well trained. They were mature. I knew I needed to work on the youngers with training and have been...but the maturity will take time to come. However, the upper grammar/dialectic students should be maturing to the point that they will self-initiate a chore that needs done. I needed to sit down and spell out this goal. I did.

I trained our older children by using the "Side Tracked Home Executive" method. It worked. My home ran wonderfully for over 15 years with this method. We quit using the cards when it was second nature to do the chore right. It also became a pain to have to rewrite cards every few years when we changed homes.

The cards DID work! Instead of saying "clean the kitchen" I had 10 cards with specific tasks on each one. There were other cards at lunch etc. I had cards for EACH room. Each chore was broken into tiny steps....it worked well. Specific little steps for each job...we were well trained and working together well. Even the smallest child coud find ONE card to do to contribute.

Two years ago I realized that I'd not taken the time to be sure the younger ones were learning things as well as the older ones. This was discovered when the girls left home. ::snort:: I took specific steps to fix this. I now ask the youngest child possible to help (instead of the oldest) and so am training the youngest at all times. I pair a younger with an older for chores. That worked.

Now the two oldest at home are working long hours and taking many classes. Time to readjust. During the school year Arielle, Nolan, and myself handle meals, clean up, and laundry during the day so the high schoolers are free to work. I knew we'd need a summer schedule...but now with Jamin working....we need a total revamp.

Mike and I have talked. I really dread the card thing again. BUT I know that having each job clearly spelled out was key. He loved the way the card thing worked. He understands why I dread taking the time to make all the cards. I have a plan.

I want to have a main chore list. I then want to have a list for each room. On THAT list I want to put specific jobs. I want to laminate the charts. The little ones can't read...maybe clip art would be good....or maybe I'll simply type it all out because my system is built on the olders mentoring and training the youngers.....in other words Arielle could read the next job to Zander, I could read the next job to whoever.... This sounds like a lot of work but....

Before I had an index box for each person. I had zillions of index cards for each job and person.....I can do this list thing...it would be easier.

I have searched online for something like this and am drawing a blank. I don't want a chart that we X off when a job is done. I want a chart with each job listed for each room. Has anyone seen something like this?