Habits: Earning Priveleges

We are near the close of our school year, and it is always this time of year that I notice our dc are becoming lax in their chores (usually because I have become lax in checking them).  We don't allow the dc to watch much television, so being able to watch a children's video, or being able to do computer, are things our dc look forward to doing when they can.

So, rather than just allowing the dc to play computer for around 30-45 minutes each day as I had been doing during these long winter months, I decided to have them begin to view computer time and video watching time as a privilege to be earned each day.

I have simple charts the boys are to follow each day.  Each child has a body check, a room check, and a chore chart to work through each day.  I decided to award up to 10 minutes for each of these (which results in a maximum amount of 30 minutes of time), as well as up to 10 minutes for cheerful / excellent / complete work in school, and up to 5 minutes for "extra effort" (which is my way of encouraging our dc to "see work on their own").  On a very good day then, they could earn at most 45 minutes of computer time or video watching time (they can choose which they want to do each day), which is what they were doing anyway before without earning it.

We are only 4 days into this, but I cannot tell you the difference in their attitude and work effort toward these things!  They feel proud of their work and what it is "earning" them, and I am so happy with the change.  It DOES require me to jot down the time they earned, but this is worth it as the results have been amazing!  Here are the little forms I made for each of the dc....

I cut these apart and stapled them together in a packet of 5 for Monday through Friday for each child.  I had to laugh as today is Saturday, and they brought me the little packet and told me they were ready for me to check their charts!  They also informed me they had cleaned the whole playroom and picked up and vacuumed the living room in order to earn their "extra effort" minutes - they also brought me a cup of coffee.  They asked if they could earn extra "extra effort" minutes this way as there would not be "school" minutes awarded since it was Saturday.  I didn't even intend to do this on the weekends, but why not?  As I am sipping my coffee right now sitting in a clean living room with my dc happily earning their computer privileges - I am thinking, why not on the weekends too?

This can work in many ways and can be tailored to fit your needs and goals as a family.  First, just start by figuring out what needs to be done in the home as far as chores/habits.  Then after clearly teaching how to do these chores/habits, "prized privileges" can be identified.  These privileges can then be earned by completing the chores/habits you've taught.  I hope this concept of "earning privileges" can help some other busy moms too!

In Christ,
Julie