New Chore Routines for Kids W/ School Starting

This is a good article on that very thing:
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/chores_for_school-...

But I think routines do keep us sane. My husband of almost 27 years just walked out on us and without routines my kids and I would feel even more lost. It gets us going, keeps us focused on other things. Kids thrive on routine. They do so much better if they know what is expected of them and what to expect.

You may want to do things like Monday is vacuum day so all things must be picked up on Sunday night before bed.

Wednesday Wash Day--laundry day. Things like that. And factor in a free day once a week.

They are old enough to help with dinner, cooking & set up/clean up. My kids love to do that. Now that I have older kids (I have 5, 3 are out of the house, and I have an 18yodd and 13yods at home) they take one night a week and cook the entire meal.

Charts are always good, kids love stickers. Come up with rewards for X amount of stickers, doesn't have to be expensive or even anything that costs money. Extra time on the TV/game, park with Dad.

You are helping them to become self-sufficient adults. I see far too many teens/young 20's that can boil an egg, clean a toilet or organize themselves. It's a shame.

Best of luck to you.

We don't have to transition to school time chores, because our chores never change :)

I have 3 boys and they all have chores. I place their chores in my computer calendar. They switch off days doing some things- like sweeping the kitchen floor, dishwasher and hand washing of dishes. Its all on the calendar so there is no question who's day it is to do what. I print out a new calendar every month and tack it to the refrigerator. Other chores are only once a week and are usually done on the weekends (cleaning the bathrooms and laundry) except for trash- that's on trash day.

We tie their chores to their allowance. If they do not do their chores or do not do them well, they do not get paid. Plain and simple.

This is the easiest system I have some up with. We have been able to keep up with it, because I can electronically set it up once avery 6 months or so (we are flexible enough to change the chores as schedule allow) and just print out a monthly calendar. You can do it weekly, if you want.'

Some of the chores I have my boys do-
Their own laundry
dishwasher
handwash (pots and pans and things that can't go in the dishwasher)
clean the yard before Daddy mows
feed the animals
change the catbox
vacuum
sweep
swiffer
clean their bathroom

Mine are older, so they can do more. I refuse to raise boys that can't take care of themselves. There are some things the are expected to do that they DO NOT get paid to do- cleaning up the living room and their bedrooms, for example.

Hope this helps. It works for us!

my daughter comes home has her snack & then must do her chores before going outside to play, she has to unload the dishwasher & put her clothes away (although sometimes i wait until the weekend to do most of her laundry) then she can go out & play with her friends until dinner...this works for us, but we also dont go a lot of places in the evenings, if you do it probably wouldnt work for you...

LOL did you see the news article online about the 11 year old boy in Germany who called the police to report his mother for forced labour? She had asked him to clean up the patio. He kept threatening to report her, and then he did!

my kids follow a routine list each morning that needs to be accomplished before we walk out the door. it takes them about an hour to get ready.
10 min - dressed 10-min to eat 10 min - to make beds, pick up floor, and any little mess in their room. 10 min to brush teeth and hair 10 min- packing up lunches and bags. 10- min to watch tv and then off we go. Aside from that morning routine... they clean the playroom and help with THEIR clothes for laundry on weekends. Sometimes they gather garbage cans around the house to empty and once in a while help cook a meal. They get $5 a week if all goes well.

But I stress the morning LIST so you are not following them around nagging at them if they did this or that...........just write it down and ask if they did everything on the list. It works great !

MIne do them in the evening.
On weekdays they have to either do the cat, dogs or kitchen.
So right now, at 8:30, one is scraping the cat box, one just let the dogs out for their last nighttime potty, and one is doing the dishes.
Sometimes the dishes only get rinsed and put in the dishwasher.

Mine are older preteen/teens.
They do chores after dinner for the most part, right before showers and bed. Dog person lets them out whenever they need to go and feeds them. Cat person makes sure they are fed and scrapes the box.

Set the precedence now and remind them daily. It takes a while but they do get the hang of it and start to let the others now who is to do what on which day. I use colored markers on the family calendar.

Instead of things to "take away", think of things they can earn by doing their chores. My kids earn video game time during the school year. They are only allowed to play on the weekend if they have earned the time through good behavior and cleaning up. Use your imagination and come up with others.

Rewards for chores getting accomplished works better than taking away stuff when they don't get accomplished. See what fun things they want to do next weekend. Tell them what needs to get done in order for those things to happen. Is one of your kids into details and charts? Maybe that child can keep track of what gets done and if enough points have been earned (or whatever system will work for you).

Let hubby do "first day back to school" without the routine while you wait at the local Starbucks to deliver the missing items to school!