Trying to Get Organized

accountablekids.com
I have a coworker that swears by it. He uses it with his almost 4 year old daughter. Mine are too young, but when they get older we will probably use it. Good Luck.

Hi M....I've got a 10 yr old and a 3 yr old. Here are some suggestions. Make your bed, clean your room, help dust, put your dishes in the sink, help with dinner, setting the table. Rewards: money, staying up a little later on the weekend, going out to eat for lunch at end of a good week, a trip to the dollar store, having a playdate. Give them stickers each day for a job well done and after receiving 5 of them (example) they get to pick one of the above...or you can just give them, say a dollar, for 5 stickers.

Hope this helps!

Good luck!
T.

I have 4 year old twin daughters. We started doing chores and keeping a routine chart when they were around 3. One of my daughters was diagnosed with autism and the whole routine thing was a big help for her. We started out just doing it for her and her sister wanted her own chart. As far as the daily routine you'll have to see what things you do on an everyday basis and start there. As far as chores go--I started with letting them put the clothes in the washer and from the washer to the dryer. My girls have a system--one takes the clothes out of the washer and hands to the other one who puts in the dryer. It takes about 10 times longer than normal,but they love doing it. Let them fold the washclothes and dishtowels. Noone sees them but you so it is ok if they are a little crooked. If you have pets-let them feed the pets. If they go to Pre-K let them help you organize their backpack-putting in notes and snacks. Every night the girls decorate a baggy with stickers and pick out their snack for the next day. Let them help carry in the groceries. I give the girls the pack of toilet paper or a box of crackers, chips, pop-tarts, etc. and let them carry in the house. They'll make 10 trips carrying items one at a time just to help. Wipe off the table after dinner. For a reward system-I went to Dollar Tree and bought a bag full of stuff I keep in the closet in a little bin. (Coloring books, sidewalk chalk, hair accessories, bubbles-whatever your kids are in to). We use the sticker system. Whenever the girls help out or do their chores they get a sticker to put on the board (and a couple of fruit gummies). When they have filled up the row they can trade in their stickers for something in the bin. We started out with about 4 chores and have worked up to 8. It soon became a competition to see who could get to pick out of the bin first. (Of course, we had to make some allowances for Julia) Hope this sparks some ideas for you.

if you have pets they could feed them each day, or help you put clothes up in their rooms, and make thier beds. also, cleaning windows is one, you spray they wipe. we put coins in our piggy banks for allowance, and also, would get a special treat or get a movie on friday nights to rent of our choice.

Hi M.! Don't know if you have a teacher's store near you, but I'm sure you could find some great items and ideas there! Good luck and make it fun!

I bought a magnetic responsibility chart at Target. It is great, it has several different chores, and things to choose from, and then the days of the week. If your child does the chore, they will get a magnet on that spot for that day. I got this for my daughter at 4yrs and it has been great. You can make the responsibilities adjust according to age. If she does good all week she gets $5.00. She will get rewarded for doing the chores, but if she does not do them, then she will get less money at the end of the week. We are teaching her to pay her tithes at church, and to save her money too, so she can buy things she has been wanting. This becomes several different lessons in one.

I actually bought a Reward Chart from a book order catalog while my son was in Kindergarten. It comes with stickers and you can use a dry erase marker to fill in the chores and rewards. If you were looking to create your own some of the ones I use are..
Do homework, Make bed, Set the table, Get a green, Feed the pet...
I find it helps to have a couple tasks that are part of their daily responsibility anyway so they are guaranteed some points, and also to throw in a couple of "extra credits"!! At 15 points we go for ice cream, 30 a new toy (just a little something!), and 50 we go to the movies. This is a really fun system for us and I hope it helps her get motivated in a fun way too!!! Also this site has free printable ones too AND coupons your kiddos can use for rewards too!!

http://childavenue.com/pages/family_corner_pages/printabl...

I think the chores suggested are good ones for your kids' ages. I like to use points to reward chores. Some chores are just chores you're supposed to do, and you don't get any points for them, but points are taken away for not having them done (like making your bed, putting away toys). Then the other chore points are weighted according to their difficulty or time taken to complete (cleaning the litter boxes earns more points than dusting one room).

The points can be traded in for a variety of rewards, with the reward value escalating the longer they hold on to the points. 5 points might be 50 cents. 10 a candy bar. But if they hold on to it for 25 points, they get to pick the pizza and movie for movie night. And they just get better and better. It teaches them the value of saving, and of delaying gratification, as well as working toward a goal. And it's not so difficult to delay gratification when they're holding points instead of money (money seems to burn a hole in my son's pocket, but he can handle hanging on the points...hoping the money will come later once the delirium of being able to earn things for himself wears off.)

another one I had for my gd's who I am raising as the youngest one was to help me take clothes to the washer, or to bring me the bathroom trash can, then put it back up, to feed the animals, which she loved, as I'm cleaning and something needed to go into another room, got them to help take those things to the proper room,
but no matter what the chore is we had fun doing it and she was always willing to help again.
she even liked helping me to stir the mix up for the brownies, or to stir something else up when I'm cooking....
helped me water the plants...
we had a jar that had chores in to see which one they were going to pick to help me with.