How to Write an Effective Chore Chart

In this article you will learn how to get better behavior out of your children by having them help you make a chore chart.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Markers, colored pencils or crayons

1. Decide what it is that your children want all the time. Many kids are motivated by computer time.

2. Sit down with your children and explain to them that you are making chore charts so that on "Point Day" if they have enough points they get a set number of minutes on the computer.

3. Next, figure out what the "chores" will be, and figure out which day will be "Point Day." Put both the chores and unacceptable behaviors in a list on the left, make one chart per child. For example: brush hair, brush teeth and take care of dirty dishes. Then figure out what bad behaviors your children have and add these to the chore chart as well. This is where they will lose points for their unacceptable behavior. For example: whining, fighting, not listening and potty mouth. Write the positive point chores in green and unacceptable behaviors in red.

4. 

   Across the top of the page, put the days of the week, starting with the day after your "Point Day." In this example, point day is Sunday so the would look like:Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Point Day Sun

5. Now, you decide on the point system. For example, for computer time you could use the following, keeping in mind the children will only get the computer on Point Day and only for the specified number of minutes based on the amount of points they received:0 - 5 pts = 10 minutes on computer6 - 10 pts = 20 minutes on computerAnd so on and so forth.

Tips & Warnings

• For certain chores, you should put a max number of points clearly explained.
• Always use green for the positive points the children get.
• Always use red for the bad behavior points the children get.
• Be prepared to follow through. Say no to whatever the points are going to be used for. It's hard sometimes to say no, so be prepared.

[hlthychoclitnut]

on 12/25/2008 I used a chart similar to this. I wish I'd thought of number 5.