On the job training – part 2 – My Job Chart

This summer, after I had made and laminated chore charts for everyone, I came across a link to this online job chart on Heart of Wisdom.  I clicked on it, hoping and praying that this is what I was looking for.  It was!

Here’s a blurb from the site:

Here’s what I love about it ~

Free: As of right now, there is no charge.  I am hoping it stays that way!

Easy to get started: It took less than an hour to set up my account, add all the kids, add jobs and rewards and show them how to use it. Instant gratification!

Customizable: I love it that you can add pictures of everyone.  I love to see their smiling faces. Plus the little ones can easily find their lists.  I can add the jobs and rewards I want from a pre-made list, or add a custom job or reward, including picture.

Adaptable: No more remaking a whole chart when I change the kids’  jobs.  Just a couple of clicks adds and deletes whatever I need and is instantly updated for the kids.

Printable: If you love having a hard copy, you can print out the lists in pdf form.  I find it a helpful reference if I don’t want to get on the computer to check what someone has on their list.

Kid-friendly: The kids can go on the site, check their jobs for the day, check them off, redeem rewards – all by themselves.  They love it because it’s on the computer.

Here are a few screenshots from our own personal site (click on them to see them larger) ~

Our home page – see what I mean about the smiling faces? ( I am only occasionally tempted to click where it says, ‘this is not my family’ 🙂 )

Each person has their own log in, so there’s no confusion about who’s jobs are what. We have a parental log-in that has everyone’s info included.

Look how easy it is to add jobs. Just check who’s job it is, what job, what day(s),

the point value and it adds it to their chart.

Here’s the kids favorite page – where we assign rewards. We like to mix monetary and activity based rewards.

The site has a new feature that allows you to assign rewards from amazon.com, but we don’t use that feature.

Here’s the kids’ second favorite screen – the message board.  They love sending messages to my husband and I and they really love receiving them.

When we first started using it, I would find my email inbox full of messages from them, most of them asking for us to send them a message 🙂

 

As you can see the interface is very user-friendly. It’s all point and click.

I get a ‘report’ emailed to me each evening with a summary of each child’s list that  includes  what jobs they checked off, what rewards they redeemed and how many points they currently have.  Of course, I can check all that on the site, too. It’s just a good reminder for me to keep track – which I need!

A few of ways we’ve adapted it for our children and their ages ~

• In my post yesterday, I mentioned that we don’t pay on personal jobs, like room cleaning, teeth brushing, etc. I do have those on their lists though, so they remember, I’ve just assigned a very small point value to those.
  
• For our 17-year-old: I have a simplified list for her on there. Obviously at this point, if she’s not brushing her hair and making her bed on her own, we have a problem.  I just include things like what days she needs to vacuum, what days I need to her to babysit, etc. It also gives her a chance to earn some pocket money or stuff like movie tickets, but I try to make hers more like a grown-up’s check list than a kid’s chore chart.
• For the 3 & 4 year-olds (non-readers) : The older kids help them when they log on. Their list is obviously a bit shorter, but they still love to go on and check things off and choose rewards and the older kids enjoy helping them do that.
• BLD/breakfast, lunch & dinner: the kids have gotten into the habit of checking their lists roughly each meal time (or right before or after). The job chart allows you to designate day or evening for each job, so this allows them to keep up with their jobs throughout the day.
• Surprise points: in the parent log-in section, you can adjust the points manually and it’s fun to periodically add points for something not on the list. For instance, our middle girls have been a great help in potty training the 3-year-old, so I told them I was adding some big points to their job charts as a thank you.
• Negative points: on the flip side, you can also deduct points for jobs not done satisfactorily, or ones that have been checked off in ‘error’.

There’s also a new feature that I have not used yet, called Save, Share, Spend that allows the kids to bank points, share by donating them to charity and ‘purchase’ rewards.  It looks promising, so I plan on checking into it more in depth soon, but here’s a peek.

So what did I do with those laminated charts? They were actually a great jumping off point for me to start the online job chart. I had already done all the thinking, so I just had to plug it in online. Here’s where I found those and a few other resources for the planning side of household management.  Be sure to share any great resources you’ve come across!

Printable chore charts from Homeschool Creations
Jolanthe has tons of great printables and her chore charts are a great option if you don’t opt for an online option, or if you use workboxes for home school, because they go hand in hand.

Junior’s Clubhouse by Dave Ramsey – love his no-nonsense  financial philosophies based on Biblical principals. That’s where we got the ‘commission’ idea.  Came across his kids’ money site researching for this post. He also has lots of other resources on there.

Doorposts-

Tricia has mentioned their great Bible-based resources before.  We’ve also used many of their products and loved them.

Managers of Their Homes – a great resource and encouragement for planning schedules and chores for your family. This really got the ball rolling for me. Having a workable schedule allowed me to  plan our chores accordingly. Love the printable on their website for a family schedule. We are still using it and will continue to do so. They also have a separate book – Managers of Their Chores – that I have not read, but if it’s like this one, it would be a great resource.