Operation Organization: Children & Chores

Originally written October 6, 2008

Operation Organization:  Children & Chores

A couple of weeks ago I wrote to you about scheduling.  So, how did you do? Did you make a schedule?  For the first time in my life, I can say that I have a workable schedule. Praise the Lord!

So, next on our list of organizational tasks is to get those blessings to help out with  the chores.  If you’re like me, you’ve tried chore charts, chore books, chore tags, chore rewards, chore punishments, nagging, harassing, begging, crying and finally gave up in frustration.  Oh, I hear you!  I have tried and bought it all!

“If any man lacks wisdom…”

I asked and  He answered.  Remember, what I share here is what the Lord guided me to do. It  may or may not work for your family. Ask God if anything needs to be changed to meet your needs.   

Having said that, welcome to Operation Organization: Children & Chores!

With this method of chore assigning, you will not be giving children individual chores. Instead, you will be giving them zones to clean.  It’s as simple as following the steps below!

I. Determine your needs.  What areas (zones) need to be cleaned?  Do you have more children than zones or more zones than children?  Are some of the children too young to take a zone? Consider teaming them up with an older sibling.  Do not make bedrooms a zone as each child should clean his/her own room on a daily basis anyway. See note below.

II.  Designate the task.  Once you have determined your cleaning zones, go through each one individually and designate what jobs need to be done within that zone.  For example, one of my zones is the kitchen. Within that zone, I have assigned the following tasks:  fill/empty dishwasher, wipe down table after meals, sweep floor, wipe down appliance fronts.  You may have more or less for a child to do, depending on their age and the need.  

III.  Decide who goes where and for how long.  I have three girls, ages 10, 6 & 6. There isn’t any job in any zone that any one of them couldn’t accomplish.  I also have three zones (kitchen, living room, main bathroom).  So it works out perfectly!   I chose to assign their zones for one month at a time. My reasoning is two-fold:  First, changing things on a weekly basis is overwhelming to me.  Second, I feel that a month at a time gives me time to work on problem areas and teach them to do a job properly.

IV.  Display & Direct:  Last step!  Make up display cards to put in each zone. They don’t have to be big.  Just list either by words or pictures (or both) the tasks to be accomplished and laminate the card.  The first couple of times, make sure you’re there to direct them in the steps and how it should be done.  From there, the cards will serve as reminders.

And that’s it!  It’s as easy as determine, designate, decide, display & direct!    Let me know how it works for your family!

Note:  I assign each of my girls a “morning routine” which includes bedrooms. It looks like this:
Get dressed
Make bed
Eat breakfast
Brush teeth & hair
Pick/put away laundry
Pick up toys

Each child gets a laminated card, tacked to the wall of their bedroom, just like the one’s you are making for your zones.  This way, nothing gets forgotten. Hope that helps! 

© Adorning Grace 2010