3 Take Aways for Family Work

After listening to a podcast called "3 in 30", I thought about what 3 tips (or take-aways) I could give other moms for getting their children to be helpful with the family work.
1- ORGANIZE/PLAN the work. Make routines and assignments.
This is so helpful in avoiding resistance- your children know what is expected- it's not just your whim at a given moment and they know it's fair.
(Some ways I have currently organized the family work are:
a. FOOD- everyone plants and cares for a section of the garden + everyone helps with harvesting
-everyone plans+ prepares meals- each person has a dinner night and a breakfast day once a week
-everyone helps clean up after meals (each person has a day of the week that is they are in charge of loading the dishwasher, next day wash dishes, dry dishes, wipe table, sweep floor, wiipe stove/counters.. they earns extra snacks by cleaning up after meals (They each have a snack shelf)
b. CLOTHES- everyone has a laundry day- they do their own load that day and earn $2 towards clothes/hygeine
c. HOME/YARD- everyone does a large work job on Sat morning before play (we call it "Saturday Suds") and they rotate each week. They earn $6 towards clothes/hygiene. (Mow(winter=repair job), Edge(winter=deep clean), Floors(Sweep,mop,vacuum), Bathrooms(all 4), Vehicles(inside+out)
2- REWARD/PAY them for their work and have them use the reward to meet their NEEDS/Wants.
They can learn young that their are rewards for work. (Food, Play, Clothes, Money)
They can learn to budget their money- especially if they have needs they need to pay for themselves so that it can't just be wasted with no negative effects on them.
3- TRAIN/TEACH and work with them.  Be willing to put in the time and patience to teach them to fish and not just fish for them.  It is an investment that will pay off in the long run- they will have more skills, be better prepared to serve their current family, future family, and others.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT JEOPARDY

I made a jeopardy game for family night this week that reviews the sermon on the mount
(Matthew 5-7). I thought I would share the link
Sermon on the Mount Jeopardy

COVENANT OF PEACE

Lately, we have been trying to establish peace and kindness constantly in our home.
We have each person promise at our evening prayer, that they will be kind all day the next day and keep the peace. They put their name in the jar and if they are kind at the end of the next day, they get a treat for being sweet (usually a bowl of ice cream or a 15 min fun computer game)
It is helping a lot - one day at a time...

GRADING RELATIONSHIPS
Another way we are rewarding keeping their covenant of peace focuses on their relationships between each person in the family.
I decided to cut out friends for a while and focus on family.
I sat down with each of them and graded their relationship was with each family member.
If they have A's and B's with everyone, they can play with friends-home or away
If they have C's, they can play with friends at our house- where I can supervise them
If they have D's or F's, they don't get to play with friends-they need to strengthen their family
- Here's how they move up... if they are kind all morning long, they can move a step (C- to C)... that's only for the people they were absolutely peaceful and respectful towards. Then we repeat it again in the afternoon and evening *(There are 3 grading periods).
-They can move down at any time by being disrespectful- saying or doing mean things... and it can move down more than a step... depending on the severity... I grade at regular times each day...not in the moment when I might judge annoying things too harshly.

-I also link this to phones... To have a phone, you need to be consistently kind to family (the overall qualifications for a phone are RESPONSIBLE + EMOTIONALLY MATURE... see this link:
Cell phone readiness)