Doing chores around the house helps teach your homeschool students multiple life skills. It is an important part of growing up to know how to make your bed, arrange your closet neatly, have your play things put away, and take out the trash. In order to keep track of who is doing what, as well as how often and when a chore chart is a good addition to the homeschool classroom. Here are some tips on developing a good chore chart.
Divide it by Time of Day
Make the chore chart in three sections of Mornings, Afternoons and Evenings. This allows you to segregate the chores that are specific to a time. After all we want the homeschool student to make their beds in the morning and not in the evening just before getting into bed again! By keeping the chores time specific you can ensure that they have a built in deadline as well.
Separate the Paid and Regular Chores
Some chores around the house are individual specific and must be performed by the students themselves. These are the regular chores such as making their own beds, tidying up toys after play time, doing their own closet organization, etc. Other chores are common to all those who live in the house. This can be a paid chore for the homeschool student to earn some pocket money. The chores could include loading the dishwasher, folding the laundry, carrying out the trash, and watering the lawn.
Have a Tracking System
It’s no use putting up a chore list like a to-do list and having your homeschool students forget to do half of what they have been asked to. You need to have a day to day reckoning system where you get a clear visual of the number of times the chore has been successfully performed in the month, on what dates it was performed and so forth. This can be done with a monthly calendar crossed with the list of chores. Add stars or stickers for each date that a chore is successfully completed. Also have incentives for doing the chores regularly.
