Managers of Their Chores (or habits! )

Yesterday we were blessed to to have the Maxwell family from http://www.titus2.com/ come and visit a local Baptist Church on their way home from the PA Chap Homeschool Convention.

We enjoyed not only the tools and gained some great ideas but also the message they gave.We miss the teaching on the home.We would love to be apart of a homebased type church again but there is none in our area. So it was worth the hour drive to hear the Maxwell family for us on a Monday night. The wisdom they gave we have heard before but it still was music to our ears.

I already own Managers of the Home but the Managers of Their Chores was on my hit list for this year. I was told the Duggars use this system too and on the TV show you can see the chore packs attached to the children. I have only watched the Duggars one time.We are not much of TV watchers but I would love to see their show since they are an ATI family :O). So we purchased Managers of Their Chores and Preparing sons which were both on my hit list for this school year. No shipping and what a perfect time for me because we are done with school and I can take the time to teach & train concerning chores.

So today we had a round table session and began to organize our habits using this system. We discussed daily, weekly, & monthly chores. Today we got done the daily chores and divide up the house for the Saturday Weekly Chores.Tomorrow if we don't go to the zoo we will break those rooms down in more details. I plan to blog as we work through the habit system.

I then pulled out the chore backs and began to make them.In the book there is tons of examples, direction, and scripture that encourages you in the fruit of forming these life long habits.

So what is a chore pack? A chore pack is simply small cards made of cardstock with their chores and life long habits are placed inside a name badge.There is a template in the book that fits in the name badge perfect. The little ones that can't read I google imaged pictures to place for them. Here are some samples.

Nehemiah's is simple school, brush teeth , and make his bed. It may not be perfect but each year as he grows we can work on that but my goal is a life long habit.

Jobs I added pick up the toys.I also choose a picture with the teeth brushing that shows the inside of the teeth being brushed too.

Angelo who is 7 will use Clorox wipes to wipe down the sink & toilet daily. He will also once a week vacuum the house.

The older kids who can read I simply write on the card. Bible reading is included with their chores because this is definite a lifetime habit I want them to form.They have already formed this habit but it still is worth placing in the chore pack. Another idea I got from the Maxwell's is assign other sibling to do drills etc. I loved this idea so in their chore packs I also have drill time with a sibling. My examples

• Dominic-drill Angelina & Daniel Multiplication


• Joseph~ work with Daniel & Angelo their Bible memory verses


• Angelina~ phonic flash cards with Job & Nehemiah


• Daniel~ addition flashcards with Angelo

You can do spelling, older students Latin prefixes, etc. I just loved this idea because it is something that I want to accomplish daily but find it is not accomplished.That is the great thing about the chores packs you can personalize them to your family needs both in house cleaning & school.

The chore packs come with everything you need : cardstock, name tags etc.

I then placed the completed chore packs in the school room were I spend most of my time.It over looks the living room so it is were I work from mostly. I attached the chore packs to a piece of cloth and in the morning they will attach the chore packs to their clothes on the bottom of a t-shirt, sleeve etc. to remind them. I will also have a Master chore list to check them and can look at the chore pack to see if they moved their cards.I forgot to mention as they complete the chore they place he card in the back to get the next task.

One of the things that blessed me is when Terri said I used to feel guilty to make my children do chores but the Lord showed me these are life long habits that we are preparing them for when they are adults. That hit me because both me and my husband both were never taught these life long habits and it has affected us as adults. I want my children to have success in this area because for the rest of their lives they will need these skills. I also explained this to my children so they understand we are not having them do chores to be our slaves but out of love for them in preparing their future. When I began today I called a round table session and stated my problem.I allowed them be apart of organizing the system.I want them to look at problems or weaknesses and learn to evaluate, break it down, and finally organize to manageable tasks to get the job done. This will help them if they area homemaker, manager, worker, serving in the church, etc. What a wonderful way to learn how to work as a team & have a servant heart!