These posts written by Todd (Amy’s husband) are designed to model a system of purposeful living. At least once a month, he spends time setting meaningful goals around one of seventeen core priorities.
If you missed it, consider reading the foundation post – Purposeful Living #1.
Correct Priority
Priority #5 – Children (Emotional Health)
Goal – March 2012
Invest in the emotional health of my children by revising our chart, chore, allowance, and behavior system. Specifically this means:
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Revising our list of morning, afternoon, and evening routines/chores.
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Developing an easier system of connecting routines/chores to an allowance. The system must be easy to record and monitor.
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Developing effective and easy to implement consequences for misbehavior.
Goal Status
Completed
DAILY ROUTINES
ORDER – Obedience – Kindness – Peace – Honesty = BOWMAN FAMILY BEHAVIOR PLAN
Our method for managing the behavior of our children is captured in five words.
ORDER refers to Daily Routines (Charts), Chores, and Allowances.
Own System
There are many chart systems out there, but none of them connected charts to an allowance in the very specific way we wanted. So we created our own chart, chore, and allowance system.
Daily Routine Charts
A routine is something necessary, but simple, that is done nearly every day. Routines typically take just a few minutes to complete. If the activity takes several minutes, it may not be a routine, but rather a chore.
A chart system is perfect for routines because instead of following your children around nagging them to do things like brush their teeth or make their bed, you can just tell them to go do their chart.
A good chart system both teaches responsibility and makes a positive difference in keeping a home organized. The expectation is they complete the entire chart correctly. If they choose not to complete it properly, they receive a consequence.
In our case, Amy & I create new charts as often as we feel we need to, usually at the beginning of each school year. The routines are always changing based on the ages of our girls and based on our own experience of things we consider important.
Below is a list of the routines found on our charts for morning, afternoon, and evening.
Morning Routines
Click here for an editable version of our Morning Routine chart
Allowance – Carried Over
Allowance – Upon Completion
No Screens
Breakfast
Clear Dishes
Vitamins
Dressed
PJ’s Away
Make Bed
Hair
Brush Teeth
Homework In Backpack
Backpack Ready
Lunch Box Ready
Shoes Ready
Coat Ready
Pick Up Personals
Allowance Total
Afternoon Routines
Click here for an editable version of our Afternoon Routine
Allowance – Carried Over
Allowance – Upon Completion
No Screens
Shoes In Basket
Backpack Emptied On Table
Backpack Hung Up
Lunch Bag Hung Up
Snack
Snack Cleaned Up
Allowance Total
Evening Routines
Click here for an editable version of our Evening Routine.
Allowance – Carried Over
Allowance – Upon Completion
No Screens
Snack
Pick Up Personals
PJ’s
Dirties In Hamper
Clean Clothes Hung Up
Brush/Floss
Clean Sink Area
Devotions
Chores
Allowance Total
Chore Chart Definitions
Allowance – Carried Over: Our girls earn a small allowance each time they successfully complete a chart. This box keeps a running total of the amount they have earned.
Allowance – Upon Completion: This box indicates how much they will earn upon successful completion of the chart.
Allowance Total: Allowance–Carried Over + Allowance-Upon Completion = Allowance Total
Here is the board we use. It is in a very central location in our home and works really well.
We print out our charts, laminate them, and attach them to our white board with magnets. They are not pictured above, but fit perfectly under the area where we list daily chores for out girls.
To learn how Amy put their names on the board, click here.
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Build Your To-Do List Around Correct Priorities – Purposeful Living #1
Purposeful Living Outline
Additional Posts In This Series
