When to make a New Chore Chart

with Example in the Resource Library

Is it time to make a new chore chart for your family?  It was for mine this week. We’ve had some changes in the household since Christmas, and it was time to settle into a better routine of chores.

Over the years, I’ve made all kinds of chore charts for our family.

Several Reasons I’ve found the need to change chores for our family include:

• As the children get older and are able to do more things.
• When someone needs to learn a new skill.
• If they are ready for a change.
• When we move to a different house with a different layout for “Room Chores”.
• If our schedule changes for any variety of reasons- and the people responsible for certain chores needs changed.
• When older children move out and leave a gap.
• If older children move back in and take on a responsibility again.
• When the children start to squabble about a chore and the system needs a shake-up.

Assigned Chores

I like to have assigned chores for an extended period of time so that there is continuity in our daily life.  Assigning chores this way means that everybody learns to quickly know who does what, and expectations are met. The assigned person learns to do a chore well and to do it quickly.

Teaching chores to help your children succeed

Household chores are part of life, and I think that we help our children by teaching them how to do things and to do them regularly. A person’s education is something that can’t be taken from them, it’s always in their head—for better or worse. When you teach your children well, it helps them to succeed in the long run.  If you don’t feel like you learned how to care for a home and family as well as you could have, you can learn right along with your children. It’s never too late to learn new things!

Home Management: Plain and Simple

I write more about home management, getting your family on board with the work of a home, and how to teach new chores to your children in my book Home Management, Plain and Simple.  If you already have the book, open it to the chapters on chores for a quick review.  

I’m putting our latest chore chart in the Free Resource Library.  For perspective, this is for a house in a suburban neighborhood and the ages of the children doing these chores are 17, 15, 13, and 11.