Simple Mom » chores

A Preschooler’s Allowance

Tsh — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:00:12 +0000

As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve started giving our three-year-old daughter an allowance in exchange for simple household chores.

Photo by Michele Catalano

I know that $2.45 weekly isn’t going to buy much more than M&Ms or a bouncy ball. But that’s not the point. The point is, we want our kids to start learning how to manage money early.

I’m a Dave Ramsey-ite, but this idea is not trademarked by him. The basic concept of giving, saving, and spending has been around for generations, and we want to keep it that way in our family. The sooner our children understand that our money is given to us by God, and that out of thankfulness, we give some of it back, the easier it will become a lifelong habit.

Saving money likewise requires discipline, and to practice the art of paying yourself first, even from the 17 nickels like we did last week, will reap benefits that far outweigh whatever could be bought with 1.7 coins.

So when we give our daughter her allowance (or commission, or whatever you want to call it), we count the stickers on her chore chart, and then count out the same amount of nickels. We then tell her how much goes into the giving jar, and how much goes into the saving jar. The rest goes into the spending jar.

Her spending money can go towards whatever she wants. That means that yes, if she’s in the grocery cart and she wants those gummy bears, she can buy them if she has enough money. But it comes out of her spending jar. (A side note: Of course we take care of her needs, and yes, we buy her gifts from time to time. Not a lot, but we aren’t expecting our three-year-old to fend for herself financially. That would be nice, though, wouldn’t it?)

We haven’t used this system long enough to really see the longer-term benefits, but friends of ours who use this method have nothing but good things to say.

There’s a guy in his mid-30s from our church back in the States who bought his family’s Suburban with 100% cash from his childhood allowance. We don’t really have those kind of expectations for her giving and spending goals, but again, the account balance is not the point. The point is cultivating a habit in preschool that’s hard for grown adults to do. Hopefully, her heart will follow.

Isn’t that a great gift to give your kids? It really is all about changing your family tree, one small thing at a time.

How do you work out money with your kids?

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Chore Chart for Preschoolers

Tsh — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:00:03 +0000

We recently started a regular chore routine with our three-year-old. Thanks to your input, we came up with a reasonable list of things, and she’s slowly starting to accomplish them on her own.

Photo by Sabbah

I couldn’t find a chore chart I liked on the internet, so I created my own. It’s very simple, and the original idea came from a good friend of mine (hi, Ali!). Here’s a screenshot (click to enlarge):

The chores we’ve started with are:

help make my bed
empty silverware from the dishwasher
take my dishes to the kitchen (after breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and
pick up my toys (before her quiet time and before her bed time)

When she accomplishes a task, she gets a sticker in the alloted square for that day. At the end of the week, we count up her stickers. For every sticker, she gets a nickel (well, this country’s equivalent of a nickel).

She has three jars to put her money – one for giving, one for saving, and one for spending. 10 percent goes into each of the first two, and the remaining 80 percent goes into her spending jar. If she does every single chore for every single day (which she has yet to do), she’d earn $2.45 a week. That’s $127.45 for the year. 80 percent of that is $101.96. Not bad spending money for a three-year-old, I’d say. (More about the “why” behind our reward system tomorrow.)

So far, this system is working beautifully. She’s excited to do her chores because she likes getting to pick out which sticker she puts on her chart, and at the end of the week, we count out each nickel one by one. For the concrete, visual processors that preschoolers are, the pile of coins is thrilling.

I’ve made a generic Preschool Chore Chart for you to download for free. I tried to include as many typical chores a preschooler might have around the house, but if you don’t see ones you’d like, you can easily add your own. Download the Chore Chart here. And as always, I welcome any feedback!

What do your kids do around the house? Do you have a reward system?

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Chores and Preschoolers – a question

Tsh — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:22:17 +0000

What do you think are appropriate chores for a 3-year-old? My daughter regularly “helps” me around the house with cooking and cleaning, but I think she’s getting to where she can actually be a help around the house. But what can I expect of her, ability-wise, and what’s just asking too much from a preschooler?

I’d love to hear if you have any ideas, or maybe what works well in your home. Also, do you use a chart system for them to keep track of their chores? Do you compensate for their work with rewards or allowance?

I know every child is different, both with their abilities and with their eagerness to be a help. But all ideas are welcome!

For more questions to answer, head to Rocks in My Dryer.
Art by Jana Christy

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Organizing Toys for Dummies (or at least preschoolers)

Tsh — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:58:58 +0000

I love for everything to have its place – my three-year-old, on the other hand, could care less. And I’m okay with that. I wasn’t organized until adulthood, and still manage to swim under clutter every now and then a lot more since the birth of our second. She doesn’t have a lot of toys, but the ones she does have tend somehow to get everywhere. And since we’ve recently switched from nap time to “quiet time,” she’s got a good chunk of time to herself to get into all sorts of mayhem.

Exhibit A:

We recently bought shelves and storage buckets at Ikea, which work great. However, when it comes to clean-up time, all the toys are tossed hither and yon into whatever bucket is closest (and you can believe me when I say it’s like fingernails down a blackboard for me when that happens – but I keep my mouth shut). I understand that she’s too young to sort well, and she can’t yet read. So.

Question: How can I label these identical buckets so she can sort-of put her toys away where they belong?

Answer: photos.

I took out a couple toys in each bucket and took a quick snapshot. Here is her pretend food:

I then printed the photo and taped it to the bucket.

Walla. A really high-tech, fancy label that will hopefully help my preschooler know what goes where.

After:

(Notice how one bucket is already turned upside-down as a makeshift dining table.)

And I’m not so delusional to think she will now put everything exactly the way I would want it. I know there will still be mayhem and some gnashing of teeth come clean-up time. But perhaps this will help a bit, and will inspire this independent, I-wanna-do-it-myself little girl to keep her room a smidge neater.

I’ll let you know how that goes.

This is my contribution for both Making Your Home a Haven Monday and Tackle It Tuesday. I’m kinda busy this week.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
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Organizing Toys for Dummies (or at least preschoolers) is a post from Simple Mom

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