Since Gavin turned 4, we've been slowly giving him responsibilities around the house and trying to teach him to work hard at everything he does. We've also been practicing doing things with a cheerful and willing heart. For the most part, Gavin generally has a great attitude about things and likes the feeling of doing good and accomplishing something so when we sat down with him a month ago to establish a weekly chore list he was more then thrilled. The best part about it for him, was when he found out he was going to get paid for doing his jobs. Brooks and I have gone back and forth about whether or not we wanted to pay Gavin for jobs that essentially should be things he does just because he lives in our house, but we decided money could/would be an incentive to use while teaching him about responsibilities, chores, jobs, and expectations. Then, as time goes on, we will slowly weed out the jobs that are just expectations and allow him to work for money in other ways.
My friend, Che, sent me a chart she found where you fill in the list of jobs and there is a spot for every day of the week next to that job. We print a new one up every Sunday night and sit down with Gavin to discuss what jobs he wants to do that week. We've been doing this for a month now and he's pretty good at making his own choices. We tend to persuade him in certain directions if there is a chore we want him to start practicing doing and he usually goes for it. Each week, he chooses different chores and we've noticed from one week to the next, even if that job isn't on his chore list, he sometimes still does it! For instance, one week, he picked to load the dishwasher, but the next he didn't. However, when it came time to clean up the kitchen, he stayed with me and loaded the dishwasher. It was all his doing, his own choosing, and I didn't have to "fight" him. He has even started noticing when a trash can is full and will dump the trash into our outside trash can all by himself! It's awesome!
This really, really has been a great experience for him and us. We don't force him to do any of these jobs. We simply remind him that he can let us know when he's finished a job and we'll mark it off. He has already learned that if he doesn't do them, he doesn't get paid for it. We are loving watching him bask in his new responsibilities and how excited he gets to be helping us and taking care of stuff. I'm glad we decided to do this and really can see the benefits from it. A huge perk is that now Miles wants to be doing jobs so we have double the help when it comes to taking out the trash, clearing off the kitchen table, or picking up the bath toys.
Payday comes once a week and for each completed job Gavin gets .25 SAR= $.07 (I totally just did the conversion and geez, that seems pathetic) BUT if Gavin did every job on his list at 1 SAR a piece, he could make up to 35 SAR a week which = $10 (that's $40 a week for a 4 year old- no thanks!). He already has 16 SAR = $5 and he's pumped about it. We're going to give him a few more weeks to load up on some more money, then we're going to teach him the importance of saving some money, sharing some money, and spending some money. We're hoping over time he understands the magnitude of working to earn money, how having money can be beneficial, and being a good steward of your money is important.
Since Gavin turned 4, we've been slowly giving him responsibilities around the house and trying to teach him to work hard at everything he does. We've also been practicing doing things with a cheerful and willing heart. For the most part, Gavin generally has a great attitude about things and likes the feeling of doing good and accomplishing something so when we sat down with him a month ago to establish a weekly chore list he was more then thrilled. The best part about it for him, was when he found out he was going to get paid for doing his jobs. Brooks and I have gone back and forth about whether or not we wanted to pay Gavin for jobs that essentially should be things he does just because he lives in our house, but we decided money could/would be an incentive to use while teaching him about responsibilities, chores, jobs, and expectations. Then, as time goes on, we will slowly weed out the jobs that are just expectations and allow him to work for money in other ways.
My friend, Che, sent me a chart she found where you fill in the list of jobs and there is a spot for every day of the week next to that job. We print a new one up every Sunday night and sit down with Gavin to discuss what jobs he wants to do that week. We've been doing this for a month now and he's pretty good at making his own choices. We tend to persuade him in certain directions if there is a chore we want him to start practicing doing and he usually goes for it. Each week, he chooses different chores and we've noticed from one week to the next, even if that job isn't on his chore list, he sometimes still does it! For instance, one week, he picked to load the dishwasher, but the next he didn't. However, when it came time to clean up the kitchen, he stayed with me and loaded the dishwasher. It was all his doing, his own choosing, and I didn't have to "fight" him. He has even started noticing when a trash can is full and will dump the trash into our outside trash can all by himself! It's awesome! 
This really, really has been a great experience for him and us. We don't force him to do any of these jobs. We simply remind him that he can let us know when he's finished a job and we'll mark it off. He has already learned that if he doesn't do them, he doesn't get paid for it. We are loving watching him bask in his new responsibilities and how excited he gets to be helping us and taking care of stuff. I'm glad we decided to do this and really can see the benefits from it. A huge perk is that now Miles wants to be doing jobs so we have double the help when it comes to taking out the trash, clearing off the kitchen table, or picking up the bath toys. 
Payday comes once a week and for each completed job Gavin gets .25 SAR= $.07 (I totally just did the conversion and geez, that seems pathetic) BUT if Gavin did every job on his list at 1 SAR a piece, he could make up to 35 SAR a week which = $10 (that's $40 a week for a 4 year old- no thanks!). He already has 16 SAR = $5 and he's pumped about it. We're going to give him a few more weeks to load up on some more money, then we're going to teach him the importance of saving some money, sharing some money, and spending some money. We're hoping over time he understands the magnitude of working to earn money, how having money can be beneficial, and being a good steward of your money is important. 
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