Every parent has different viewpoints on the issue of allowance for their children. Some give their children money when they complete certain chores. Other give a weekly/monthly allowance. Still others figure that children should not get an allowance at all.
As for my husband and I, we decided to give a monthly allowance that is unrelated to household chores. We feel that she should not get paid for doing what she should do anyways in contributing to the home. But, having a small allowance allows us to teach her good habits in budgeting, saving, and prioritizing. That said, if she is completely disregarding her role in the family by being completely lazy or not listening, we can suspend her allowance arrangement at any time.
That’s just our own take though. Ultimately, no matter what method is chosen, our goal as parents is to teach our children the value of work and how to responsibly handle money. My Job Chart is a valuable (and free!) tool in helping to do this, and the 75,000 others that are using it agree!
My Job Chart is the online alternative to the standard chore chart. Kids these days are all about technology. Stickers on an 8″x11″ refrigerator magnet doesn’t get them very excited, especially when they get older. With this site, they can log on with their personal username and password to check what chores need to be done that day.
When they complete tasks they can use the points accrued toward rewards such as going to the zoo, tv time, and even Disneyland. Amazon.com is integrated so they can even save up for actual items. You’ll get a text when they are ready so you can follow up in fulfilling those rewards.
The great thing about My Job Chart is that it was created by a parent (of six) – so the functionality is 100% on target. There’s a huge list of common chores/jobs but you can add any that are are applicable to your family. The included images are terrific but you can change those as well, coming in handy if one child cannot yet read.
Teaching your child(ren) good worth ethics can never start too early. Many these days become lazy or have a lack of appreciation. Parents have a unique opportunity to raise responsible, generous adults and such a reward system really works in reinforcing those ideas while allowing your kids to gain a sense of accomplishment and pride.
You can keep up-to-date and add your input at the My Job Chart Facebook account or @myjobchart.
36 comments
That’s such a great idea! I never heard about that site, but I agree on so many levels! Kids don’t care about stickers anymore, they want to know what they can save up towards and how much more they need to do to save up towards it. I’m definitely going to check that out, THANKS!
Krissy @ Mommy Misc
You’ll like it. It’s easy to use and has a great interface. Hey, I should add that to the review! 😛
I love this! My kids will feel so important and maybe even actually WANT to do chores now. Thanks so much for this post.
Your welcome. Let me know how it works out. It’s a bit tough to test with only one child to enslave, I mean teach. 🙂
I agree it’s never too early to install good values, responsibilities and contribute to the household. My daughter is almost four and she loves chores! I hope her positive attitude continues. My Goal Chart is a neat program! I will definitely look into something like this when my daughter is older.
Loving chores and doing the ones they are asked to are two different things. My daughter will happily make lunch though her floor is covered in toys 🙂 So nice you have a great helper though!
That is so cool! At 10 months old, Sweet T isn’t old enough to need this yet, but I’m following them on Twitter for a reminder when the time comes.
Good idea!
Stickers hardly get my 14 year old excited anymore, lol. I like this idea, I’ll be looking into it more. He is a technology nut, so if I can entice him to keep track like this, I think it would be more rewarding.
Let me know how a teener likes it. Mine will be reaching that age in no time.
That’s actually pretty cool! I also give my daughter an allowance but she has chores attached to it…she feeds the cats and hamsters. With something like this, I can actually give her more responsibility around the house this summer and not have to stay on top of her every minute to get things done!
I know. I say “Do your homework!” “Clean your room!” “Eat your food!” so much that I often mix them up and tell my daughter to do her homework while eating 😛
I REALLY like the look of this. I have been using another service, but this one looks so much more streamlined. Going to investigate now. THANKS!
Kas
Let me know how they compare!
When my kids get older, something like this will be perfect to keep them in check!
I kids really flourish when they have some structure and know their responsibilities. I’m so glad such resources are available.
What a clever tool. Kids are so attached to all things computer these days so I can see how this would be an excellent way to keep their attention regarding their chores.
I know, they can’t even conceive a world without electronics!
So neat. Kids are so technical these days, I love the idea of a digital chore chart!
It’s much more interactive as well. Especially great to accommodate their age and abilities as they grow older.
That is totally cool, yea I did not give my kids allowance for doing what they should all ready be doing which they never did anyway and still at the ages of 25, 23 and 20 all home for the summer they are getting a little bit better LOL
Maybe you can experiment with the job chart while they’re home 🙂
This sounds like a great idea, I would use this if my kids were older!
Don’t forget there’s a picture feature to use if they can’t read yet. That’s probably only more useful if you have older ones too.
That looks fantastic! I’m just now starting to look into things like this – my oldest is 3 and I’m pregnant with our second. I’ve heard a lot of moms talking about things like this lately and this site looks awesome.
Congrats on your new one on the way. So far this has been the best one I’ve seen. Don’t forget to tell them you found it on Cookies & Clogs 😛
WOW! That is so cool. My kids are still little (4&2) but the 4 year old is really computer saavy – I’m amazed 🙂 I think once he starts reading (hopefully soon) this would work for him. Love that it’s tied into amazon, too!
You can also customize the icon if they can’t read – ie take a picture of their bed so they know to fix it each day. Wow, it seems you have a clever little boy there.
That is such a great idea! It might have worked had it been around when my son was young, using a Commodore 64.
Hahaha, yeah, would you have ever imagined things would change so much?
I can see making use of this one as soon as my kids know how to read! What a great idea!
By then I’m sure the program will have gotten even better!
I love this idea. I’m sure it will be much better received in my house than the dry erase board we currently use to track chores.
An not as easy to sabotage!
I’ve tried so many different chore charts, rewards etc in the past and they work for about 2 days then we all just forget about it. LOVE this idea, defiantly going to give it a whirl!
Ooh, let me know how it works out for you!
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