Chores and the Moonjar

The chore chart for one of our kiddos.

Here's a quick update on how we have used the Moonjar to learn some basics about the relationship between work and reward.  Instead of spending the summer grumbling at one another about how and when chores get done, we decided to put it down on paper and link it back to the basics of our Moonjar project.  Here's what our family is doing.

1.) All chores are posted (left).  Each kid has her own sheet with age appropriate things they can do to help around the house. 

2.) Each one of our kids (age 8 and 12) start out with a balance of $5.00 at the beginning of each week.

2.) The chores above the squiggly line are mandatory if they want to keep all of their $5.00. These tasks have to be completed by evening of each day.  We explained "mandatory" like this: these are things you do to show your appreciation for the privilege of being in a family and having a home.  If all the mandatory boxes are checked at the end of the week, they get to keep all of their $5.00.

2a.) For each box unchecked (a daily chore not completed), we deduct $0.25 from their balance.

3.) Everything below the squiggly line is optional.  These are jobs that - frankly - will make mommy and daddy's life a little easier.  The kids can choose to do these if they want to earn extra money toward something they are saving for, for extra spending cash, or to share with others.

4.) Payday is on Sunday night, when the money is deposited into the Moonjar and we total things up.  We try to take some time to talk about how things went that week, what was hard, what was easy, what they will change for next week, and so on.  This has proven to be a great time to let the kids talk about how they are going to use their earnings.  Probably the biggest learning moment has been when there's been a big difference in pay.  This is where we don't really have to say much.  The lesson about work and reward just teaches itself. 

How are things going for you?