OT: Organizing, chore charts, schedules, etc.

[Sue G in PA]

I am in serious need of some ideas. With all 7 of my kids coming home next year and space at a premium around here, I am running out or ideas (and room!) to store all our school materials. I've been purging all that I can and have sold/donated a TON of stuff already. I have a 5 shelf bookshelf built-in to our dining room which we use for my kids' school materials that they use each day as well as my teacher materials. I also have rolling carts in the dining room that store math manipulatives, supplies, puzzles, paper, PreK/toddler activities for my little one, Leapster games, etc. How would you store your childs' stuff on the bookshelves? I will have 6 children who will need space there...my dd13 will keep her books/materials in her bedroom which is on the main floor and easily accessible. The top shelf is for my teacher materials.

My next question is this: Does anyone have a SIMPLE chore chart/system that works well with a large family? I need simple. Very simple. I cannot spend hours designing and maintaining this sytem. I have tried Handipoints (too much work), Jandeo (just doesn't appeal to me), making my own, handwriting it, etc. I'd love to have one large chart on our wall so that each child can EASILY see what he/she has to do (my kids all have a way of "forgetting" their assigned chores).

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate the wisdome and encouragement on this board! Blessings.

[MomtoJGJE]

The best I've seen and used is from Managers of Their Homes.... it lays out everyone's schedules on one page that is posted, and each child has a chore pack that they go through and when they get done with all their chores they are done.

My kids are still quite young for this type of thing (I'd have to constantly be telling them what to do with the chore packs anyway) so we have a daily/weekly chore chart on the fridge and each person has maybe 3 chores a week? and that keeps them in the habit of doing chores. We also have a list of what they do at meal times that if I followed it would work great

Of course in the next 6 months I'm going to have to redo all my schedules and charts and chores, etc when Evie is 18months or so to include her. Right now she shadows me, but she'll have her own spot then.

But when my kids are a little older we'll be doing the MOTH chore stuff.

[Sue G in PA]

Thanks Lora Beth. I looked into MOTH/MOTC. My dc are 13, 12, 10, 9, 7, 4 and almost 2. My 9, 7 and 4yos still need pictures (9yo can read, but likes the visual of having photos) to "remind" them. The older ones obviously do not. Has anyone used Accountable Kids with success? I'd spend the money on it if it would work!

[amysconfections]

I like managers of their chores and Managers of their homes. I love that there is independence with the chore packs. No excuse for forgetting. It really won't take you that long to set up. I like how both books break down the process for you into bite sized amounts so it doesn't feel overwhelming. Once you have made up chore packs and a schedule it's easy peasy to change it up when things need to change.

[2plus2]

Hi -- I just wanted to say that I have the AK system in full force at our house. Our four are little & needed the picture cards & while it took some convincing for my guy to spend the $$, we praise God over & over for stumbling upon it & for the difference in our home since implementing it. It takes commitment on your part to stay consistent with it but if you do, it it such a great system. It incorporates everything you want to do as parents but don't know how to put into effect like the fam. meetings, the one-on-one time when they earn dates, the financial aspect of earning money plus the daily routine & pitching in. Several close friends have seen the effects in our family & gone on to buy Accoutable Kids for theirs. I hope you find what works for you!

[Tree House Academy]

While I like Managers of their Chores/Homes, I would not call it "simple." The start-up is anything but!

I am using the Accountable Kids system and we love it. Easy, Easy, Easy and you can make everything yourself if you download the book and understand the system (or make it even easier and order it premade...which we did. )

www.accountablekids.com

[deltagal]

Sue,

Here's one thought ...a visual on how you might organize your items from a mom of 6. It seems that simplifying might prove to very helpful, logistically and mentally. Take a look and see what you think....

http://evlogia.typepad.com/evlogia/2010 ... icity.html

[Sue G in PA]

Thanks all! I am looking seriously at AK although spending that kind of $ is scary. Florence, thanks for the link. What a beautiful set-up! I am looking into something similar for our built-in shelves. Perhaps giving each child a colorful plastic crate (we have some from Target already) or some baskets from IKEA... Somebody also gave me the idea of having each child keep their books/notebooks/supplies in a bookbag which they would keep in their rooms to bring to the table for school-time. That would save a ton of space on the shelves and give me more room for other items. I'm just not sure. Our kitchen/dining room combo is right off our newly re-decorated living room which I am simply in love with now. Our kitchen will be painted and a new floor will go down in a couple weeks. I'd LOVE to have this room be simple and visually appealing...but functional for our school purposes. It is our "command central". Any more ideas?

[erdrmom]

We use AK and I absolutely love it! For me the $ was worth it, but then again, I only had to buy 2. I believe you can order the cards online, so that may be something else to consider.

We have tweeked the overall system a bit to fit our family and to incorporate what we had been doing up to that point. Basically, we give them an "allowance" instead of a sticker each day for completing all of their chores, and they earn the same amount for extra chores. So we use the sticker cards as punch cards. I made several copies on cardstock and each day they get a punch and another punch for each extra chore. At the end of the week, we count up the punches and give them their money at our family meeting. They then take their coins and split them up for church, savings and spending. We also take the coins and trade them in for dollars (once they have enough) and then reuse the coins so that we don't run out. We have a spreadsheet set up to show their savings once it's converted to bills since it won't go back into the piggy bank.

[Tansy]

we use Rave Ramsys program its a chore chart that you can wipe on wipe off as the chores change and it teaches, how to spend save and give your money We have also found the fines to be of great use
http://www.daveramsey.com/store/kids-te ... od112.html

[Sue G in PA]

I totally forgot about DR's program! Thank you for reminding me! It's on sale now 50% off. Yeah! I wonder, however, if this would be too "childish" for my dd13 and ds12? Probably not...they LOVE our cash envelope system and made their own after we did FPU! They will probably LOVE some of their own! Thank you!