My Chore System

At our house, we have a system for chores. It's not very complex and so far, it works. There are four chores and I have this circular chore chart.


We rotate the chores on a weekly basis. Each chore has a Saturday chore attached to it that the kids do on Saturdays.

Laundry/Garbage:
This person gathers up the trash from all the trashcans in the house on trash day (once a week) and empties them into the bigger kitchen trash can. They help us take it out to the big trash can and take that trash can to the curb. On laundry days (Monday and Thursday), they move loads from washer to dryer and then take them out of the dryer when it's done.
On Saturday, they vacuum all the carpets, minus the baby's room and our room.

Table Setter:
This person sets the table at each meal and helps clear away serving dishes after the meal. They also get anything we need during the meal that we may have forgotten to put on the table. Each child clears their own place from the table at the end of the meal, that is not part of this job.
On Saturday, they sweep and mop all hard floors (three bathrooms, front landing, kitchen floor).

Dishes:
This person clears out the dishwasher each morning. They also help load it after the meal or, if they are old enough, load it by themselves.
On Saturday, they clean the half bathroom and the kids' bathroom.

Dog Duty:
This person feeds the dog every night.
On Saturday, they pick up the dog poop in the backyard.

The kids also rotate where they sit at the table according to their job. It's just easier to do it this way to avoid fights at the table, since where they sit is always changing. It's the way my mom did it.

The kids earn tokens for doing their chores that are used for playing video games.



That is how we do chores in our family. No matter what, they still have to do them, but if they do them with a positive attitude and do them when I ask them to, they will earn tokens. If they run out of tokens, they don't get to play the Wii.