A Chore Chart Teaches Responsibility

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A Chore Chart Rewards Hard Work

We have tried a few times, at my daughter’s urging, to have a chore chart in our home. We set it up so that when she did something she was asked to do that was above and beyond what she must do every day, that she would earn a star. Once the row was full, she could get a prize in return for her hard work. Granted, at her age, there aren’t a lot of things that she is required to do as of yet, and the extra chores were very simple. I have come to realize that age four is just too young for this, even though it was her idea.

The chore chart didn’t last very long, but she did try. She was excited to earn a star, but she didn’t do much to get there when the opportunity presented itself to her. She doesn’t have many regular chores yet, but she is required to pick up her room and to make sure that she picks up after herself, but there isn’t much more that she can do. I had trouble coming up with things for the chore chart because she’s not old enough to do much else. She did pick up a mess once to earn a star, and I did allow her to help me load the dryer, but there wasn’t much else she could do.

She only got three stars on the chore chart before she forgot all about it. One day when her room as a wreck, I divided up the room into sections and told her she had to clean it. She was going to earn three stars on her chore chart towards a toy, but she couldn’t get very far. She had to pick up all of her stuffed animals for one star, fill up her toy box for the next one, and finally she had to make her bed – as best as she could – to get the last one. She got nowhere, and hasn’t wanted to try earning a star since then.

A chore chart might work better for an older child. In fact, they may indeed help them learn responsibility. The most important thing to remember is that you should never put their regular chores on a chart. If there are things they must do each day or each week, they should do them as a part of contributing to the family, not as something to earn a reward. The things you reward them for on a chore chart should be things that they aren’t required to do on a regular basis.