Getting Kids to Work...

So I have to give credit to my sister, Charity, for directing me to this fabulous online job chart. My kids love it. It sure has helped improve the overall tidyness of the house among other things.

So you go to http://www.myjobchart.com/ and you can make an account for yourself as the parent. You will set up your childrens charts. They each get their own password (I gave all of my kids the same easy one, less confusing). You can upload their photo to represent their chart. This photo is a sample of the login screen. They log in and check out their daily chores for that day:
It has little pictures (for those who can't read and to add some fun to it). They mark the box when they have completed a job. There is a point system, and they get certain points for finishing up a task. (you can set up the point values)
There is also an "extra jobs" section, for things that anyone can pick up to do (ie. vaccum a room, clean the toy room, folding laundry, loading the dishwasher etc.)
They can save these points up for any rewards that you want to add to their rewards section (their store).
Some of the rewards that I have added are things like:
~Going out for dinner (just that child and a parent)
~Going Swimming
~Staying up an extra hour after bedtime
~Skipping a job
~An hour of video games on a school night
~money
~Doing something with Mom/Dad
They are loving doing these jobs using this chart. I'm always looking for ways to encourage my kids to be hard workers, and while this is pretty much the same old idea of a job chart, it is ONLINE! That means this internet savvy generation can relate better to it, and enjoy it more.

I tell ya, one morning I heard some rustling going on in the kitchen. It was 6am on a schoolday. First I have to make it clear that my kids have to be woken up on schooldays. I wake them up at 7am, and it is no small feat. Not morning people. So I was surprised. At first I looked at the clock and decided to try to go back to sleep. After all of the rattling, I decided to see why they were up so early. I went into the kitchen and all 3 of my boys (aged 9, 6, and 3) were up, dressed, hair done, dishes unloaded from the dishwasher, the table was set for breakfast, and they were making oatmeal (microwave kind, so no oven was in use, thank heavens). Wow, what a change. They were so excited about their points, that they did all of this. YAY! Also, on my chart I have "reading your scriptures" as an extra thing they can do. My son voluntarily sat down for 45 mins and read his scriptures out loud to me while I was cooking in the kitchen. Amazing!
I am so glad my sister shared this with me, and I thought I would share as well.

There are many ways to get your kids to work, and even the young ones are capable of more than most of us give them credit for. My kids have been doing the laundry (sorting, loading the washing machine, folding clothes and putting them away), helping to make dinners etc.

Give it a try if you think this would help.
What kinds of things do you do to teach your kids to work?