Currency & Contribution

Since last weeks rather dramatic lesson...which I am still a little uncomfortable about... the jobs chart that I created some 18 months ago, has been implemented a lot more regularly. As I mentioned it in my exemption application, and again last week, I thought I'd take the opportunity to present it to you in a little more detail, along with the rationale behind it.

The Jobs Chart

Human beings are social animals, we achieve a certain sense of well-being by being part of a group. Contribution is an essential component of group dynamics, and learning the skills involved in maintaining a household is equally important for any person, regardless of whether they live alone, in a family group, or in a flatting (rooming) situation. These skills are best learnt at home while growing up, and therefore, each family member is expected to contribute to the running of the household. In order to facilitate every ones understanding of what jobs are required to be done in a way to engage my boys' various learning styles, I created the Job Chart pictured above. The piece of paper below the chart states that each boy is expected to contribute by doing the number of jobs equal to their (age - 2) with a maximum of 6 jobs... Therefore T(8) has now reached his maximum required jobs of 6 per day... The sign also states that upon completion of the minimum requirement for the day, any extra jobs will earn 50c each. The boxes beside the chart are divided into Daily Jobs, Roster Jobs (i.e. those that need doing regularly but not daily) Weather Dependant Jobs (such as laundry) and Regular Jobs for Pay (things that need doing every now and then such as polishing furniture and spring cleaning type jobs). The other two boxes contain cards with ideas for activities... should the dreaded "I'm Bored" phrase be uttered, I direct them to look through the ideas in the box. There's one for outings ideas, and another for things to be done around the house.

Prior to last week's dramatics, jobs were simply not done. Prior to the Chch quake of 22/2/2011, from the initiation of the chart, jobs were being done. The quake had really shaken us, and somehow it fell off the radar. Some friends had argued that maintaining routines at a time of crisis can be more beneficial, and while I see the validity of that point (and in retrospect wish I had done) I prioritised what I felt to be important at the time, and I really didn't have the emotional energy to implement it.

When things were starting to settle down emotionally at home, and I prepared myself to re-introduce and monitor the implementation of the jobs chart, we suddenly had a big move thrust upon us, and once again, other things took priority. We have been here in our new home in Auckland for 7 months now. Aside from the remaining 3 boxes still waiting to be unpacked, we're fairly settled. This last week has seen the jobs chart being implemented daily, and the boys have even earned some extra cash over this time.

Each morning, I put out the jobs that are needed to be completed that day:

A small sample of the selection available today

The boys go through and select the jobs they would like to do, based on their preferences... K(6) generally prefers to do jobs that are done in the late afternoon or evening, and habitually selects "clearing the table ready for dinner", "set table for dinner", "clear and wipe table after dinner". T(8) prefers morning jobs, and 'short' jobs, such as "empty the compost", "Feed and water the cats", "put in wash powder and start dishwasher", although he also enjoys "unload the dishwasher", which can sometimes take a while. Each card has a written description of the job, as well as a diagram / illustration. When I created the chart, neither boy was literate. By using text and image, I supplied meaningful exposure to literacy. Some of the more complex ideas such as "prepare dinner" is text only... largely because there is no set method of preparation, it varies on the meal, likewise with "cook dinner".

Once they have selected their jobs, they put the cards into the lower slots of their column as seen here

This way everyone can see at a glance who is responsible for a particular job that day. Some jobs are inter-dependant on each other. Knowing who is doing which job facilitates the process of negotiating with each other when and how particular jobs are done... for example the person who has chosen to hang the washing out to dry, is unable to complete their job if the person who has selected "load and start washing machine" has not done theirs. Once a job is completed, the card is moved to the top pocket, and when the minimum requirement is met, the boy is granted extra computer time and "unlocks" (Game speak is increasingly common in our household... it's as if games are a predominant part of our family culture) the potential to earn cash.

If I were to re-design the chart, I'd make the top slot a little wider... when 6 job cards are stuffed in there, it gets a little tight. I'd also put the text of the jobs on the top of the card... initially I put it on the bottom, as that was consistent with most children's books. I hadn't really thought about the fact that the text would be covered once in the slot. I would also colour code the jobs... one colour for morning jobs, one for mid day, another for evening, and another colour for the jobs that can be done at anytime that day.

I feel that learning to use money shouldn't be limited to how much you have contributed to the family. I was first exposed to this idea in Barbara Coloroso's book "Kids Are Worth It", where she makes a good argument that learning to deal with money is far  too important a skill to use money as a means of punishment / reward. You may have noticed that when discussing the boys' opportunity to earn money, I used the word "extra". This is because irrespective of whether, or how much, they have contributed the boys get pocket money. Initially we started with a monthly amount, based on the fact that Carl was paid monthly. They then received $10 (T) and $5(K) each, until K became cognisant enough to recognise and state the inequity, at which point they each received $10 per month. Upon our move to Auckland, and Carl's switch to fortnightly pay, the boys were offered the option of remaining at $10 per month, or $5 per fortnight. After some thought, they determined that $5 per fortnight each was a better deal.

You may now be thinking... now wait a minute, she just said that money shouldn't be used for reward or punishment, and surely she's rewarding them for doing extra jobs by paying them. Yes. Viewed in one particular way, I am. However, I have always stated that the boys can earn extra money. The emphasis is on earn. In our society, we are economy driven. The principle behind the concept, is that I am introducing the boys to the idea that in our society, you are expected to contribute to your social group, and your home, and that in addition, you earn money by doing extra things... in daddy's case, that is by designing games, and in my case it's by helping people's brains work better, and in Granddad's case it's by building things, and in the local shop keepers case it's by selling things... At this point in life, the means available to the boys for earning extra money, is by doing jobs around the home beyond the minimum expectation of contributing to the family. At some point, when they grow older, and their opportunities expand, and their desire for a meaningful amount of money increase, new strategies will need to be devised. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. May it be far in the future... all though with most parenting milestones, I'm sure that it too will arrive before I'm really ready for it.