Chore Charts, Allowance & Children

The Age-Old Controversy

 Should I pay my child for chores around the house?

Some say, No! / Some say, Yes!

Who do you believe?

You are the only one that can make the final decision with what is best for you, your child and your family! Nevertheless, take a couple of minutes before you decide and read further!

Dear Friend,

Parents struggle daily with trying to get their children to do chores and every day routines around the house, just think this could be due to our old beliefs around allowance. I am proposing a different theory, what if allowance is used as a motivator, reward system and a habit creator.

I know most of you have been told through our generation that we should not tie allowance to chores it is our child’s responsibility to do their chores as being part of the family. However, I want to challenge this myth.

 It is human nature to do what is necessary when knowing a reward will be waiting for us at the end. We all want to be acknowledged and receive recognition for a job well done.

If you were to walk into any classroom, you will see a teacher giving incentives to their children with candy, stickers, tickets and anything else possible for good behavior, bringing in homework on time and sitting quietly at their desk. In addition, children loose table points, stickers and special privileges for not following good behavior and rules.

Students receive ceremonies for being on the honor role, certificates and special trips for good grades. Sales people are rewarded with bonuses when meeting quotas, CEO’s are rewarded large sums of money with innovative thinking and employees are rewarded for finishing projects on time. Coaches reward their players with captain badges, game pucks and trophies.

These are all incentives that students, kids, employees and CEO’s strive for and deserve. Teaching your child to strive, work hard and over come obstacles are extremely important traits, and it does not come naturally, it develops over time.

I knew when I started the journey of Allowance I would encounter battles with certain beliefs that we have all grown up with or beliefs passed down through generations. Nevertheless, after 4 years of testing, researching, parent’s input and the positive out comes of allowing children to participate in earning money with chore charts. We have definite proof that there is far more benefits to allowing your child to earn an allowance than just handing them money.

For my son’s back to school night, his teacher was explaining the reward system for good behavior and completing their assignments on time. She use to reward the kids with candy, but now that the state of California has declared an emergency with Kids and Obesity, she has had to change her rewards from candy to tokens, tickets and a point system.

How does this differ from parents rewarding their children at home for good behavior and finishing chores?

There is no difference between tokens at school for bringing in homework, rewards at home for doing homework.

Receiving points for good behavior at school and receiving points for good behavior at home.

The coach rewarding his player with a game puck or a parent rewarding a child for giving 100%

This teaches cause and effect, effort produces rewards, striving and succeeding, overcoming obstacles and best of all how to work hard for what you want in life and never giving up.

These are habits necessary to succeed in life

Few children are internally motivated to do their best, but with an incentive, they will take the initiative to try harder and achieve the task.

This is where I challenge the myth that parents should not reward children when it comes to chores and allowance.

Your child is too young to work, you are their only source of income, you have no alternative but to provide your children with spending money and buy them the items your children need and want. With this in mind, research has shown it takes thirty-days to create a new habit, allowing your child to earn the money you are spending anyway can teach successful habits, which over time will become a disciplined positive new habit.  

Times have changed and we need to adapt to these changes, here are three reasons why:

• Reason 1: Over the last 20 years, children have influenced parent spending by 600% from $50 billion to $300 billion. Children have more disposable income than ever before. However, children under the age of 25 are filing for bankruptcy, failing financial literacy tests and leaving college with enormous debt.

• Reason 2: There is a sense of entitlement in the air! Giving children money for nothing can easily create an entitlement attitude. Easily giving in to your child’s wants has a disastrous outcome in their future. Your child will expect - when I want I get – in other areas of life, and life is not that giving. Your child will get out of life what they put in and no more.

• Reason 3: Most children think money comes from the bank, government and their parents, but reality is, money comes from services rendered. By paying an allowance for a service, children will learn cause and effect; in our everyday life, we earn money through our job, business or investments, this is one of life’s important financial lessons, which eludes most children.

This is where It’s Only a Dollar…Until You Add to It! Chore Chart comes in.

Children can now earn money on a consistent basis and you can use the money they are earning as a valuable teaching tool. Your child can have the gum, CD, shoes and the spending money, but they will use their earned money instead of yours.

It’s Simple to use

Determine how much you are currently spending on your child throughout the month for “non-necessities.” Things like candy, toys, CD’s, videos, ect. Think of these as WANTS rather than NEEDS. Start with that amount of money and allow your child to EARN IT!

Example:

• Let’s say you spend about $25 dollars per month on “WANTS”
• Start with $25 and then divide that by 4 weeks. You get $6.25 a week
• Now divide by 7 days. You get $0.89 per day you are currently spending on “non-necessities.”

Each family will have a different amount, but this amount is what you can pay your child per day, you will not spend any more money than you are already spending each month. But, your child will learn the value of EARNED income, rather than “FREE MONEY”

It’s Only a Dollar…Until You Add to It!

Is designed to reinforce your own personal values on reward and compensation. You can use it the way you want, paying your child for everything or only what you feel is appropriate.

It’s Your Choice!

Here is a summary of the benefits you will receive

• Helps parents pull the plug on sporadic and undeserved allowance
• Organizes children’s chores and responsibilities each day
• Helps parents and kids be consistent
• Gives parents the tools to let kids of all ages earn money
• Instills the concept of earning an income & teaches children real life lessons
• Positive reinforcement
• Encourages your child to set goals and make future plans
• Children learn how to count money, exchange money and watch it grow
• Helps kids learn the difference between what they want and what they need

Most importantly, children learn how to spend their own money instead of your money. As you know, it is hard to put value on something you have not earned. When a child uses their own earned money to purchase something they want, they will take better care of it, learn responsibility and respect the items they buy. Children enjoy acting like adults and earning an income is a wonderful lesson for their future.

In addition, allowing your child to make financial mistakes when they are young might only cost dollars, but waiting until they are older can cost thousands.

Allowance is critical to your child’s healthy financial future. Moreover, it goes beyond stuffing a few dollars into their hands each week. You can teach even young children to be good money managers if they have the opportunity to earn their allowance.

Our durable 18” x 24”, colorful, static cling Allowance Chart allows parents to organize their children’s chores and responsibilities for each day of the week and gives them the opportunity to teach children the fundamental idea of earning money, planning ahead and setting goals.

Packaged with hundreds of static cling chore and money pieces, the Allowance Chart is designed to help parents easily link household chores with monetary values. When children complete any of the tasks to a parent’s satisfaction, they place the accompanying income on the chart. This allows them to see exactly when they earn money and how it grows throughout the week. The chart also includes goals, dreams and desires section, which encourages them to write down their goals, see them daily, and experience attaining a written goal.

In addition to instilling critical values through the allowance process, the chart teaches children important lessons, Including: 1) income covers needs; 2) the supply of money is finite; and 3) the family’s financial situation determines the amount of the money available to everyone. In other words, they learn to live within a budget.

(Ages 5 to 14)

In summary, here is what you get within the box:

• 18x24 Allowance Chart - can be hung anywhere

• 4 Colorful Static Cling Sheets – with over 60 chores to chose from, or write your own with the Dry Erase Pen, plenty of money and happy/sad faces for providing positive feedback or encouragement.

• And can be stored in the colorful fun box provided

"Your satisfaction is guaranteed with our 100% no-questions asked, iron-clad money-back guarantee. If for any reason you or your children are not absolutely thrilled with our product, just send the product back within 30 days and we'll refund 100% of your purchase price. No questions asked."

Here's how to order right now!

To order your It’s Only a Dollar…Until You Add to It! Just click the button below!

To your success,

Warmly,

Founder of Prosperity4Kids, Inc.