A while ago I said on Face Book that I had come up with a new chores system, and this is it people!
" yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a , even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." Doctrine and Covenants 88:119
this has been a scripture that has become a goal/ motto for me for years now, and I am still faithfully working on it. And this is a system that I feel for our family is a step in the right direction.
I have also been reading the free ebook called Smooth and Easy Days - with Charlotte Mason, (click the title for a link to it) by Sonya Shafer. This is a ebook for Homeschooling parents doing Charlotte Mason style education. Charlotte had a Motto for all parents and this is it ....
Educations is, an atmosphere, a discipline, a life....
There is another book FREE ebook that breaks this all down but basically she talks about the three elements in Educating the whole being, not just gaining knowledge. In "a discipline" part she talks about the importance of developing good habits. In the book I am reading now, she gives great tips and explanations on how to do this as well as a list of Habits to try and develop right along with your kids. You are to pick one and make that your main focus for 1-2 months then work on the next. And so on, I will write more on this later, but for this month we are focusing on Cleanliness and Order; we show gratitude to the Lord by taking care of the things He has given us.
with that.... Here is our Mission Chores!!!
The kids all have chores, they are just part of life, they get up, they have their morning routine chart, and tidy toys time in the afternoon, and then after dinner we have evening clean up from dinner chores. Everyone helps end of story.
BUT what about all that deep cleaning? yep I do it because it is easier that way, and it gets done right... well not any more! 1) because I am home with all the kids all day, so if I am the only one who does them it means they are destroying something else as I work. 2) because they will never learn to do it right unless they are taught. and 3) The earlier you instill the habit of gratitude to the Lord for what we have by taking care of our thing the "less" likely it will be a fight when they get older...so I hope...
How this works- these are chores that need to be done, but not all the time. The boys get to pick the chores they want to do, and they get paid for them.
I made this by sewing the pockets on to the red fabric then I glued the red fabric to a piece of cardboard. I added Dallin because in one short year he will helping out too, if not sooner. (although like Ryan not yet getting paid, because they could careless).
The top pockets have the chores in them, there is one pocket for each room they are to do. Kitchen, bathroom, school room, and Living room. (we do not do all rooms each time usually part of two, or just one it just depends)
At the bottom there is a pocket for each child, and under that is where their "mission badge" hangs. They go through and pick 2-3 chores to do, and put them on their badges, then we all tackle the mission (room) together. It is a bit crazy, and seriously takes 10 times longer then if I did it myself, but "education is a discipline" not just for them but for me.... patience JoAnn...
here is a peek at a handful of chores that are in the pockets. I know I am cheap but the kids are happy with it, and they like to get coins the don't like paper money, sooo funny!
After they are done they put that badge in their pocket then at the end of 1-2 weeks they count up their totals, and put it in their money notebooks, they subtract tithing (their choice) and then add the rest to their money bank!
This has worked well for us. We do "Mission" chores on Monday and Fridays. We do different chores each time, getting it so each thing is done 1-2 times a month. Keeps the house pretty clean really. I bounce around helping each child with their job, and we do this generally when Dallin is sleeping. We usually spent 1-2 hours doing mission chores but not for more then an hour or so stright- we often times will take a break, have a snack or play a game then head back to finish our mission!
Here are some pic's of the kids with their mission chores. Through out I have put some quotes from Charlotte Mason that I just love!!
"Every day, every hour parents are either passively or actively forming those habits in their children upon which, more than upon anything else future character and conduct depend" - Charlotte Mason
"The mother devotes herself to the formation of one habit at a time, doing no more than to keep watch over those already formed" - Charlotte Mason
"The fact is, that the things we do a good many times over leave some sort of impression in the very substance of our brain; and this impression, the more often it is repeated, makes it the easier for us to do the thing the next time" - Charlotte Mason
"The habits of the Child produce the character of the man" - Charlotte Mason
If you have any questions at all about how I do this or made this just ask!!
p.s. the badge supplies and clips I got a good old walmart for I think a total of $8 bucks. Office supply section. YES the boys wear them as they work and take of each chore and put it in the pocket as it gets done. Very hands on, again, instilling those ideas of making a goal working through it, and seeing the results.
The bookshelves I got at Aldi years ago, and painted them, and made new covers to hold the books I LOVE these book shelves they are easy for the kids to take care of. The wood chest holds many of our games and puzzles we use for school and I also painted that too. Our reading tent is made of a hoola-hoop old sheets and curtains that I cut into strips (raw edges showing) and then I topped it with some fun shapes and a monkey. I also make some throw pillows and a reading mat.
Here we have our picture study frame, and our US map and my favorite thing in my whole school room is my quote "Education is an Atmosphere a Discipline a life" by Charlotte Mason. I did this with a stencil, dark brown fabric and I glued it with LIGHTLY using Elmer's glue.
Here is our ART wall, I used light rope from JoAnn's, fabric shapes with ribbon and buttons, they are held up with sticky hooks, and then ART is above it with fabric like I did the quote. The desks are Ikea table top we make and painted the legs and chairs are Ikea too. 
