Accountable Kids Part 1

One of my friends started a system for her kids called Accountable Kids. I thought it looked like a neat idea, and was in the middle of stressing out about the kids getting things done. Now with four kids, life is a little different. Let's say it is... busier. In the morning when I should be supervising the kids getting ready for school, I am busy feeding the baby. After I pick them up from school, I am usually constantly nagging them to get their "stuff" done before dinner, and trying to feed the baby. I was desperate to get some sort of system in place to help them. Chore charts, incentives, etc. I have tried things before, and although helpful, they usually didn't last long.

I got onto the Accountable Kids website and checked it out. Was it worth the money? Well, we'll see. I bought enough for all of my kids, received it all in the mail and took a week to read the book and study the program. If I was going to spend money on this, I was going to put all my effort into it.

I'll say up front: my two concerns are that it will work for awhile (just like other things I've tried) and then become a thing of the past; and, that it would be used by me, but not my spouse. Since it hasn't been in place long, I don't know about the first concern. But, for the other concern, I think I found a good way to help him implement it, too. I typed up a summary of each step and how we would implement it. I put that up on a board so that we could easily refer to it.

Let me explain the program:

When I first heard of it, I called it a "glorified chore chart." But it really is much more than that. It is a way for kids to know what their chores are and how to get them done BY THEMSELVES. By doing this, it teaches them to be "Accountable" (thus the name). It also give kids a chance to feel empowered by making decisions for themselves and realizing the consequences. They can learn to work to earn money and save it up.

The way these things are learned are by implementing a chore system, using Reminder Cards. The kids see which chores they are supposed to do (in the morning, afternoon, and evening), and once completed, they turn them over and then if chores are completed in each time of the day, they then earn a "ticket". This entitles them to a privilege (some of the privileges we have them earn are tv show, time on computer, play with friends, etc). The tickets can be used to discipline also--if they are asked to stop something, and they continue, I take away a ticket. (I have added that if they fuss about me taking any tickets away, ALL tickets are taken. This has been really helpful.) (PS, all these cards, etc go up on a board--you are supposed to decorate the boards and put their names on it, etc... Our boards are not yet decorated, we are waiting for the vinyl of their names, pictures, etc. That is why they look so boring in the photo. Also, we have the three boys using the boards, but bought a fourth for Elise to use in the future. We stuck them in the upstairs hallway by the bathroom so they easily see it. We use Elise's board for the extra cards.)

Chores can be anything that needs to be done: brush teeth, pick up toys, do homework, etc. I do wish they had an Exercise, Take Medicine, and a second Prayer "Reminder Cards". But, they have blank ones that I can put whatever I want. Otherwise, they really have all the cards needed.

There are several steps to the system. With the chores, Best Behavior Cards are also introduced. These are given to commend and praise good behavior the kids are "caught" doing, such as honesty, kindness, etc. The cards can be used as a ticket or put in a drawing. We have the kids who earned it choose an activity for the family to do on the weekend--like this weekend, Aidan chose that we dip strawberries in chocolate, and Weston chose the movie we watched as a family (Scooby Doo...).

The next step is when the kids earn ALL their chore tickets in one day, they get a sticker on a chart. Once ten stickers are earned, they get to go on a Special Date with mom or dad. I think this is a really fun part of the program. This helps them make LONG term goals to work toward.

They also can earn Privilege Passes--when kids work on a goal of eliminating a behavior, or getting into habits, they earn the PP. So, I don't want Weston grumbling when he practicing piano or going to his lessons. If each day he doesn't grumble, he earns a PP. He can use the pass for a special thing--last time he chose that I make a treasure hunt for him.

Another part of this system I really like is the Extra Chores. These are chores they can do to earn money. My boys are always wanting to earn money to go buy things, so this gives them a chance, plus it takes care of some of the simpler jobs around the house. With this coming Savings. This is a way of keeping track of what the kids are earning, and then making goals toward earning for something special.

The last step is the Family Forum. This is when we all get together and talk about the program--how it is working, goals to set, things we need to work on, etc. Since we have a family night every Monday night, this is when we do this. The kids can turn in their tickets at this time, and we "start over" for the week. If the kids have extra tickets, Behavior cards, etc at the end of the week, they can turn them in for money that goes toward us going on a Disney trip or getting a Wii. This has been good because they really want these two things, and buy earning and then exchanging cards for money towards these, they are contributing towards family things. We can also talk about things we want to work on--values, virtues, etc. Things that we have noticed need a bit of help.

I'll write some feelings about this in my next post.