It's the second step in the book, "Three Steps to a Strong Family" by Linda and Richard Eyre.
"An economy (as we use the word here) is a system whereby people can earn, save, and buy.
But it is much more than that. It requires responsibility and discipline, and it provides motivation.
It can help children develop confidence and self-reliant self-image. It offers training for
decision making, for delayed gratification, for prioritizing, and for caring for others."
"Actually by the time children are eight years old, they are capable of accepting responsibility for earning their own money, buying their own clothes, totally caring for their own room and their own things, systematized savings for their education, and sharing the general responsibility for the home."
"Giving this kind of early responsibility does not rob children of their childhood-
on the contrary, it gives them the appreciation, the perspective,
and the beginnings of self-reliance and self-esteem that enhance childhood joys."
...
The three elements of a family economy is:
1) Ways for children to earn their own money
2) Ways to save, invest, earn interest
3) Ways to spend money wisely and perceive ownership
..
First you have to split of family responsibilities. "Children usually have little idea of how much work it takes to run a household." (I'll be honest, I didn't.)
"The first thing to do is make a long list of 'what it takes to run a house.' Include everything- from 'keeping the family room tidy and clean' (list every room separately), to preparing dinner (list every meal of the day separately) , to washing and drying the dishes, to mowing the lawn, to taking out the garbage, to doing the laundry. Also list things like buying food and earning the money to buy food."
"With this long list as your visual aid, sit down and have a family discussion. Explain that there's a lot of work to do but that it all needs to be done, and show how it makes the family happier (pick out a few things on the list and ask what would happen if they didn't get done)."
"Finally, put a name by each task- working out who will be responsible for each. Parents' names of course will be listed by most of the tasks, and children will go away from the discussion appreciating the fact that their jobs are just a small piece of all that the family has to do."
"As you make up job assignments for your children, be sure to keep them simple. The more complex they are, the less chance they have of working."
...
In the book they explain that they created peg boards for the children to keep track of their daily chores. At the end of each day, the children must show a parent how many pegs they got and then write it down on a piece of paper, signed and dated by a parent. I decided to keep track of Lexi's chores on a chart that I made and laminated.
So instead of getting pegs, Lexi gets marks on her chart. She gets her "morning mark" by eating breakfast (something she's horrible at, she just likes to snack in the morning, Avery too). She also has to brush her teeth and get dressed and get her hair done. We don't require her to make her bed since it's really different to make a top bunk, so we just ask to to put all of her bedding in her bed.
To get her "reading mark" we have to read her scriptures to her and just read to her at least 20 minutes a day. Once preschool is done she gonna have to do pages in her workbooks too. And then when school starts this will also be her "homework mark."
Then there is the "zone mark." She gets this mark when she cleans her zone, which is the living room. She has to help me clean that room every afternoon and night. She is also responsible for cleaning up whatever mess she makes in her room. Also included in this mark is her kitchen chores which are emptying the utensil basket in the dish washer and helping set and clear the table.
Last there is her "night time mark." She get this mark when she gets ready for bed and goes to bed on time.
For now, each mark represents $.25 that Lexi can earn. So she has the possibility of earning $5 a week. Sean and I have talked about giving her a bonus if she gets all of her marks but that ha never even happened yet.
Every Saturday is Pay Day. In the book they suggest that you have weekly paydays. We encourage Lexi to give 10% to tithing and 10% to savings. And the rest we put in an envelope that we we hold onto for her. In this next picture you can see the little ledger I keep on Lexi's envelope and see our ghetto "family bank."
After four weeks, Lexi had just over $11 and was finally able to buy "Lon Junior."
She was beyond excited to receive her new lion in the mail today.
(We ordered him on Amazon.)
Sean and I are so proud of Lexi.
Four weeks is a long time for a four year old
but we really think it's important for her to learn delayed gratification.
Here's Lexi with old and new Lon.
Now she wants to buy some Cinderella shoes she saw at Target.
