So I cheated and bought a kit from the book store.
And I'm SO glad I did. It comes with a little dry-erase "chore chart" as well as another chart to track William's progress as he saves for a specific item (Currently a toy car that you can equip with missiles. *sigh*).
As for chores, William is required to 1) feed the dog, 2) clean the playroom, 3) do his morning/evening routine completely, and 4) read Paige a bedtime story.
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| The boy reading to his sister might be the sweetest sound on this Earth. Srsly. |
Brilliant! This kit is brilliant!
We're on day three and so far the kid is fired up. He's anxious to check items off of his list each day, and he's figured out that he can earn enough money in two weeks to get his new toy (if he combines it with the money he already has stashed away).
In all, it's going well!
Mostly.
The thing I love about this kit is that it encourages (REQUIRES!) your child to separate their earnings into envelopes labeled "spend", "save" and "give".
Did you hear me? I said GIVE!
So William will take $1 each week and put it into his "give" envelope. He is SO not thrilled with this idea. He doesn't understand why he should have to help someone else with his hard-earned money. It's HIS. He earned it! He wants to keep it all and roll around in it while cackling malevolently!
In short, I am raising Ebeneezer Scrooge.
I'm thinking if he could just SEE where his gift is going it would help him to understand. Maybe a homeless shelter? A children's foster facility? An animal rescue? Something?
Help!
Have you required your children to give THEIR money? How did you talk to them about it? Did you ever convince them to give with a cheerful heart?
Because right now I'm envisioning William walking up to a panhandler, handing him a wad of tear-stained dollar bills while simultaneously stomping on his toe.
*Sigh*
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How much do you talk with William about people in need? He might not realize that there are people in tremendous need, unless he's been exposed to the issues of poverty and starvation and disease. We tend to protect our young kids from knowledge of such things, but once kids hear that there are people - especially children - in need they often feel incredible empathy.
ReplyDeleteTo help him feel more enthusiastic about giving, there's always the option of William using his charity money to buy something and delivering it to the recipient. He could buy a cat toy and deliver it to the animal shelter, or he could pick out something for the food bank. Or he could buy a baby toy or a book for the church nursery. On a larger scale, there's an organization that helps givers see exactly where their money is going: http://seeyourimpact.org/
We have not done this yet. We do give away toys and clothes we no longer need to charity, and my girls know what that's about. But we have not required Julia to give away any of her allowance yet. Probably because she gets so little of it.
ReplyDeleteWe made these once - http://www.elleinadspir.com/2010/05/faith-and-hope-and-charity.html That might be good? Bonham puts money aside but we haven't given it away yet. I am thinking maybe diapers to Infant Crisis? Have him go with me to buy them and drop them off. He also goes with me to donate his old toys so he knows they are going to other kids who don't have any toys.
ReplyDeleteWe asked the kids how they would like to help someone else with some of the money they earn. They decided on a pet rescue organization.
ReplyDeleteOk, so our give pile we save and when school is asking for stuff for infant crisis center, or the food pantry we take their give money and go buy it. Then we also do a seniors for santa at christmas and they use their give money we have set aside all year. It comes in handy for all that stuff.
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