Family Chore System from Everyday Homemaking {Molly/Schoolhouse Review Crew}

The latest review I’ve been trying out from the Schoolhouse Review Crew is from Everyday Homemaking. Specifically, I received the ebook, which is a pdf file, of The Everyday Family Chore System.

Written by Vicki Bentley, mother to eight (and foster mother to close to 50!), this book strives to “encourage you and provide some tools to help you to mentor your children in what it means to be a responsible, caring, sharing part of your family. (page 6)” The print version of this, with 88 pages in a spiral bound, is available for $19.99 or you can purchase the ebook format, with 91 pages, such as I received, for $17.99

I specifically chose this book because although we’ve had a ‘chore chart’ for years we aren’t always the best at follow-through. The book is logically laid out:

• Part 1, Laying the Foundation
  • Child training* is KEY
• Part 2, Implementing the Plan
  • Assign the chores
  • Teach them HOW
  • Motivate for SUCCESS
• Part 3, The Actual Chore System
  • Printable (or reproducible) chore cards, with blank cards for your modifications
  • Printable (or reproducible) how-to cards, with blank cards for your modifications

*Mrs. Bentley states at the start of this that she is not a child training expert, she just knows what’s worked for her. She includes references to other works that can help in the area of child training if needed.

You can see samples of this book by visiting the sister-site. Part 1 is the shortest, besides the Introduction, in this book. Admittedly, this might be the area that *I* need the most help! Mrs. Bentley does give good, solid advice even if it is only a few bits. On page 85, she lists books and a few websites that can help those needing more guidance in this area.

Envision your children at twelve – or eighteen – years of age. What living skills would you like them to have acquired? What sort of attitude should they demonstrate toward work? Authority? Serving one another? How will they get to that point? –page 7

One thing I like is that there are Biblical references throughout this book to show how teaching ourselves and our children how caring for the home is important. Here are some other things that I appreciated about this book:

• Life skills list, page 14-15
• Demonstrate what ‘thorough’ looks like, page 22
• Make it easy to ‘succeed’ suggestions, pages 24-25
• Sample routines and lists, pages 27-29
• House rules, page 34
• Summary, outlines the parts of this book, page 39

As far as remainder of the book, personally, I found it helpful to an extent. I appreciated the cards, especially the how-to cards but we’ve been doing the same chores for so long that I felt it somewhat silly to print out and prepare ‘how-to’ cards for my kids. It did give me ideas for other areas that need attention. With the pdf file, I can print out what I need and when I need it. Here is one page that I did print out (since I had no idea how to set the table!):

Otherwise, we use a very simple chart for chores. Ours doesn’t include my chores but I know what I have to do *wink*.

Bottom line:
I think this is a good resource for those who have smaller children and/or are struggling with “how” to get chores designated and the implementation. For those who have a system in place, I’m not sure how much use they will get out of this. As I listed above, there were some aspects that I appreciated in this book. Personally, we didn’t get as much out of it as I had hoped. I suppose the way we do things works and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Be sure to read the other reviews by other Schoolhouse Review Crew members. Some took the advice and example of Mrs. Bentley and made neat chore boards! Other reviewers posted about their experiences using the Everyday Cooking cookbook.

Everyday Homemaking offers other books and resources for homemaking and homeschooling.

***Disclaimer: I received the above ebook, Everyday Family Chore System, free from Everyday Homemaking via the Schoolhouse Review Crew. No compensation was given. I was required to write an honest review. See Disclosure/Policies.***