Show Me The Money
We use a commission system as a way for our Bigs to earn money. From time to time it needs a bit of a tweak to adjust for their maturity, ability to handle bigger jobs, and just to keep them interested.
I pinned this idea for a job board a while back. As an aside, I have to commend the makers of this job board (FischerKids), and encourage you to visit their shop on Etsy. However, it was not quite right, so I decided to make it myself and adjust it as needed.
I started with the same idea of pegboard and labeled each Big's board. I used S hooks to hold all the paraphernalia. I used craft sticks in the same way as the board on Etsy, listing jobs to be done.
The main difference is that our system has two categories: family jobs and commission jobs. Family jobs must be completed in order to earn commission money. Jobs are written on craft sticks. When a job gets done, it is moved from its respective box to the basket of the boy who completed it. At the end of the week, on payday, the jobs are tallied and recorded onto a "pay stub". The bigs are responsible for doing this and giving it to me. I check their tallies and then pay them accordingly.
Money is divided into Give, Save, and Spend. At least ten percent must go to both Give and Save. We keep our money envelopes in a closet away from temptation.
I must admit, this system will be tweaked again shortly. The family job is currently a pick and choose deal, but each must get done each week. This is a temporary step on the way to more sophisticated family jobs, which will be in the form of chore chart checklists. These checklists will also hang on the board and must be checked off every day.
The Bigs enjoy the sense of responsibility and the tangible way they can measure their progress. They get a great math lesson each week tallying their jobs and adding the commissions.
The only trick now is to keep the Little from helping herself to all those craft sticks.
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