Student Jobs and Chore List
The Phoenix Karate kids monthly job list will help your child develop good habits that last a lifetime. The job list is ONLY to be filled out and signed by a parent or guardian and returned at the end of each month. You may customize the job list to suit your kid's or family’s needs and you can alter it every month to work on specific things.
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To customize Phoenix Karate job list, use the excel version below, otherwise just print and use the normal Phoenix Karate pdf version.
This kids Karate jobs and chore list is to be completed monthly and returned on the last day of the month or first day of the following month.
Click below for the monthly job list:
Okay, so there is a boy – my son to be exact – painting a wall and not a fence and my son doing something he loves to do which is working and doing productive tasks around our house and yard. Based on conversations I have had with other parents, I have realized that many parents of our karate students today do not allow or expect their children to perform real chores around their homes and I am not sure why this is the way some are thinking. Why should children be excluded from contributing to the upkeep of their family's home and how are parents preparing their children for adult life if they are not equipping them with basic household skills? This is something each family has to work out for itself, but this is why we have put together the above job chore list and below are several reasons why your kids should do chores.
Chores teaches valuable skills. One of our dojo moms recently told me that she does not allow her young child to help fold the laundry because he will not do it right and the laundry will be a mess for which Sensei has told her that children have to learn to do it right, which can only be done by trying. Allowing children to do a chore allows them to master that chore and then move on to the next chore for which they will eventually master as well.
Chores Teaches Self Discipline and Time Management. Self discipline and time management is extremely important as many adults have not mastered these skills yet and being able to plan the time to complete chores and follow through on their completion is a valuable life skill that will turn your children into productive adults.
Chores Teaches Responsibility. Requiring children to do chores allows them to develop responsibility that they will take into adulthood as children learn that they are responsible for certain tasks, they must complete those tasks and in not time that responsibility becomes a habit.
Chores Builds Self-Esteem. If you just think of how you feel when you accomplish a task or a chore as an adult and for a child completing tasks can give them a tremendous sense of accomplishment that they will likely want to repeat.
Chores Instills The Values of Cleanliness, Neatness, Hard Work, and Order. Expecting and teaching the value of cleanliness, hard work, neatness and order will instill these values which will make them deeply routed in your children.
When Children Do Chores, Parents Do Less Chores. When you first think about it, it seems as though this would be a benefit for parents only but parents with more time and well run houses are generally less stressed and have more time for the important things in life. As the old saying goes, “If daddy or mammy is not happy, then nobody is happy.”
Even if you don't or already do, get your children to contribute more to the upkeep of your home as it is beneficial to them and to your family as a whole and when your children are adults their future spouses will thank you.
Sensei often gets asked if parents should pay your kids for chores and the chances are, if you were a kid who grew up in the 70's or 80's is that you received some sore of allowance for doing some household chores but there are two schools of thoughts on this.
The YES Camp Reasons For Paying Your Children To Do Chores
You grandparents likely told you that if you want something, you will need to earn it and at the risk of sounding like an octogenarian, that’s something many kids these days don’t seem to understand. Kids these days want things but but things cost money and to get money you have to work and do stuff so why not teach them the value of hard work as soon as they’re old enough to understand the concept?
This group of thinking is not talking about basic household duties, like cleaning their rooms, clearing the table or putting their toys away as part of the family team they should be doing those things anyway. But larger jobs, like raking leaves, washing windows or organizing the garage, are great opportunities for kids to pitch in and make some money in the process. Each chore can or should have a set price with the concept of the larger the job the bigger the payout and the child can choose which ones they want to do if they want to save up for something they want by the parents instilling that if you want something special and it’s not Christmas or your birthday then you need to work for it.
This arrangement can be instead of, or in addition to, a basic, no-strings-attached allowance. Both strategies can be used to teach your child money-management; that is, the role of saving and budgeting for things, and the opportunity to bump up their income through hard work, if you are willing to go above and beyond what is generally expected. Being responsible and helpful is part of being part of a family and you don’t get paid to load the dishwasher, so why should they but going that extra mile should be rewarded and that means that you won't have to throw out your back shoveling if they do it for you which is a bonus.
The NO Camp Reasons For Not Paying Children To Do Chores
Some households try to emphasize that the household is one unit which means that everyone in the family should feel equally at home, but it also means that everyone should pitch in. When one parent takes out the trash or sets the table, nobody hands the parents a few loonies or toonies and likewise, when one of the kids takes on a household task, there shouldn't be any sort of monetary payout.
This No camp does not want to send the message that money is why you help the family and that we all must contribute because it’s the right thing to do.
That doesn't mean that this camp is against an allowance, per se but this camp also thinks there’s a lot of value in allowance as their kids get a stipend to learn about saving and spending and giving to causes they care about but as for the everyday chores of everyday life this camp feels that those are the must-dos. Think of it this way: If unloading a dishwasher were a paid chore, what happens when your child doesn't want or need that money? Can he or she opt out of that chore if she feels like it? You probably wouldn't go for that, and then the connection between chores and money is broken. It’s a slippery slope when must-dos are treated as paid jobs.
Don't imagine that the kids in this camp are always cooperative and happy about this arrangement as they are not and when they complain that they do chores “for free” when “everyone else” gets paid, they are reminded that they don’t whine in other situations. At summer camp, for example, everyone in the cabin has designated chores and they don’t mind that and also when their baseball coach says, “Clean up the equipment,” the whole team jumps into action, no questions asked. “That’s different,” they’ll say but for this camp it is not different and they try to show their children that they are more than a family and they tell their children that they are a team and a community.
What The Experts Say
Before raining loonies and toonies on your kids, you need to decide which lesson you’re trying to instill when you give your child an allowance. Is it a lesson about teamwork and personal responsibility or that hard work is rewarded with financial gain?
Using an allowance as a teaching tool can support either of these lessons. However, allowances should serve the higher purpose of teaching children how to handle money responsibly as studies have shown that there really isn't much of a difference in the financial literacy of children whose allowances are tied to chores and those who receive pocket money regardless of their contribution to the household.
It’s not how your children obtain money that will help them develop their money smarts but it’s how they handle the money when they've got the cash in their hands or piggy banks that matter.
They need to learn good money management skills, including budgeting, saving and yes, spending. Their hands-on money practice should be taught in conjunction with age-appropriate discussions about the household finances and general money skills.
The more conversations you have with your kids about wants versus needs, used versus new, investing, price comparisons and other money topics, the more money smart they'll be.