An Easy Homeschool Chore Chart System That Actually Works
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Do you dream of a homeschool chore chart system that will help you teach your kids good habits and routines? Read on for the tried and true system I’ve set up in our homeschool that gets the job done!
CHORES. The word itself kind of comes with a negative connotation, doesn’t it? Kids thing chores are boring (there is always something more fun to do, right?), and sometimes we as parents are tempted to use them as a punishment in our parenting, furthering their bad rep.
Maybe you are unsure when to begin implementing a chore system with your kids; or, you know you need a homeschool chore chart, but aren’t sure what the system should look like. You also want to put something in place the whole family can stick to with accountability.
The fact is, the habit of doing chores is an important skill we have the privilege of teaching our children. Not only will a great homeschool chore chart system help teach them how to take care of a home, but will help you instill values of responsibility, teamwork, and contributing to the family.
Zone Cleaning Has Been a Game Changer
Once I discovered zone cleaning, I knew I had found the thing that would help me keep up with my own household chores (without feeling overwhelmed and discouraged).
You see, I have a very all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to cleaning. I don’t mind cleaning, but I often felt overwhelmed because I see EVERYTHING that needs to be done, and want to tackle ALL. THE. THINGS at once.
Sometimes that overwhelm and feeling like I had such a huge task in front of me paralyzed me into doing nothing at all.
I kind of needed to give myself permission that it was OKAY to not do everything all at once. That it was okay if things weren’t always perfect, but a work in progress; and if I did a little bit each day, I was productive and on the right track.
Creating a zone cleaning system is what helped me find that groove. And when I realized that I could take this same system and get my kids involved, it was a no-brainer. We finally have a homeschool chore chart system that is easy to implement (and that we stick with each day!).
What is Zone Cleaning?
With zone cleaning, you basically split the house into “zones”, and then you split those zones into tasks. You then assign the zones and tasks to certain days or weeks, and rotate through them.
There are a couple of different ways to do this, but the way I set up my homeschool chore chart is by splitting up our home into 4 zones, and then tackling one zone each week by doing 1-2 tasks each day in that zone. You cycle through the whole house each month, and then repeat from the beginning!
…RELATED POST…
How To Use Your New Homeschool Chore Chart
Why Do I Love Doing Chores This Way?
My kids love our chore charts…and so do I! Once they learned how to do each task and what the system was (it’s so easy), they are able to take care of their chores on their own each day – without any prompting from me!
Other things I love about our homeschool chore chart:
- We have a predictable routine to follow. My kids know what chores are expected of them each day to contribute to our family, and this has helped them learn to take initiative and follow through with their jobs.
- The charts are effective! The charts I created work perfectly because my kiddos can see exactly what they need to do and when – and crossing off their tasks gives them a sense of accomplishment!
- It’s not boring. The “chores” they have are not long – they never take more than 20 minutes each day. And with this method, we work in different zones each week; it’s nice to mix it up a little and for the most part, not have to do the same thing each day.
- Everyone is contributing. While as a mom I certainly have more to do to keep up with the household duties, it’s not completely on my shoulders. Even if it’s a small chore or task that the kids do to help, it all adds up – and we all learn the value of working together to accomplish something.
One thing that might be tough to remember as you get started is that – especially if you have younger kids – the chores might not be done perfectly. And that is ok!
What’s important is that they are contributing, forming good habits, and doing their best at their assigned duties. Over time, you’ll see certain jobs improve. Use this opportunity to encourage your kids as much as possible, and model joy as you do your own chores.
Our Zone Cleaning Homeschool Chore Chart
In the picture below, you’ll see a Zone Cleaning Chore Chart I have for each of my 3 older kiddos (Luke is 8, Emma & Carly are 6 at the time of this post).
The most time consuming part of this process is setting up your chore charts…but once you do this, the rest is smooth sailing!
Note: You can either fill them out by hand, OR, they come in editable PDF form, so you can fill them in on your computer! Makes it super easy for when you want to change up the chores.
You’ll see I have our house divided into 4 zones, and we work on one zone each week. Our zones are:
- Stairs/Entryway/School Room
- Kitchen/Downstairs Bathroom
- Kid’s Bedrooms/Bathroom/Upstairs Hall
- Basement/Living Room/Office
Yours will obviously be different depending on your needs.
Filling Out the Homeschool Chore Chart
When I first began filling out the charts, I worked through one zone at a time.
This was only a little more complicated because I have three kids; I needed to be creative in coming up with age appropriate chores, and making sure I didn’t assign the same chore on the same day to different kids.
If you’re just filling out one chart, it will be a bit simpler…otherwise, I’d recommend stacking them up (see picture below) and fill them all out at once.
The Zone Cleaning Printable Pack includes both age appropriate chore ideas AND chore suggestions by zone.
Sundays are blank because sometimes things happen and a chore isn’t completed on the day it is assigned; Sunday can either be a rest day or a catch-up day. But our rule is all chores get done by the end of the week.
Side note/warning: FriXion Eraseable pens – they are amazing. Do NOT spend forever filling in your chore charts with them and then send ’em through a laminator (don’t ask me how I know this). Just don’t do it.
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = “homeschoolsty-20”; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = “manual”; amzn_assoc_ad_type = “smart”; amzn_assoc_marketplace = “amazon”; amzn_assoc_region = “US”; amzn_assoc_design = “enhanced_links”; amzn_assoc_asins = “B01KLLQ6PA”; amzn_assoc_placement = “adunit”; amzn_assoc_linkid = “ea6f08deee2140f71dc9818ecaa60d06”;Repeat for the remaining three zones and voila! You’re all set!
As far as our routine goes, my kids know that when they wake up in the morning, they are to complete their AM chore after breakfast and getting ready for the day. The PM chore is completed in the afternoon, typically after schoolwork is done but BEFORE any electronics are allowed.
A Few Questions I’ve Received:
What if your kids want to complete all their chores (AM and PM) at once?
I typically make them stick to one chore in the AM and one later in the day, unless there is a day I have a chore scheduled where it really doesn’t matter WHEN they do it (like cleaning toilets…as long as it gets done, I’m happy!).
However, if I have one kid scheduled to sweep the kitchen in the AM and someone else is scheduled in the afternoon for the same chore, then they need to stick to the schedule. Plus, in general I like the habits it helps form of doing a chore in the morning and another in the afternoon.
Why do some chores not match up to the zones?
Depending on how many kids you have, you might not have enough chores per zone to split up; with three kids working on one zone a week, that’s 42 chores to tackle to clean that zone. So, for us, I split up the chores the best I could, and then also throw in some non-zone related tasks that I want my kids to get in the habit of doing weekly (like laundry).
Your kids are doing their own laundry?
Yep. Best decision I made to teach them how to do this when they turned 6!
Do the chores take a lot of time?
No more than about 20 minutes a day. When we first implemented the system, I went through each and every chore each day teaching them how to do it. Once I was confident they were ok with it, they were on their own.
Do your kids have their allowance tied to chores?
My kids do get an allowance, but it’s not specifically tied to the number of chores they do. You certainly could add that component to this system if you would like!
The Zone Cleaning Printable Pack comes with a Reward Chart I created to use if you would like to add a reward aspect (comes in handy especially as you are first starting to implement the new system).
…RELATED POST…
7 Reasons You Should Give Your Kids An Allowance
Implement A Homeschool Chore Chart System Today!
It feels so good to have a system down that we love and allows us all to take part in keeping our home clean. I love the responsibility it has helped build in my kids and that they see how manageable the process can be when you break it into little steps.
Take a peek at this fun Printable Pack if it’s something you’d like to try with your family!
Zone Cleaning Chore Charts
I hope this was helpful, and I hope you enjoy trying Zone Cleaning with your kids. If you have any questions at all, drop a comment below! I’d also love to hear: what are the chores your kids have in your home already?
Related Posts:
- Real-Life Skills All Kids Need to Know (and How to Teach Them in Your Homeschool)
- Homeschool Daily Checklist + FREE Printable for Your Kids
- The Best Chore Charts for Kids (You’ll Love This System!)
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This is going to sound dumb but how did you teach the kids to do laundry? Do they separate darks from lights? Just curious because I was never taught and just kind of learned as i went and feel like I don’t know how to teach my kids. Kind of embarrassing.
Hi Jess! Not dumb at all. I made it really simple because honestly, they don’t have too many clothes I am picky about at the moment! They wash their lights and darks together. I have a little laundry basket for each of them that they put their dirty clothes into each day. Right now, I have those little Tide Pods they use because they are easy for them to just take one and throw it into the washing machine (my oldest is probably getting tall enough to use liquid detergent, but I haven’t taught them how to use that yet). I use dryer balls in the dryer, so I don’t have them mess with fabric softener either (see, really simple lol!). So when I was teaching them, on laundry day, I would walk with them as they bring their little basket to the laundry room, taught them how to put the clothes in and add a little detergent pod, then showed them what setting to put the washer on. When it was done, I showed them how to put the clothes in the dryer and what setting to turn the knob to and how to empty the lint trap, etc. When it was all done, they put their clean clothes back in their baskets and take them back to their rooms to put away 🙂
I hope that helps!! They are still young (my girls are 6 and my son is 8) so this is about as fancy as we get – but it does the trick! I really mainly wanted to focus on the habit and discipline of it. I would practice with them until they get the routine down. You could definitely teach them to sort lights and darks (maybe even keep two separate little baskets for them if you have room for it!) if you want. I probably will do that when they get a little bit older, along with teaching them how to use the liquid detergent and other things as needed.
Oh, and if something is stained or really dirty, we have a bin we throw those clothes into in the laundry room and honestly I take care of those right now – but this will be something I teach in the future as well.
Hope this helps even a little bit!!
This looks wonderful! I downloaded the template and as I am filling it out, I am noticing something. My kids will only do the zone chores for one week a month. I am worried that 1) they will forget how to do those chores by the time the next month comes back around and 2) there is no consistency throughout the whole month, resulting in my loss of sanity. How does this chore chart relate when it comes to being able to swiftly clean the house? I have ADD and I’m concerned this would lend to being more scatterbrained?
Thank you for downloading! I totally understand, and I think it comes down to what will work best for you and your family. I do have three kids who do chores, so I have them in different zones each week (not all three are working in the same zone), so that does help for the whole house to get tackled over time.
This system isn’t so much about cleaning the house quickly, but rather, getting into a good habit of following the routine and doing a little bit each day to maintain the home <3. Definitely feel free to modify as to what works best for you! For example, most recently I have assigned my older kids to empty the dishwasher for their morning chore for an entire week at a time, and they take turns doing this. For chores that are repetitive like this, you can certainly assign the same one each day...even if it's not in the same "zone". Let's say the zone is the living room: you could still make emptying the dishwasher the morning chore each day, but have the afternoon chore be something in the living room (vacuuming, dusting, tidying, etc.).
Hope this helps!! Let me know your thoughts!