Wednesday, May 12, 2010

penny banks

Responsibility. It's such a tricky thing. It helps if - at some point - someone has helped you want to be helpful. I think that little people want so badly to feel valued, to contribute to family life.

It's Weird Week around here (that's what the we call the weeks we take a break from formal schooling), which generally means more time painting, going outside, and visiting people. We used our free time to get out the paints and a couple of glass jars, and see what happens when you mix them together...





After we were done each boy had his own, special Penny Bank. We used glass because 1) it's totally fun to hear that clink, clink as the pennies plop in, and 2) I wanted their banks to be something that we don't play with.

There are jobs around the house that they both regularly help with, so I made a little chart to divide the day's work, and put a clip on each column with their name on it. They swap job lists every day, and at the end of the day, they get paid two pennies for each job that they have done well & willingly.

I know two cents isn't a lot in grown-up speak. But I think it's a good place to start. And they get such a kick out of dropping those pennies in, of swapping their name clips to the next day's list, and of getting that whole day off from having to take care of the dog!

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