ChorePay Inc.

A common question we get from users is how to best use the Star Rewards tool when creating or assigning chores to their kids.  In a nutshell, the tool was created to give parents the opportunity to have tasks or chores that didn’t result in a cash award.  Instead of money, the child would earn anywhere from one to five stars; whatever star value the parent assigned to the chore.  Then stars can be redeemed by the child for an activity: a trip to the park, a movie night, pizza party with friends, you get the idea.

Knowing that parents are busy (which really is the whole reason ChorePay exists) we thought we’d take a little time to give some creative ideas on using the Star Rewards system beyond the standard chore.

A little poetry, a little prose, or maybe a little en francais?

When I was a child I spent about a month of each summer up north with my grandparents.  I loved spending time with them, and being in a rural farming community, the change of pace was very good for me.  In addition to the fishing trips, county fairs, and sneaking berries from the neighbors crops, my grandmother would give me a poem that I would need to have memorized and ready for reciting when my mother would come to pick me up.  Yeah, I suppose it was a bit like homework, but it didn’t feel so in the moment.  It was always presented to me as a surprise that we were going to give my mom.  The delight on my mom’s face when reciting something like Robert Frost’s The Pasture was fantastic and made me eager to learn more.

Try this with your child.  Choose a favorite poem of your own, or search the Web for age-appropriate poetry.  Authors like Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein, and Maya Angelou are long-time favorites.  You can also take it to the next level; have your child write their own poem, or maybe pen a short story.  Or learn a bit of a foreign language, like counting to ten in German, Spanish and French.

Once you’ve chosen something, assign it as a chore in our system but under “Chore Type” select “Stars” instead of a monetary value.  Then you can give it anywhere from one to five stars depending upon difficulty.  Something like Frost’s The Pasture might only earn one or two stars as it’s quite short.  However, a longer poem like Shel Silverstein’s Messy Room could earn more.  Something technical, like the Introduction and Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, should warrant five stars.  Don’t forget to put in a brief description like “Let’s memorize this poem as a surprise for your mom.  Come see me tonight and we’ll get started on it together!”  Finish by selecting this as a One Time chore and deciding on the starting date.

Awarding some stars for a memorized a poem, or a portion of the US Constitution, or another document that may have significance to your family is an excellent way to use the tool, create quality time with your child, and sneak some learnin’ in there!  These aren’t “chores” per se, but they’ll be a nice change of pace from taking the garbage out, and likely stay with your child for a lifetime.