Summer Chore Challenge - Mission Accomplished

Summer is over, and so is our Chore Challenge.  I'm beyond pleased to report that it was a smashing success!  

I had an inkling things were going well when, a month into the challenge, Aubree paused while sweeping the kitchen and asked, "Can we do summer chore challenge next year too?"

I admit that a big part of the reason I implemented this program was to force myself to focus on training. I know it's important to teach the kids how to work, but in the moment it almost always seems inconvenient, and it's too easy to rationalize that, "I'll teach them next time."  This system made "next time" become "this time" and the kids were begging for it!
Since most of the Chore Challenge tasks initially involved the kids watching me do a chore while I explained step-by-step what needed to be done, the first few weeks required a lot of my time and attention.  Just when it started to get overwhelming, however, they transitioned to the more independent steps, and suddenly my burden became much lighter!

Thane with his little Lego step 6 prize

The kids doing so many extra chores was surprisingly challenging for Mark.  "Am I allowed to load the dishwasher?" he'd ask, then jokingly fret, "what can I do around here these days?"

It was also interesting to watch how the different kids reacted to the long-term nature of the challenge.  I liked that the kids had to do a lot of work before seeing progress on the actual challenge chart or earning any rewards.  All of them started out strong, but Aubree was noticeably motivated.  Halfway through, however, Aubree's enthusiasm waned and she made very little progress towards her goals.  

Right when Aubree began to taper, Bryce and Thane started noticing how close they were to completing many of their goals and they ramped up their efforts.  Thane never turned down an opportunity to do a Chore Challenge task and was thrilled to be the first one to earn his grand prize.  He chose a Superman "Rainbrella."

I should note that one of his challenges was to learn to ride a bicycle and he did it!  Starting and stopping were the only tricky points.  Comically, he seemed magnetically drawn to every single "No Parking" pole down our street.  I'm pretty sure he crashed into all of them at some point or another.  

Bryce earned his grand prize not long after Thane.  He chose a Lego mobile police kit as his grand prize and then spent hours happily putting it together.  

Seeing her brothers earn their prizes, and realizing that school started in less than a week, lit a necessary fire under Aubree.  She sat down and figured out exactly what she needed to do to finish in time.  The last week of summer was a whirlwind of work, but she managed to finish just in the nick of time and earn her chosen grand prize - a American Girl flute for Kit.

Since all three kids finished, that also meant that they earned a family party.  Hurray!  The program worked so well, I've already started thinking of things to add to their lists for next year...