According to a recent survey of 2,000 parents, conducted by OnePoll, parents can expect an average of 4,200 arguments with each child by the time that child reaches 18, and 69% of these parent/child disputes are over household chores.
In families across America, one thing is universal, younger kids as well as teens hate doing chores, but they just love asking for allowance, don’t they? From helping with the dishes and laundry, to walking the dog, making meals, taking out the garbage, or even just making their bed and cleaning up their room.
I recently had a chance to do an interview with Choreful, a household chores app, about how chore apps can actually help boost study skills.
Why can it be a challenge to figure out how to motivate students to complete school tasks?
It's not easy to get excited about learning, and without motivation, putting in the work required is hard. Oftentimes motivation comes after you get started on a task - so getting the ball rolling is key.
How can extrinsic rewards be a tool for families to promote better study habits?
I've gotten feedback from some of our users that focusing on input rather than output when it comes to motivating their kids to do more work seems to give the best results.
So instead of rewarding a specific grade on a test, they reward the task of completing homework or studying. Example: Doing "10 minutes of studying" or "completing the day's homework" gives points in the app immediately, making it easier to get started since the reward is instant.
As with most other chores, getting started is the hardest part - so it's important to set a low bar to get the children started. One idea could be to have several "low-hanging fruits" to get the kids focused on schoolwork. This could be "Preparing the school bag for the next day", 5 points. "Studying 10 minutes", 10 points etc.
This "trick" works not only for kids and their homework, but for adults and chores as well. If you're not motivated to clean the whole house, do some of the smaller chores. Before you know it motivation follows and a couple of hours later the whole house is clean.
For many kids simply getting points in the app is enough motivation. A trick can be to reward them generously, so that by just doing homework and minor household tasks they can compete (and win) in Choreful.
Some users base the allowances on points in the app. This could be an additional motivation.
Besides homework, what are some other positive educational activities parents can promote using apps like Choreful?
Reward the behavior you want to see. It wouldn't have to be related directly to homework. I've heard from some of our users that they reward reading books in Choreful, and that they do it for any book - it could be Harry Potter or Warrior Cats or something else, with the aim being to promote reading as an activity.
The same can be for YouTube or other mediums as well. Example: Research relevant (and fun) educational YouTube channels, and add watching them as a chore in Choreful. Again to reward a behavior that can trigger an interest in learning. Choreful will help you motivate your child or teen to help around the house, and actually quantify with them how much allowance they have earned and are entitled to.
Choreful, the household chores app, aims to turn tedium into a fun and competitive game that both parents and kids can enjoy and benefit from. Your kids learn accountability and they are actually motivated to do chores, as they earn their allowance and their privileges. The app is a motivational tool that creates some healthy motivation and competition amongst family members with a points and rewards system for each family members’ daily, weekly, and monthly household contributions.
Choreful is now available on the App Store and on Google Play in the U.S., Canada and the UK.
How Does Choreful Work?
Download the app and select your regional language: (example: English/United States)
iPhone users can sign in with their Apple account/Android users can provide their email address and enter their credentials manually.
If someone in your house already has a Choreful account, simply ask to be invited into their “home” on the app. Otherwise, create a home and click to invite members of your household. Tweens/Teens can download the app on their phone and join the family’s account, while younger children can ask parents to track their completed chores together.
Start recording your chores/household contributions each day, score points, calculate your points by day/week/month as you choose, and reward each other for a job well done.
Family members in the household get push notifications showing them what chores others in the home have recorded for the day, prompting more contributions by other household members.
How are points calculated?
Different chores are worth different numbers of points. There is a default list of chores and a default points system on the free version of the app. Users have the option to customize their own points system and customize household/family chores and responsibilities tailored to their specific needs with the app’s premium service.
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