Rasmussen Routines

For 8 YEARS I have used the same system to help my kids remember to do their jobs and cultivate good routines and habits.  Previously we called it the stick system and I have helped lots of moms set up their own stick system.  I created something NEW last night, but employs the same concept.  It's just...prettier!  And for all of my Heritage Makers friends and wanna-be-a-heritage-maker friends, I created it in Heritage Studio.  This allows you to customize this system for your own family and still have it look classy!

Here are your basic job charts.  Now instead of the pockets that I used to create with felt, I will have these laminated and put on the fridge or magnetic surface.  Next come the tiles:

 

These will be cut out and mounted to one inch tiles with Modge Podge and a magnet glued to the back with tacky glue .  You'll notice that each child has their own color.  The black ones are for the different zones in our house.  Obviously, you family will have different routines, or you may want to borrow some of ours, but the beauty of having this in Studio is that you can change it however you like!

The last page (these are all 12x12) tells the kids exactly how to do each routine.  You can post this in one place, or cut it up and tape inside of cupboards closer to the area where the job is to take place.  I printed two of them: one to post in the kitchen near the charts and one to cut up.

So, how does it work?  Easy!  Hold a meeting with each of your kids individually and decide which magnets they want to incorporate into their routine each day.  10 is a good number.  Place all their magnets on the left "to do" side.  As they choose to work on a routine, they can place it in the "in progress" area (optioinal).  This communicates to you that they are working on it and has been shown to decrease nagging by 85%. : )

Then, when they have finished their routine, they slide their magnet to the "done" area.

My kids know that in order to have privileges like friends, media, special shopping trips, etc., I am going to ask them about their routines.  Before I used this system, I used to ask them about everything individually and one of us would always forget something.  For example, everything done but the bedroom.  Or everything looking super clean, but forget to read the scriptures...for a few months!  I have found this system to make the expectations very clear and if we ever need to modify what is on their chart, we have a Monday Mom Meeting and change it.  Simple!