Thursday, August 23, 2012

Character Chart

I made a character chart for Sitora today! I have been thinking of doing this for months, and I finally got around to it.

I had Sitora sit down with me and together we came up with character qualities and chores she could earn stickers for accomplishing. The items she suggested were: sharing, being nice, not tattle-taling, and not complaining in bed. I came up with the rest :)

Originally I was going to call this a chore chart, but I decided I wanted the focus to be on her character more than her accomplishments. We always verbally praise her and occasionally reward her with treats from time to time, but I decided she was old enough to understand this system now. I hope it teaches her patience and diligence, and shows her that our rewards don't always come immediately in life.

She can earn a sticker for doing anything listed on the chart whether we asked her to do it or she did it on her own without prompting. She gets to pick the color of the sticker herself and then place it under the character quality/chore. Once she earns 30 stickers, she can chose between a prize or a special date somewhere. I don't want her to think that this is the only way to get special treatment, but it is a good incentive. I take her on dates all the time so her "special date" might be for somewhere new or something a bit more expensive. After posting this I decided to add "or give away something to someone in need" as a choice for Sitora to do instead of earning a prize. It is completely her choice whether or not she wants to do that every time she earns 30 stickers.

She was excited to immediately start earning stickers the minute we finished making the chart. She cleaned up a mess she had made doing crafts, then asked what else she could clean. I told her the toy room was a bit messy, and she rushed off to pick it up. Then our friend stopped by this afternoon and Sitora wanted to give her a picture she worked on earlier today. This counts towards "giving" and she earned a star for that- but she wasn't even thinking about that when she gave this picture away. But I want her to know that giving is important and that she can purposefully focus on it.

As I'm typing this she's begging me to let her put another sticker on for going potty and washing her hands. Oh... now she wants to clean the bathroom. (Not that it will necessarily be clean, but it's the thought that counts, right?) Day one= success! I think 30 stickers is going to be way too easy...

If you notice, the first two items on the list are: Reading Bible and Praying/Being with Jesus. I want her to know these are the most important items on the list! Everyday together we sit down for quiet time (to read about how we do this click here) to read the Bible and pray, and she also "dances for Jesus" while we listen to worship music. The other items I am especially excited to see her work on are: staying in bed, not bed-wetting, giving, forgiving, memorizing scripture, and telling others about Jesus!

The two scriptures I wrote on her chart for us to focus on are:

Proverbs 13:4- "Let Sitora be diligent, O Lord, and satisfy all her desires."
Colossians 3:23- "Whatever Sitora does, may she work at it with all her heart, as working for You Lord, not for people."

I love watching my daughter grow. Not just physically and mentally, but spiritually. It is a privilege and an honor to raise my children and I thank the Lord for the blessings and joy they bring us!


2 comments:

  1. Great job, Casey! You're such a good mom...I love how you are more interested in her character and who she is rather than what she does! I think I'll start filing away some of the tips and tricks you do for Joel as he gets older. Thanks for being such an encouragement and inspiration (in so many things and ways!) Love you!

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    1. Awe thanks Julia :) I appreciate it! Love you!

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