Duty Rotation: Down to the nitty gritty and some FAQ

Duty rotation expounded on the already-familiar concept of blessing hour, but with some parameters in place against the fighting. To get the editable version, head to my etsy shop.

I divided the entire home into four "areas", which are unique to our home. This made sense for us based on the amount of able-bodied children I have, and what could feasibly be accomplished by each.

If you adopt this practice, you will need to consider your own unique home and set of helpers.

Our areas are:

the main area

the school room

far basement

and help with mom

The concept is very simple, every day, one child is assigned one area, and it rotates every day. I assigned older children directly after younger. This ensures that if an area is done a little less thoroughly by a younger sibling, I can trust an older sibling to somewhat pick up the slack the following day.

This system is all placed into a calendar on our fridge that repeats week after week. One of our kids has taken it upon himself to be the duty rotation crier and will literally, without being prompted, go and read out the rotation for the day.

I did create little check lists for each area to help everyone know the expectations for each area but a certain child would take his card to his area every day and lose it. So I will eventually need to develop a more successful solution for that particular problem. For now, they generally exceed my expectations, so it doesn't feel strictly necessary at this point.

FAQ

when does duty rotation happen? It happens once a day, in the afternoon after we have completed school for the day. We do not have a set time, but it has a natural place in the daily rhythm.

how do you get your children on board? This is such a multifaceted question, and ultimately children need to internalize the importance of their contribution for themselves. Like I mentioned in the last post, one of the most helpful realization my children had was that they actually enjoyed playing more when the house was better maintained.

no really, what do you do? We started with blessing hour, all of us working together on a general tidy of the house. Having me working beside them helps them to stay on task, and to not feel I'm just being a slave driver with unreasonable expectations - after all, I'm right there with them.

practically? I make sure that I give them plenty of warning before we transition into duty rotation. Depending on the state of the areas, I will offer help but for the most part, this is the beauty of duty rotation over blessing hour the way we did it before...

the children are self motivated because when they are done, they are done. They are completely in charge of their own fate. Often, they are motivated to work efficiently and well so they can move on.

And if a child decides not to, they are hurting no one but themselves. I try not to nag or get too emotionally invested in push back (but sometimes I do) and even the children who drag their heels eventually get their areas done. The expectation is that they cannot leave their area until I give them leave.

side note: we also have a family culture where the children know I mean what I say, which might be somewhere you need to start. I've talked about that here.

why rotate every day? I think, for my kids, it helps with morale to know they get to do something different every day. There are certain areas that are more desirable (read: generally easier) so I think it just appeals to their sense of fairness to switch daily.

what is help with mom? I'll write a whole separate post on that, it is, after all, the secret sauce.

If I get more questions, I can write a follow up post!

Olivia