Kids and Work

First of all, Hagen discovered the joys of the sprinkler und the trampoline.  It is safe to say he was fascinated.

 

 

Meanwhile, we worked on this project...

I have always had some pretty strong ideas about kids and work.  Growing up we worked, a lot.  It was good for us, it molded us into what we now are.  We only got paid to move pipe, that was such a terrible job that I think paying us was the only way my parents could get the job done.  Everything else we just had to do.  It was part of our rent for living and eating at home.  It was part of life. 

My kids have never had allowances or really any way to earn money.  We have just bought what they needed and what they wanted, well its a good thing there is Christmas and birthdays. I have always had a pet peeve of kids wasting money on junk at the store just because it is their own money. We have recently decided that aside from all the household work our kids have to do, they need a way to earn money.  They need to learn to pay tithing, save for the future and enjoy the fruits of their labors a bit.  I am still against paying the kids to do household jobs, I just think that is something they should just have to do.  So I got my mind working... Folks that doens't happen much.. and sometimes its a scary thing.

As I pondered my dilemma, I came across an article that I wish I could find.  Dang it!! It talked about how much money each and every "A" on a High School Transcript was worth.  Someone with a lot more energy then myself figured up how much it cost to go to college for four years without any scholarships.  This included tuition, textbooks, housing, the whole deal.  They then divided that number by the amount of classes required to graduate High School, and put a dollar amount on what each "A" grade would be worth if a student were to get straight 'A's" and have a full ride scholarship on graduation day.  It was somewhere between $4,000-$5,000 per class. I was dumbfounded! (And that is only figuring four years of college, these days you need much more)

Then I knew how my kids were going to earn money.  You see in my eyes for the next many many years, school is their main job.  (Hopefully there will be other paying jobs, but school should be their main focus) I decided whether it be right or wrong, that I was going to pay my kids to do EXTRA schoolwork.  We made workbooks for them and worked out a system so that they get paid to read and do other school work during the summer and possibly during the school year.  (that is yet to be arranged) They can earn as much as their little hearts desire to work.  It has been good.  I feel confident in this system for now.

They enjoyed their first payday with sparkles in their eyes as crisp $10 bills were dropped into their homemade piggy banks.  They were very excited to write on their little check registers how much they had earned and then figured up how much tithing they owed.  It felt good to see them be excited about how hard they had worked to earn their money.  (Their workbooks are challenging and they have to read a lot of minutes for a small amount of pay, but to them it was worth it!)