Accountable Kids Review

I'm writing today to review a program called Accountable Kid (http://accountablekids.com/.  We started using Accountable Kids in our home with our daughter about a month and a half ago.  Accountable Kids has been fantastic for our family.  It has brought an element of structure in our parenting that my husband seriously desired.  We are able to clearly lay out our expectations for our daughter.  This is great for all of us.  She knows precisely what we expect her to do each and every day.  My husband and I can both see at a glance where she is at in completing those things.  At four years old we don't have a lot of "chores" she is required to do, but I love that this program will grow with her.  Accountable Kids is designed to to promote accountability, and help extinguish an attitude of entitlement.

We start the day with Emma's board looking like this.  The first peg on the left has all of the tasks that are required of Emma every day.  Many of these tasks are things that Emma was already doing.  However, since beginning the program, we have added a few things, including feeding the animals. The tasks are color coded, yellow for tasks to be done in the morning, red for afternoon, blue for evening.  There can also be purple and green tasks, but I'll get to that later.  

Right now in the morning she updates her calendar, feeds the dog, has breakfast, has her vitamins, brushes her teeth, gets dressed, gets her hair done, and makes her bed. These cards are all cut to the shortest length, so the band at the bottom is yellow.  She knows this should all be done in the morning before Daddy comes home for lunch.  There are things that she can't do completely on her own.  She is not preparing her own breakfast, or getting her vitamins herself.  But seeing that card prompts her to remind me to give them to her. :)  She also has a card in the morning called "Helping Hands" where she has to ask Mark or me how she can help us.  This is to encourage her to think outside herself, and work to bless others.  This is usually a simple task like taking something to the trash for me, or putting a dish in the sink.

When Daddy comes home for lunch, we begin the next length of cards which is red.  She has lunch, picks up toys in the living room, cleans up her room, and takes any dirty clothes to the laundry. Evening tasks are a little longer and blue. She has dinner, feeds the dog again, picks up toys again, puts on pj's, brushes teeth, has family time, bible time, and prayer. 

As she completes each task, she turns it over and puts it on the second peg that says "finish" above it. She does not earn any money for any of these tasks that are on the first peg.  They are simply things that are required each day as a member of our family.  It is her responsibility to go to the board, see what is next, and turn over the cards.  When each color is completed, she tells me that she finished her (morning/afternoon/evening) chores.  We go to the board, and follow up as needed.  When it's verified that she has completed the necessary tasks, she earns tickets.  Those are placed on the third peg.   (See the first picture) One thing that is different about Accountable Kids than other chore chart type programs I've seen is the tickets.  The tickets are NOT redeemed for something out of a prize box, or things of that nature.  They are used for privileges.  We have decided in our family, that tickets will be redeemed for electronics time.  We been able to have the conversation with Emma that things like, TV, ipad, computer, and such are not a right.  She is not entitled to use them simply because we have them.  Each ticket Emma earns can be traded for a set number of minutes of electronics time. 

Also on the third peg are also where earned Privilege Passes go.  These are designed to be used for a short period of time to target a specific behavior.  So far we have used them for staying in bed.  Before we started the Privilege Pass for staying bed, it was a constant battle getting her to stay in bed, with tears and frustration on both sides.  This hasn't completely extinguished the problem, but it has helped tremendously.  There is also a Best Behavior Card that can be earned.  But we haven't used that one yet, so I can't speak much to that.

On the 4th peg is the date card.  At the end of the day if she has completed all of the tasks from the first peg, she earns a sticker on her date card.  When she has 10 stickers on her date card, she is able to go on a special one on one date with either Mark or me.  She really looks forward to her special dates!

We haven't done much with the last peg yet.  Those cards have the green band at the bottom.  Those are things she can do to earn money. I think those will come in very handy as she gets older. We plan to start utilizing these more very soon.  Cards can be cut to the purple length for something that doesn't fit into the other categories.  For instance an older kid could use that for a weekly lawn mowing task.

There is also a weekly family meeting portion of the program that we haven't fully utilized yet.

We have been very happy with the program.  Emma grasped it very quickly.  I think by the second or third day she was doing things without being asked.  She does have to be gently reminded from time to time to check her Emma board and see what needs to be done.  But it has helped me feel like I'm not constantly nagging at Emma to get do certain tasks, and it has completely ended the battle we were having over certain things.  At this point, if it's on the board, she knows she needs to do it.  She might dislike it, and get upset for a moment.  But as soon as she is reminded that not doing a task means she won't get tickets, and no tickets means no ipad, tv, or computer, and that she will also not get her sticker for her date card, she quickly changes her tune.  I will say that the program works for us to the extent that we use it.  I know that when we have gotten lax about following it, or let her use electronics without tickets, then the program loses it's effectiveness.  If she can play iPad whether she's earned it or not, why would she bother earning it?  Overall, we have been very pleased with the results we have had. Any times that it has not been completely effective are a direct result of us not fully utilizing the program.  Mark and I both agree that we give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer
Please note that I may be compensated for this review in the form of a partial rebate on my purchase from their website.  However any compensation I receive does not influence my opinion, or review of this program.  I was not required to provide a positive review, simply an honest one.  This opinion is 100% my own.  I accept no liability for the purchase or use of any products reviewed on this blog.