Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Productivity app lets families set own tasks and rewards.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Chore Pad
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
Parents can read a thorough tutorial on how to set up the chores and the individual charts, how to assign points, and how users earn rewards. Each user gets a flip card tacked to a virtual cork board that they flip to view the number of chores completed and rewards earned. Parents must create each chore and then assign them to a specific person's card. Once that's set up, all kids need to do is go to their card and tap the date and the chore they've completed to record it.
Is It Any Good?
How well CHORE PAD works will depend upon how the people in a household use it, and if the system fits a family's philosophy on work and rewards. There's no doubt that it's a well-organized, simple system to use. The system rests heavily on rewards or "penalty stars" to motivate everyone to do the work, and some of the "work" included as possible chores to list are exercise, prayer, writing, and "love you" notes. Of course, you don't have to choose those chores.
The underlying message of this system is the idea that being motivated to do things requires reward or demerit -- which may not work for every family and hasn't been proven as an effective tool for building kids' long-term inherent motivation. If chores are a problem around your house, it may be worth a try. But expecting a total change in a family's chore habits due to any app may be a stretch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Involve your kids in deciding who is assigned which chores before inputting assignments into the app.
Encourage everyone in the household to thank each other for completing their chores for a different kind of reward -- gratitude.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : strategy , Emotional Development : self-awareness , Collaboration : group projects , meeting challenges together , teamwork , Responsibility & Ethics : following codes of conduct , honoring the community , respect for others
- Pricing structure :
- Release date : November 28, 2012
- Genre : Other
- Publisher : Nannek
- Version : 4.1
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 5.0 or later
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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