Customer Reviews

Kenson Kids - "I Can Do It" Reward and Responsibility Chart Made in the USA. 11" X 15.5"

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have bought several different types of charts over the years (like putting stickers onto little 5" x 5" paper charts - You all know what I'm talking about) I think this one is the best. Although I did not purchase this from Amazon.com

The task squares and stars are velcro so they can change, be removed or added depending on how you teach your child or what you are specifically working on at that time. The task squares have pictures on them with the wording underneath.

At my daughter's school, they start the kids off every day positively with a "green". When they misbehave, they have to "pull" the green card or apple. I have chosen to do the same with the stars on her chart. She starts off (she is six) with all her stars because there is no reason why she can't to do everything that is on the chart. When she fails to complete a task or misbehaves after one warning, she will have to pull a star off.

If you decide to teach in this method, you will need extra stars. Go directly to the website of the manufacturer ([...]) to order more. You can also order a whole array of other task squares that will fit into your childs needs. I also have a four year old who has different tasks that he needs to work on. He needs to work more on being nice, listening and not to whine. When he receives so many stars, he receives a reward.

Which brings me to my next positive about this product. There are also blank task squares. You can write, draw or print out a picture of the reward or a specific task not available. This is great because our little guy loves to play with his DS or the Wii. Usually it's a weekend reward but if he's really good, he can play for 30 minutes during the school week. Our six year old loves completely different things so her reward would maybe be a shopping trip to a Learning Express (where I purchased my first chart) or maybe even a sleepover at her grandparents house.

It grows with your children as well. If you have older children and are having them learn how to take care of the house (washing the dishes, taking out the garbage, feeding the dogs) the company's website has tasks squares for that as well. I have already purchased those and will slowly add those onto my daughters chart as she perfects each task. As they say, out with old and in with the new.

I have read other reviews about some of the pictures on the task squares and I agree that they are questionable. The one I really find questionable is "Good Table Manners". It shows a boy eating spaghetti with his hands and having sauce all over his mouth, shirt and table. Now, how is that showing good manners? A picture of the boy with a fork in hand and a napkin close by, that is good table manners. I think it's an easy fix. Take a thin red marker and draw an big X over it and explain that this is what NOT to do.

But there are some pictures where they have no choice but to show a picture of an incorrect action. How would you picture "No Whining" or "No Back Talking"? I say get that red marker out!

like that it illustrates tasks for kids who can't read yet, but some of the tasks are confusing. for example, the one that says "good table manners" on the square has an illustration of a boy eating w/ his hands w/ food everywhere. so I'm explaining good table manners butshowing this pic, to my son who is 4 years old. A few of them are like this in the supplemental packs. In the Behavior and Complaining pkg, there's one that says "Use kind words" but the pic. shows an angry child expressing mean words to another child who is sad because of those words-it doesn't make sense. However, the structure of the chart is simple and most of the illustrations are consistent w/ the task.

Lots of parents told me this system was a waste of money, but after I noticed a similar system being used in my kid's schools and hearing how well behaved they are at school, I decided to give it a shot. My kids stop and think now before exhibiting bad behavior because they know the chart is on the fridge, and they know they are working to earn stars....and they actually compete to share more or whatever to have more stars that the other! They earn a trip to the dollar store a week, or they can save their weekly prize to earn a larger prize down the road. The stars are durable, the charts are easy to read. Even my 3 year old can "read" her list of things to do (or not do) by looking at the pictures. I just ordered additional packs of behaviors and chores so we can mix it up a bit.

We have been using the I Can Do It reward chart for both our boys for two years now. We used it at first to address problem behaviors and then as they got older we use them for their chores, so that we don't have to remind them everyday what they are expected to do. They just look at the chart and do it! Occasionally if a behavior problem creeps up on us we just add it to the chart and it's usually resolved in days.

I had a tough time deciding between the Melissa and Doug chart and this one. I bought the Melissa and Doug because it was cheaper. I just wasn't happy with it. The magnets were a pain, it was heavy to hang on the wall, so I went back and purchased this one. It's PERFECT! I HIGHLY recommend it don't waste your money on any others!

We started this with our 8 yr old boy last year, and we've used it almmost every night since (after teeth brushing, we do stars for the day). I also bought two extension packs (school and chores) so we have a lot of options to choose from. We use it by picking the areas that need the most work and using those for a number of weeks until those actions are mastered or become routine, whether that's going to bed and staying in bed, brushing teeth, picking up, etc. The best part is it's focused on rewards and positive encouragement, rather than punishing and taking away.

The colorful pictures and stick-on stars combined with the reward system keep him engaged. We offer a reward at the end of every week if he meets a certain number of stars, and he does not get a star if something isn't done (this gives him the freedom of choice, while teaching that every choice has a consequence). We rarely take stars away because we find that positive encouragement is enough of an incentive (skeptical? we had an EXTREMELY difficult time getting him to do simple tasks, getting him to stop whining, stay in bed, and more problems for YEARS until we implemented this system, but we've seen a HUGE improvement after using this consistently and correctly). When you start getting into punishment, everyone loses their cool and there's no good ending. This system makes it a win-win for everyone.

This product was the best I found when searching online for a chore chart. Seems to be well worth the money. I realize that you could just use your own whiteboard/wipe off chart, but Kids Like Stars!

It was very easy to switch my 2 1/2 year old daughter from getting stickers as a potty reward to getting these plastic stars. And things we were trying to encourage like making her bed, helping with the laundry, picking up her toys, and staying in her own bed all night had their own card too. (I purchased the supplemental "Chores" add on.)

Pro: durable stars, flexible chores list, great child buy-in! Also it is a good size, big enough to be visible, but doesn't take over the door. The box for "# of stars" and "Reward" keeps me accountable to follow through on a promised reward, hard to forget when its right there in black and white. No problems with the chart staying up on the door with the magnetic strips that came with it.

Con: Even with a 2 year old I was wishing I had another row or 2 of chores (6 chores can be tracked at a time), perhaps if the rows were not as tall another one or 2 could have been fit in. So you might need to still do some of your other reward system tracking.

FYI - I don't think I looked close enough to realize that it was not just a star each time you do something (regardless of which day), but one column for each day of the week. So it can be confusing with things you want them to do more than once a day. We had to decide that she got a star for brushing her teeth in the morning, but wouldn't get a second star for brushing them at night too for example. Try explaining that to a 2 year old :)

I have been looking for a good responsibility chart for a while and I finally found it. The chore titles are great. 20 in all and very practical. It has worked like a charm and I have less issues with my son getting dressed and going to bed on time. We are also working on the other issues. When he gets a full week of stars for an item he gets a small prize. I have hung it over his bed so he sees it all the time. It worked from the first day I got it. I had him help me assemble it. He loves it. The price is great as well.

My daughter kept wanting and wanting stuff. I kept wanting her do things, ie. brush teeth, eat dinner, stay in bed, etc, etc. I purchased this Reward Chart and viola! both of our wants were met. There are 6 things on the chart she needs to do everyday and a few of them several times a day to earn a star. Once she gets the specified number of stars that my husband and I thought was doable for a 4 year old, she earns a reward/prize at the end of each week. So far it has been small stuff that she wants. This week was lunch at Chucky Cheese. Just these little things and her "earning" her star has helped tremendously with her manners and everyday chores.

I looked at (and bought) a couple of different chore charts for my preschool aged kids, and this is the one I like the best. For non-reading (and early reading) kids, it is the best because the chores have pictures as well as words. I wasn't sure if I'd like the velcro as well as the magnets on other charts, but it works really well. Easy enough for the kids to pull the stars off, but strong enough to stay on until they do. And it has provided them a way to learn responsibility and to help out around the house. It has made doing chores more fun.

My biggest complaint is that there aren't enough kinds of chores. At least half of the ones provided are behavioral things, not actual chores, while a lot of the basic chores you'd expect for kids to do aren't included, such as "clean room" "dust" "vacuum" "empty dishwasher" "sweep" "do homework" "empty trash" "clean bathroom" etc. Fortunately, the chart came with a few extra/empty squares, and being relatively computer savvy, I downloaded some clipart pics of the things that were missing, bought some sticky-back printing paper, and made my own. But I really wish they'd have made a lot more chores for this set and left the behavioral ones out. They already make a behvioral set you can buy separately, so why not keep them together and make room for more chores?

The behavioral ones they do include can be pretty hard to monitor, too. For example, "Use nice words." I guess you could be on the lookout all day long for them to use nice words --or not use nice words, to take the star away--but too many of the behavioral ones seem both unnecessary and too ambiguous to really nail down if the child is doing it or properly avoiding it.

I also wish they had used a much stronger grade of magnet for the back of the charts. They barely stay on our fridge. If you try to pull off a chore or a star, the whole chart comes off the fridge.

But overall, this was the best one out there. If you're willing to take a few minutes to make the extra chores that the set should include, it can work really well for motivating kids. My kids love to take off the chores every week and divvy up the new ones, they love to count their stars and earn their allowance. It really is a great concept for a chore chart, just not as well executed as it could be.