Julieanne's review of  ~ Trigger Memory System’s "Clean ‘n Flip Charts"

     Trigger Memory Systems (http://www.triggermemorysystem.com) is a company that is right on target in helping children and families live more successfully, with less stress for all involved in the family!

     Their Clean ‘n Flip booklets are produced on very heavy cardstock with a sturdy plastic ring to bind them together. Some of the Clean ‘n Flips are laminated, and some are not. They are very colorful, have great "kid appeal", and are very easy to follow step by step. My children have been delighted with these charts!

"Bedroom Cleaning for Kids" by Trigger Memory Systems

     One of the reasons that it can be so challenging for children to clean their rooms, or maintain a room that has been cleaned, is that they are overwhelmed with so much to do in a small space. Parents (including me!) have a tendency to give their children a long list or "speech" of "how to clean their bedrooms", and this can be frustrating to children. My children actually don’t mind at all cleaning the bedroom they share, and it generally is neat and clean most of the time. When I tell them that it’s time to clean their room, they stay in there and are motivated enough to do this properly. Because of this, we don’t really need to use the "Bedroom Cleaning for Kids" Clean ‘n Flip charts for our own family.

     However, if our family was using the "Bedroom Cleaning for Kids" charts, we would use four brown grocery paper sacks or four empty boxes instead of four regular laundry baskets, in order to sort out-of-place items in the bedroom.

     I have also taught my children to empty their trash can each time they clean their room, even if it was below half full, so we would make that change in the charts for our own family.

     I think it would be helpful to have the "Day of the Week Jobs!" page at the back of the "Bedroom Cleaning for Kids" laminated, either by Trigger Memory Systems, or by a person who purchases this particular program, if they think that they will use that page frequently.

     All in all, "Bedroom Cleaning for Kids" is a wonderful product for your family! It can be purchased for $7.95 directly from

  http://www.triggermemorysystem.com/CleanNFlip.html

or from "The Old Schoolhouse Magazine" store at

 http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php

"Zone Cleaning for Kids" by Trigger Memory Systems

http://www.triggermemorysystem.com/Zone.html 

This is another wonderful product by Trigger Memory Systems!

     "Zone Cleaning for Kids" has the same great features of so many of their products: colorful, kid-friendly, ease of use by parents, laminated pages for dry erase marker use, step-by-step program. "Zone Cleaning for Kids" has purposefully been written to allow children to see exactly how to properly clean the kitchen, bathroom, and living room without the assistance of an adult. Most of us can’t afford servants, and we are responsible for teaching our children how to clean and organize a home, so this is a great fit for our needs and for their training!

     According to the little pamphlet that came with "Zone Cleaning for Kids", "each zone (living room, kitchen, and bathroom) is separated by its own color and can be written on with a dry erase marker. On the cover of each Zone, there is a space for the name of the child assigned to that particular Zone." I think it is wonderful that parents are able to track and rotate the Zones to fit the needs of their families!

     Times of day, called "Time Zones" are on these pages as well, to write down how often each task needs to be performed during the day.

     "Optional Jobs" is a separate page that allows moms and dads to add their own jobs for each child during the specific days of the week. Check-off boxes are placed in the appropriate location for a child to check off when they have completed a task. I really like the specific step-by-step directions to show children how to properly do a cleaning and organizing task in their home. The price is $17.95 for this useful product.

"Laundry for Kids" Clean ‘n Flip ($7.95)

     This is the third Clean ‘n Flip product I’m reviewing from Trigger Memory Systems. This is a great flip chart, too, because it tackles a household chore that many mothers (like me!) don’t want to turn over to their children due to the prices of clothing, detergent, and remodeling their laundry room floors! :)

 http://www.triggermemorysystem.com/Laundry.html

     My children easily gather and sort their dirty clothing, as they have two small laundry baskets in their bedroom closet - one for whites, and one for brights/darks. My bedroom also has the same type of arrangement with our laundry baskets. I LOVE not having to sort piles of dirty clothes to prepare them to be washed! My girls also fold and put away all of our clean clothes in our house. This is the one household chore I pay them to do (25 cents each per laundry load) mainly because having clean clothing folded and put away is so vital to maintaining a cleaner household. However, I haven’t allowed them to tackle the tasks of actually washing and drying clothes yet. The "Laundry for Kids" Clean ‘n Flip charts are clearly written, and they provide enough room on the pages that I can write in any modifications that I might have for my girls to remember. The only thing they won’t be able to do at their ages of 8 and 10 right now, even with the "Laundry for Kids" Clean ‘n Flip chart, is to physically hang up wet, laundered clothing that cannot go into the hot dryer. Those damp clothes are hung on a clothing bar placed very high above our washer and dryer, so my husband or I are the ones who still transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer to make certain that the correct clothes are hung up to dry instead of shrinking in our dryer.

     This chart program has made it much easier to teach my girls about household responsibilities. In particular, I can tell that Trigger Memory Systems does their research and knows what families need to not just survive, but to thrive! I highly recommend their charts. The price for all three Clean ‘n Flip charts may seem a bit higher than you would expect, but at least one of them is laminated well. Sometimes, the sticker shock is worth it when you can easily see the results from using these products in your family so quickly! Also keep in mind that Trigger Memory Systems provides a small discount when all three Clean ‘n Flip charts are purchased in one set.

     Happy cleaning to you all!

Julieanne

© Copyright 2008 by Julieanne Miller. All Rights Reserved.You are welcome to link to this article, but not to repost its contents without permission from the author.