Over the summer, when we realized my husband would be working out-of-state for a period of time, we decided it was time to have our 8 year old start learning how to mow the lawn. We decided on the small allowance of $2.00 each time he mowed the lawn and passed it off to our liking, which entailed not having too many grass "mow-hawks" sticking up all over the place. Money proved to be very motivational for him over the summer, but now we have been struggling to find something that all of our little kids want bad enough that they are willing to help do jobs without being told too many times by mom. So far, in the last couple weeks, I have found the most motivational method of reward for my kids to be the chance of earning a large gumball. This has proved to be more effective at getting
immediate results than anything else lately. So, I thought it might be fun for any other moms to post pictures or descriptions of their most effective reward systems for their children, whether it be for doing jobs around the house, yard work, bed wetting, etc, so we can compare and possibly acquire new creative methods.
We follow the Eyre's "family bank" program to a degree. We have a peg board for 4 types of chores during the day (morning routine [includes making bed], keeping their assigned common area clean [a hallway], homework/music practice, and nighttime routine [includes picking up bedroom, and putting out clothes for the following day]). At the end of the day we put a piece of paper in a jar with the # of pegs they got each day. Saturday is "payday." The oldest gets money for each of the pegs he earned (which he is then required to save and use for his personal needs, such as clothing, activities, etc. [we are no longer responsible!]), and the younger three earn "tickets" that they can save toward a reward or activity (swimming, getting a smoothie, going to the movie). We'll transition each child to monetary rewards when they are 8. So far it's worked pretty well, and for my kids this is a big deal (since they don't buy into anything and are particularly sloppy/lazy). If you want to read more about it, you can here: http://www.valuesparenting.com/happyfamily4.php
ReplyDeletefun idea...i will definitely check it out!
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