Here is another system that utilizes points.
Below you will find a sample of this system. It's rather easy and effective. I will explain the basics of the program.
- Come up with a list of "rules" ie. No Arguing, No Talking Back, No Lying, etc.
- Come up with bonuses for positive behavior ie. Being Helpful, Being Police, Getting Along With Others, etc.
- Come up with Chores/Responsibilities, ie. Getting Up On Time, Feeding Pet, Washing Dishes, etc.
- Lastly, come up with a list of ways to spend points, 1/2 hour of t.v., computer time, any extracurricular activity.
Now comes the fun part! At the end of each day, sometime when you have about 5 minutes to go over things with your son/daughter, sit down and go over 1, 2 & 3 above. Keep in mind that if a child made a pretty good effort over the course of the day, it's okay to give them 1/2 of the points. Add up the total points and give them to your child (examples of what to use as "tokens" are below.
Poker Chips-----I found that this worked very well. I bought a package of poker chips and assigned an amount to each color, 5= white, 10=yellow, 20=blue & 100=red. I then put together a clear jar with a slot in the top cover and marked the jar Points Earned.
"me" money----This is fun if you have a little time and a scanner. Get a dollar bill and a small picture of your child, tape your child's picture over the president's face and scan into computer or make a copy, cut out to size of bill and presto they have their "own" money. Obviously you can do this with any denomination bill you would like.
Now, anytime your child wants to do something on their "ways to spend list", they need to give you the appropriate amount of "money", if they don't have enough, oh well, they will know that they have to work harder the next day to earn the points. It won't take them long to realize that it's a benefit to them to "earn" their points because - no points means no privileges!
