Yesterday was the 1st official day of summer. With 3 children, summer starts for us the day school is out. I really am enjoying not having a strict schedule and being able to sleep in. What I don't enjoy, and I am sure most Moms don't, is the sibling fights & trying to keep the kids entertained during these long lazy days of summer. My 4 year old has been acting out a little more than usual lately. There have been days where I went thought all the discipline steps I normally go through and nothing worked. Ever have one of those days? And sometimes taking away tv or computer privileges makes it even worse cuz then they are really bored!
Last week I was sitting in a DR office & picked up a "Family Fun" magazine to read. There was an article from a Mom who had started this reward system. I implemented it last week & it has worked so well that I thought I would share it w/ you.
I went to Target and got some tall clear plastic cups for $1.99 each. I bought some fun stickers & let the kids decorate their cups and put their initial on their cup as well. I got a couple of bags of marbles. For each "chore" the kids do they get a marble. Here is the sheet I typed up for the frig:
Chores:
1 Marble:
-Brush Your Teeth
-Fold Laundry
-Put Your Laundry Away
-Set Table
-Make Your Bed
-Say Your Prayers
2 Marbles:
-Pick Up Your Toys
-Straighten Your Room
-Make Your Own Breakfast
-Make your own sandwich
-Empty Trash Cans
-Water Plants
3 Marbles:
-Unload Dishwasher
-Load Dishwasher
-Dust
-Vacuum (Gracie)
-Clean Sinks (Gracie)
-Clean Toilets (Gracie)
Rewards
-Have a friend sleepover
-Date w/ Dad
-Date w/ Mom
-Have a friend over to play & watch a movie w/ popcorn & candy
-Trip to Michael’s & pick out anything you’d like
-Trip to Hobby Lobby & pick out anything you’d like
-Trip to Target & pick out anything you’d like
The author/Mom shared how it worked for her & I must say I have had the same results. As you can see above they can earn different amounts of marbles according to what they do. My daughter is 7 so there are certain things she can do but my 4 year old can't. They also can have a marble taken away if they argue or misbehave. When the cup is full (author said it takes her kids about a month to fill one), they get to choose one of the rewards.
The best thing has been how eager (especially my 7 year old) has been to do things around the house now. She actually goes to the list each day & tries to pick out chores to do just to earn marbles. The kids were getting out of the car the other day discussing how they were going to go in and make their beds, etc. to earn marbles. It is like something out of a "Leave it to Beaver" episode!
If your discipline system is not working so great and the kids are driving you batty, give this one a try. So far it has worked out wonderfully for us!
4 comments:
I love this idea!!! :)
I like the marble idea that's a new one to me. I am currently doing something along those lines with this exception. I use poker chips. The boys work doing chores for the week and at the end of the week we do an actual money exchange. I exchange 4 poker chips for $1.00. We are trying to teach them to tithe, save and spend. Then they get to choose what they want to spend their money on.
Ah ha! I needed this yesterday! Gotta start something like this!
If I won I would get a new computer chair.
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