Stickers make everything better
We've ventured in the world of (cue scary music) "The Behavior Chart". Staying home with Brynne, sometimes by the end of the day I feel like I've said "NO!" or "STOP!" all day long....no matter how I try to be positive. "NO" as in, "No, you may NOT wipe yogurt on the couch anymore!" or "STOP" as in, "Stop sitting on your brother's head! Yes, I know you love him so much, but we should just hug with our ARMS".
Anyway.
Recently, Aaron and I were discussing ways to incorporate more positive reinforcement along with the discipline that is sometimes necessary...and we decided to try a behavior chart. We carefully chose a few things that we thought were "above and beyond", or were things that she struggles with. I created a chart, found clip art to use since she can't read yet, and we were on our way. We are now on day four, and she LOVES the concept. She gets a sticker for every thing she completes in a day, and then at the end of the day her daddy counts them, and she gets a coin to put in her jar and "spend" at the end of the week.
Bribery, you say? Absolutely, we say :)
In all seriousness, we like the concept of rewards for things that are, as I said, "above and beyond". She doesn't get rewarded for normal things she should be doing anyway, but for cleaning up her toys without being asked? Absolutely. (Which she has done almost every day this week, by the way).
I think we really like the chart. She likes it because it involves stickers and praise. I like it because it gives me a chance to highlight good accomplishments during the day, while still working to reinforce the concepts and behavior we've been after all along (one of the other categories is "I used gentle hands with my brother". Now, she never tries to hurt him. She LOVES him...but she struggles with how gentle to be with him (see the head comment above--and yes, I just used parentheses within parentheses)). This way, we get to reinforce how we touch our brother....and although it might still involve mommy reminding her to "be gentle", it also makes it a fun goal to work on, rather than just a negative "STOP!"
I think we like it alot.
Friday we went to the grocery store as an entire family. As we were waiting in line, the mom in front of us had a few children, and the youngest was sitting in the cart throwing a pretty decent fit. Brynne was fascinated with watching (she yelled at Aaron when he got in the way trying to unload the cart), and at one point Aaron said, "He is angry, huh? He isn't making a good choice, though. I guess he probably won't get his sticker."
To which Brynne replied with pity, "Yeah. I don't think he has a chart".
I think we ALL like it alot :)
Anyway.
Recently, Aaron and I were discussing ways to incorporate more positive reinforcement along with the discipline that is sometimes necessary...and we decided to try a behavior chart. We carefully chose a few things that we thought were "above and beyond", or were things that she struggles with. I created a chart, found clip art to use since she can't read yet, and we were on our way. We are now on day four, and she LOVES the concept. She gets a sticker for every thing she completes in a day, and then at the end of the day her daddy counts them, and she gets a coin to put in her jar and "spend" at the end of the week.
Bribery, you say? Absolutely, we say :)
In all seriousness, we like the concept of rewards for things that are, as I said, "above and beyond". She doesn't get rewarded for normal things she should be doing anyway, but for cleaning up her toys without being asked? Absolutely. (Which she has done almost every day this week, by the way).
I think we really like the chart. She likes it because it involves stickers and praise. I like it because it gives me a chance to highlight good accomplishments during the day, while still working to reinforce the concepts and behavior we've been after all along (one of the other categories is "I used gentle hands with my brother". Now, she never tries to hurt him. She LOVES him...but she struggles with how gentle to be with him (see the head comment above--and yes, I just used parentheses within parentheses)). This way, we get to reinforce how we touch our brother....and although it might still involve mommy reminding her to "be gentle", it also makes it a fun goal to work on, rather than just a negative "STOP!"
I think we like it alot.
Friday we went to the grocery store as an entire family. As we were waiting in line, the mom in front of us had a few children, and the youngest was sitting in the cart throwing a pretty decent fit. Brynne was fascinated with watching (she yelled at Aaron when he got in the way trying to unload the cart), and at one point Aaron said, "He is angry, huh? He isn't making a good choice, though. I guess he probably won't get his sticker."
To which Brynne replied with pity, "Yeah. I don't think he has a chart".
I think we ALL like it alot :)
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