Rewards & Consequences: Day 1

Our new rewards & consequences system went into full swing this morning. I tried to start it last week but too many things got in the way. The kids were excited about the various rewards they can earn. I'm hoping this will last for awhile being that there is variety & lots of anticipation.
Bugsy was the first to be "caught" being good. He was proud to draw from the "Caught Ya!" jar.

Elvis worked hard on his schoolwork. No having to chase him down today!

Boo was right on the ball. She sat down to catch up in her spelling book & got her chores done lickity split!

Bugsy's reward? He drew 15 min. of computer time!

Elvis was the second to earn a chance at the jar. Here he is drawing his reward. No peeking allowed!

He read the paper & then did a little happy dance. His reward was 1 McDonald's point.

Our station is all set up. We have our "Caught Ya!" jars with the rewards inside. In the middle of those is the "Extra Chore" jar with chore sticks. In the tissue box are the yellow & red consequence cards neatly stored in a Ziplock bag. Included in the tissue box is one envelope for each child. This is where they can store their rewards until they are used. For instance, if they earn the privilege to stay up late it's there to remind us. They can store up their reward points for various prizes as well. For example Elvis earned 1 McDonald's point. He needs to earn 9 more & then he will get a trip to McDonald's for a treat off the Dollar Menu.

Boo earned a draw from the girl's "Caught Ya!" jar too. She earned a Dollar Tree point. She will store this in her envelope while she saves up her points. Sweet Pea earned one too. Hers was computer time. There was only one consequence card given today. It was a yellow card & was accepted without a fuss. I'm happy because the rewards have far outweighed the consequences.

Rewards & Consequences

I've been working on a new reward & consequence system for the children. I'm sure you moms out there know that no one system lasts forever. It was time for a change again. The children need something new & I need something simple and quick yet effective.

Using ideas from various sources I combined them & added some of my own. I typed up a list of rewards & printed them out.
Next I cut them into strips.

I folded them all up & separated them into 2 jars. One is for my boys & the other is for my two oldest girls. My youngest is not old enough yet to need a system. The reason I divided them was because some of the rewards were a better fit for my boys while others were a better fit for my girls. This is due not only to gender but for interests and even more so because of their ages. I decorated each jar & then filled them up with the rewards paper slips.

The idea is that I will be on the look-out each day to "catch them" being good, obeying, showing kindness, and doing their work. If they are "caught" then they will be given permission to draw a reward from their jar. Some rewards are points towards a big reward while others are instant. I plan to make a chart or pockets to keep track of what they have earned. (The girl's jar is a little "girlie" but they were the only stickers I had. I plan to get more age appropriate ones soon. In the meantime my girls said they didn't mind. Good sports!)

A friend of mine spoke of making "Consequence Cards". In the past we have used posters from Doorposts. This is the same type of idea. I made up my own consequences & again typed them up. After cutting them out into strips I taped them onto index cards. I outlined each card in either yellow or red. Yellow is for the minor discipline. Red is for more serious discipline or consequences. The craft sticks have extra chores glued on them. This way I can either choose a yellow card, red card or extra chore stick depending on what I think fits the offense. I like that I don't have to spend time thinking up new consequences & they will be at my finger tips. At the same time I still have a variety of choices. I made copies of several consequences as I have 5 children, 4 of whom will be using this system.

I hope to start using our new system tomorrow. If you'd like I'll update in a week or so to let you know how it is going.