Reward System

Remember being in school when you were younger?  So much is expected of kids: homework, classwork, tests, papers, chores when they are done with school...On top of all that, they are further expected to do their best and get good grades.  I'm no different.  I expect the same out of my homeschooling offspring.


Most kids start the school year (when they are young) excited!  They can't wait to join the rest of society's school children.  Though, over time, the whining begins.  The same child no longer wants to go to school and begins making excuses.  Their grades drop and they lack motivation.  What stems the kids' slow decent into having disregard for the importance of education?


Think of your job...every day you go to work and do the same thing day in and day out.  Do you enjoy it?  You would if your employer has a reward system in place.  


Think of yourself as your child's employer.  Stop pointing out all the mistakes while ignoring the good deeds.  Kids try so hard to please everyone.  We can correct their bad behavior and mistakes, but let's let them know their hard work on the things they do put forth the effort don't go unnoticed either.  Below you will find several reward systems I have in place within our home school.

• Every day that my children behave (three strike rule) they get a sticker on their chart for that day and get to pick something from the treat basket.  The treat basket is filled with a mixture of pencils, bookmarks, erasers, stickers, Tootsie Rolls, Starburst candies, Silly Bands, etc...  

• At the end of the week, if the kids have stickers for every day of that week, they get one school dollar to use or save (downloaded from this site).  This aids in teaching delayed gratification and sets your child up for building savings later in life.  With the school dollars, they can buy any number of things, but each item has a different value.  Items range from $1 to $4.  This encourages kids to try to save for at least a month if they want something from the $4 dollar bag of goodies.

• After the sticker chart is complete, if they have stickers for every day of the entire week, I give them a certificate.  We hang the certificate on the wall in the classroom.  They like to see how many they can get before the school year is up.
• My children also get pencils, star stickers, or star certificates when I see improvement in grades or behavior.  Sometimes just out of the blue I give it to them to make them feel special.  I may reward for a kind act.

I hope these reward ideas help.  Let me know what you think of them or give me some examples of what you do to reward your child.