Hellobee Boards

I’d rather reward good behavior then punish bad. All of this sounds very typical for prek to me. Both the kids behaviors and the teachers attempt to mitigate that

I think this is a very typical approach to behavior in preschool. I wouldn't feel icky about this at all. In my daughter's older 3s/younger 4s class, they have can earn clips for good behavior or being a good friend. They hand them out very liberally - like in a 20 min span in the class, I saw every child get a clip at least once. If you have 3 clips by the end of the day, you get a "treasure." So, everyone gets a treasure, I'm pretty sure. My LO always does. But she is definitely motivated/encouraged to make good choices by the clips and treasure.

@gotkimchi: I agree. As long as they are rewarding good behavior (as opposed to pointing out/punishing negative behavior) I feel pretty positive about it.

I don't think it's a big deal, pretty standard token economy system for early childhood.

Interestingly, my son's preschool never did this kind of thing. My son is also not the type to be motivated by rewards like this, so I am not sure it would have helped him...and believe me, he was not a super friend most of the time! What helped him was time and having teachers around him that understood his issues and developing specific strategies for him.

This wouldn’t bother me at all. If a child is behaving well why not reward them?

At my son’s school, they get to pick out of a treasure chest after x amount of good days. They also introduced the concept of “warrior bucks” for good behavior. They can trade in these bucks on certain days for treats.

As an adult, I don’t need positive affirmation all the time but it feels nice to get it every so often!

@Mama Bird: Actually I think that the term "super friend" was probably chosen because it emphasizes that good behavior is about kindness & respect toward others. I have a feeling that @Mrs. Carrot and others might be even less excited about it if the terminology was more just about being a "super listener" or "super rule follower," ha.

My daughter's preschool is more focused on structure and compliance than I initially thought I would be comfortable with, but seeing how much she is absolutely thriving, it has sort of changed my opinion. I think when you can incentivize kids to behave in a way that makes the classroom more harmonious, there is so much more room for positivity, fun and learning in the class which is the ultimate goal. Sure, it would be great for the teachers to handle each behavior situation, positive or negative, individually rather than having a token system but then they would never do anything else.

I don't get why you couldn't reward people individually for what is appropriate for that child? An introvert child could have a hard time in a big group circle time, but if he or she overcame that discomfort and joined the circle, they could be a super friend for that. An extroverted child who is loud and outgoing could be a super friend for listening quietly while another child did show and tell. A younger child who doesn't want to sit but who still finishing a beading project could be a super friend for joining art time with friends. If the teacher is actively looking for ways to encourage each child to be a super friend, I don't get why this is an issue.

@gingerbebe: I agree. I would imagine that they reward kids based on their own progress. As you said, different kids at different stages of development with different personality types would have different goals. Like yeah, there’s a chart with specific things. But I would think that it’s open to interpretation based on the kid, at the teachers discretion.

I also get that a few are saying that kids are at different stages of development and some “bad behavior” is normal. But a 4-5yo is capable of learning what is good and bad Behavior. Yeah, it may be normal for a 4-5yo kid to snatch a toy from someone’s hand. But at 4-5 they can also observe and learn that it’s not ok. Even at 2-3 I think that is appropriate. Whereas a 12-18 month old you can’t really reason or explain things as well. I wouldn’t be mad about it at that age, but I might think it’s weird because how much is that actually sticking with them?

Encouraging good behavior in a class of toddlers is tough business! It takes incentive, time and effort to organize something like this. I would be grateful.

As a teacher myself, I'm pretty staunchly against a rewards-based behavior system. But if this happened in my kids' class, my attitude would be - shrug, what are you gonna do? Research shows that this kinda stuff does tend to work well -
temporarily - for moderate behavior issues, but can exacerbate more extreme unwanted behavior. So if my kid wasn't in that last category, and the teachers seem to be thoughtful and respectful to the kids in how they carry out the program, I would just do my part at home to make sure to encourage the inherent value of good behavior and treating others well and that it isn't attached to a token/prize.

I don’t really have an answer, but thought I would share what’s going on at my DD’s preschool (3-4 yos). From the very beginning of the year, the teacher said she would award a “champion’s medal” to one kid at the end of the week. The idea is that each kid will win it once during the school year. I’m not exactly sure what her criteria are. My daughter won it the second week of school and she (and we!) were so proud of her. But I imagine if you are on the other side and your kid hasn’t won it yet, or wins it in the last weeks of the year, how are those kids/parents feeling?

@Chuckles: that's what I thought of when I saw the title. I am vehemently against those.

I'm not terribly pro the sticker thing and think it has problematic but I would probably let it go.

I'm not a fan of sticker charts/tokens/rewards (basically bribes) unless it is for very discrete, short-term situations like early potty training. One of my LO1s preschools did this, and I hated it (we left that school mid-year). She is naturally a rule-follower, so it basically meant that she just did what she would've done anyways and then came home with a crappy toy at the end of every week.

I actually like better the concept of recognizing and praising those who are showing kind actions, but I agree that something about calling it a "super friend" seems weird, and having the whole class sing the song to a person could both take a lot of time away from other things AND be shame-y.