Hellobee Boards

We don't because I know I'd never keep up with it. I also am wary of replacing intrinsic motivation with external. We try to send the message that you should listen to your body and go potty when your body tells you it's time. We do chores because we like living in a clean house and we help each other out and it feels good to do things for yourself. Etc etc. I don't know, maybe we've just been lucky, but it seems to be working for our 3-year-old. I will say, we totally used the promise of Halloween candy to get him to nap last weekend, and it was glorious. But short-term bribes are about all we can commit to. I'm interested to see what other people do.

In the short term, yes, when my son has a clear goal in mind. For just regular good behavior, they don't work for us.

@Bao: Also just to note. The sticker chart is a booklet I made up and we carry it in the car - there's lots of templates on pinterest. If one parent is dropping and the other is picking we leave it in her daycare cubby. The point is that it's an instant reward once she fulfills what we want - an entire calm leave and commute to and from daycare.

For us it is unclear but interesting.

We only introduced it a few weeks ago. He is being rated on 6 things (unfortunately mine only hold 6 max): good table manners, say please/thank you, no whining, clean up your mess, go to the potty (as in no accidents, go to the potty willingly all on his own), and go to bed + stay in bed.

At first we didn't have a clear rewarding structure (as we are all still trying to figure it out), and/or the reward wasn't clear so I wouldn't say it is super helpful. DS (3.5 years old) still get excited about going to the chart to stick up the stars every night. Until recently, more like last week, I figured if he gets all 6 stars in one day, or all stars on the same row at the end of the week, he will get one quarter (coin) for each.

Last week he got his first coin because he said please and thank you every day for that week. We made it a big deal and "awarded" him the coin so he can put in his wallet (which already has $5.5 in it), explain to him that 4 quarters make a dollar, and how much his toys are roughly cost...etc. Last night he got all 6 stars in the same day, again we made it a big deal, awarded him a coin, he was so proud of himself. We reinforced the concept of money and how he could save up to buy things he wanted...etc.

So I don't know if it would be motivating just yet, but I like how we are also introducing the concept of math and money slowly. Tonight he almost got 6 stars again but I explained to him how he did whine a bit when I picked him up from school. I said you almost got 6 stars today and another coin! Maybe you should really not whine tomorrow and then I am pretty sure you will get another coin. He seemed excited.

If he gets 5 or more stars on a day, he will get a sticker on his mini wall calendar on that particular day. So he did get a sticker today. I am thinking if I should give him another reward (how big/small) if he accumulates x number of stickers in a month.

So we shall see....

ETA: I think in order for it to work, the reward has to be just right. If it is too small/hard to get, the child may see no point to work for it. If it is too big/easy, he/she loses the incentive to earn for it. Our starting rule was that he had to have all 6 stars in at least 3 days in that week to get a coin. Then we realize he never really have 3 perfect days in a week and that goal becomes impossible, thus we modified.

I've never done it before with the kids. I went to an open house tonight for a local charter school and noticed a lot of reward charts for behavior in the kindergarten classrooms. I'm not sure how I feel about that.