OK, so I started a new....let's call it an incentive program for my kids. I am tired of nagging them to do their chores and pick up after themselves so I came up with an idea. I bought some of those decorative marbles and then took them to the dollar store and let them pick out a container. The deal is, for every chore they do, they earn a marble in their jar. For every 6 marbles they get, they receive a dollar. I told them I'm not buying them "prizes" anymore. If they want something they need to earn the money for it. We thought about upping the marble:reward ratio to 4 marbles for a dollar, but I am giving marbles for things like brushing teeth two times a day, so we thought 6 would be appropriate. If it's a big chore, they get 2 marbles.
The flip-side is, if they have to be told more than 2 times to do something, I take a marble out of their jar.
I am hoping this will help them to do the things they should already be doing, and earning money to buy for themselves the things I would have otherwise bought for them anyway. But the beautiful thing about children is....they think it's a cool new game!
Today was the first day of the "incentive program". I had kids begging me for jobs!! Even Brooklyn was doing chores and earning marbles. Jackson liked it because he had kids fighting over taking him for a walk. I know the newness and coolness will probably wear off but I'm hoping we will be able to stick to this one. I've had trouble in the past finding a system that works but I have high hopes for this one. I'll keep you posted on their progress!
3 comments:
That's a great idea Connie! I want to start that here, but I don't know who I'd report to! :D
I love this idea. Maybe I'll get Curt his own jar so he'll be more excited to pick up after himself:)
That's a great idea! I use the "Chore Store" idea that I got off of Pioneer Woman's blog!
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