Incentives/Motivation Ideas Thread

[hollyh]

So I am trying to think outside the box and my box is seeming kind of small lately. ;) What are some ideas of things you have done to help motivate your child in any area? Right now I have sticker charts but really, there are only so many of those I can do. :lol: What are things you ahve your kids working toward, how are you charting their progress, if you are using any printable charts where are you getting them, etc. I figure we can write all kinds of ideas on this thread to be able to look back at.

[GalmiBorn]

I'm just listening in on this one since I don't really do much except say, "When your work is done, you can PLAY!" That only goes so far though.....

[kitten18]

Random thoughts, things I've used in the past:

 

-this morning I gave DS (6) an M&M for every sentence he read.:blush: I should be ashamed, but it was effective and I will probably try it again tomorrow.

 

-In the past, I have made "reading charts" for DD. We would put a sticker on for a certain amount of time she read (say 20 minutes). When she got 10 stickers we would go out for ice cream. Usually worked out to about once/week.

 

-I made up "reading tickets". When DD would finish a subject (phonic/spelling, math, grammar/writing) in a timely (not dawdling) manner, she would earn a reading ticket. A reading ticket was good for 15 minutes of read aloud time. This came about because she was wasting too much time during school so I said if she wasted less time, I would be able to read more Percy Jackson to her.

[Farrar]

I'm not totally against using rewards and motivations... but I also find that the more I use them, the less effective they are, so I try to make them very small (hey, you finished that page, have a jelly bean) or save them for the stuff that matters.

[MeganW]

In our house, extracurriculars are not a right, but a privilege. We have something scheduled every evening. Finish your schoolwork during schooltime, or do it while everyone else is in their lessons. I don't warn often or beg or threaten - they know. So far, each kid has had to sit out exactly once since we started in Sept. :)

[She Reads a Lot]

We have a marble bottle. Ds (just turned 8) gets five marbles each school day. If he is focused, he keeps the marbles. If not, I take them away one by one. Once he gets to 15 marbles, he gets to pick something out of the Treasure Box, which is filled with fruit snacks and Scooby Snack crackers and even Pop-Tarts sometimes--things that I rarely/never buy, so they are a treat for him.

 

He can get to 15 marbles in three great days, or a whole week of not-so-great days. It's up to him. Usually, I only have to reach over and pick up a marble as a reminder and he gets focused, so it definitely works for him.

 

When we fill up the soda bottle the marbles are in (this has happened twice this year--it's pretty big), he gets to pick a bigger reward, like lunch out with Mommy at McDonalds (:001_huh: but he gets to pick) or ice cream from Baskin Robbins, etc.

 

HTH!

Christina

[Pen]

I think one of the bigger issues to look at is how to motivate children so that they will tend to develop intrinsic motivation and start to own their own progress. It is tricky. But it is worth looking at when your children are very young.

 

One thing that has worked fairly well has been to have a time that is required to do something, say a math assignment, but also a sense of what would be a good level of accomplishment that would allow it to be considered done (and get to go play) sooner, since my goal is really to learn material well, not to put in lots of time in busy work even if nothing much is learned.

 

I also am finding having a check off chart for chores useful so that I can remember and the child can remember what needs to be done. (Not so much a rewards chart, but there is the reward aspect that comes when one can say phew, we put in a really good day on _____, so now how about a movie [or ______ whatever would be pleasant to celebrate the accomplishments of the day.) Checking off boxes is itself rewarding, even better can be making a colorful star in pen as a check off for a chore, or to indicate a correct answer on schoolwork. At the age of your children, my son really like bright stick on stars when he did schoolwork (for a while, one meant done, and two meant done with 100% correct) at the top of each page. He now can put his own correct marks on schoolwork and I noticed that he still likes a big bright looking star rather than a "c".

 

When possible I try to make the motivation fit the activity. For example, my son was afraid to make phone calls at one point. When he wanted something related to a clay project, I offered to take him to a store and get the item, if he would make the calls to figure out where it was, hours, directions etc.