I am very curious about what works best for the group. When you start the day out fresh if you temp. your child with rewards does that work better? Or if you punish them.
For example if they have a list of things to accomplish during the day (one of them being reading 30min.) If you say once you finish x,y and z you will earn electronic time. Or if you say if you don't finish x,y and z you will not get electronic time, then follow through.
It is ALWAYS a struggle to get our son to do the things he doesn't like to do (read, exercise, etc..) especially while on break. Mind you I am allowing him to sleep in, eat a late breakfast ( he has had his medication) no pressures with time, just get the bloody work done.
What has worked better for you guys..
Thanks
Reward definitely for us. Even rephrasing to “If you a you’ll get b” from “If you don’t do a you won’t get b” has an impact. Plus it makes you look like a benefactor versus someone robbing them of something they were entitled to, and helps dodge any defiant instincts.
Here’s specifically what works for us:
A morning checklist (visual reminder)
An analog clock / time timer
A reward chart with rotating rewards
In general, I prefer to use natural / logical rewards versus giving him treats and tchotchkes all the time (it kinda drives me crazy when I see this in the schools.) Like - If you are ready early then you will have FREETIME to choose to do what you want. I had to extra incentivize the first time (I let him pick his snack for lunch), but once he really experienced having morning freetime, it helped.
For our reward chart, he has activities / chores that can earn him a check. Being ready early (before 8a) gets one check - for that immediate incentive you need. If he has 10 checks by the end of the week, he can pick one of 3 reward coupons of my choosing. We have like 10-15 coupons total, so he doesn’t know what his options will & it keeps it fresh (and I always pick things I can honor either that day or early in the week.) I do also take his suggestions into consideration - like if he really wants to buy lunch at school one day or have snack money or stay up late at a fun event.
I still need to give gentle reminders (great job making your bed - now lets see how well you can brush your teeth!) but these have helped. Mostly, the incentives are there until we can get things into habit, then things tend to go better.