A method of motivating Colson this summer!
TV is an ongoing issue in our house. Colson would sit in front of the TV all day if we'd let him. I knew this summer was going to be a fight if we didn't find a way to deal with it from the start. I knew I needed to set up a system that would become routine for him. I also knew that "rewarding" him with TV time and money would help.
Cara Carroll shared what she used with her boys and I knew I wanted to do something similar. Her boys are a lot older than Colson so I made my own charts but we the same intention.
I knew that I needed a list to make it easy to remember exactly what needed to be done each day/week in order to create habit. I printed Colson's responsibilities and it sit beside his bed on his nightstand. He can't read yet so I help him with this. These are things that he doesn't get paid for.
However, in order to earn money, he has a "work for hire" chart than he can pick chores from. Most of these I have to redo after he's finished but the point is to help him learn how to complete these tasks and have responsibility. Sometimes it's more of a mess than if I would just do it myself but I want to raise my boys to know how to work.
Colson was really looking forward to the Cherry Festival. He loves to play the games and this year he wanted his face painted. So, he earned money to take with him. I let him have freedom to spend it how he wanted. This was motivation to work around the house!
Next...a list of things than need to be done before he can turn the TV on. Again, these are things that I help him with because he can't read. But, by now, he knows what he has to do. Make his bed, eat breakfast, brush his teeth, tidy his room, get dressed, and put his clothes in his hamper. Then, he must do two more activities. I have activities to chose from in a binder, but we have yet to pull the binder out. Most days he plays with legos or goes outside.
Once he's done two activities he can use a tech ticket to watch 30 minutes of TV or play on his iPad. Most days he gets busy and doesn't ask to turn the TV until after lunch. Yes!!! I give him 14 tech tickets a week and he can redeem them whenever he wants. Each ticket is worth 30 minutes but he can only use one at a time. This has saved me from having to tell him no more TV and then fight about it. I just turn the TV on and then set a timer. He knows that when the timer goes off, so does the TV. No more fighting.
I can't believe all the play that has taken place without me asking him to play. Once he gets ready for the day and starts playing, he forgets about the TV.
If you are looking for a way to motivate your kids this summer, I recommend looking at Cara's blog. She has great FREE resources and you could easily make it work for any age.
Happy Wednesday!
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