The one thing that we have managed to accomplish here is a pretty nifty reward chart. Bald Man liked the idea of a chart where markers were taken away instead of added. The “Tigger chart” is made on posterboard, and the little squares pictured are velcro tabs. We downloaded a picture of Tigger, minimized it, printed out a bunch, cut them out, covered them with laminate sheets, and cut them out again. The Tiggers also have velcro tabs on the backs so that they can be taken on and off each week. Right now, one Tigger is removed for every “potty accident.” If Jake has at least one Tigger left at the end of the night, he earns a little prize (car or lizard from the dollar store). As he starts to get the hang of staying clean and dry, we’ll start with less Tiggers at the beginning of the day.

And the cool thing about the chart is that when he masters the potty training (this is the part where you can head down to the comments and remind me that he will master it one day!), the chart can be used to encourage other good behaviors. Here’s hoping that its purpose changes soon!

Post from: Play Library

Like many kids, my son does not like to walk when we’re out and about unless it suits him. Then, of course, he runs and gets into mischief. It’s also been difficult getting him to eat vegetables (thankfully, he eats fruit). To encourage him to work on these behaviors, I ripped a piece of paper off my Mary Engelbreit notepad, drew five large squares down the side and told him that every time he walked home or ate something new at dinner, I’d give him a sticker. When he earned five stickers, he’d get a “surprise.”

To my amazement, he really got into it! With just five stickers to earn, he got his surprise in two days – a Dr. Who K-9 remote control robot that I had hidden in the closet for a rainy bribery day. Every time I put a sticker on that “chart,” I made a big deal out of it and wrote down next to the sticker what good thing he’d done to deserve it. Next time, I think I’ll require him to earn 10 stickers.

If you’re looking for fancy schmancy reward charts instead of using scrap paper, here are a few good places to look:

• Chameleon Charts
• RewardCharts.com
• The Victoria Chart Company

Post from: Play Library