Do reward charts actually work?

I'm reaching here and trying to think of new ways to approach things around this crazy house.

Pls. give your experience with reward charts.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

Not until recently...but I think it has more to do with Lucas being ready to participate in the action now.

He finally started pooping on the potty (well this is only day 2) so we put a star on the calendar each day he doesn't have any accidents and poops in the potty. 5 stars gets him a trip to Chuck E Cheese so he's working hard at it

Message edited 9/15/2010 8:57:47 PM.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

IMO, they only work if you're consistent and that is hard to do. You have to be on top of praise all the time and remember to follow through with the sticker or whatever kind of token system you're using. It's not something you can do some of the time and expect great results.

Keep it small - what are you looking to reward and just focus on only that. Ex: saying "Please" - if your DC says it during dinner, let's say, they earn a sticker. Stick with only dinner time and you will have a better result than if you were trying to reward it all day long. If you can't reward immediately, it's not really effective. Does that make sense?

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

Depends on the kids. For my DD, yes. For my DS, no - he could care less.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

yes, yes, YES!

BUT...

DD is now 4 and i never attempted beforehand because i didn't think she would "get it" and/or care. but just recently i have had success with charting for staying in her bed all night and also cleaning up!

she loves to pick out and place her own stickers on the charts

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

Yes, they do work in my house for the most part. They can get bored if they are too big. They didn't work until 2.5-closer to 3yrs. Now that my little one is 3 - he loves them as does my 5 yr old. My 5.5 yr old loves thinking of new ideas for a new chart - just so he can get a new toy. I used them for potty training, poopie training, chores, new foods, getting rid of the potty insert seat, etc.

Message edited 9/15/2010 9:27:45 PM.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

We got the wood melissa and Doug reward/chore chart at AC moore for 50% off, was like $13....

anyway it has magnets, and chores , but a lot are suitable for kids , like keep hands to yourself, share, say please and thank you etc...and will "grow" with him

Ours works well. If he gets a certain amount in a week he gets a small gift ( $5 range) ...

Sometimes he forgets all about it, and its useless, but then it will work again for days in a row, so I try to keep up with it.

Sure its only $11 on Amazon...LMAO...

This is it

Amazon link

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

They only work if:

You have something for them to earn that is important enough to them

They get that earning stickers means they are earning that special thing

They didn't work for Cailen until he was almost 3. He totally gets it now and for him, knowing he is getting a "surprise" is the best reinforcer - or, when he sees something in a store, I tell him when he gets 10 stickers, he can get it.

We started with 3 stickers, then 5, then 10. You have to build it systematically.

ETA: I use a large post it note that I stick to the fridge with 10 circles drawn on it - nothing fancy!

Message edited 9/15/2010 9:44:56 PM.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

It totally did for us when DS was potty training. He was DYING to bring his kite to the beach and fly it there since it's so windy. So that was the reward we worked toward. We have the I can do it reward chart and it hangs on our front door so it's very visible. He had to go 10 days with no accidents (1 star per day) and then we'd go. He was so excited about it.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

I used it for DS when potty training. I really felt that it worked wonders for us. I asked him what gift he wanted to get when he filled the chart. It took about a week to fill the chart completely. He got monster truck mater.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

I use one for PT and one for going to bed at night. They have fallen by the wayside, but I go back to them shen she starts to get off-track. They worked really well for us.

A big problem with Ale was bedtime. So we made up a poster with a list of directions for going to bed and that helped incredibly -- also maybe because she is obsessed with directions...lol.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

Also - Chuck E. Cheese hascharts that if you fill them up you get 10 free tokens. I've usedother rewards, but this is what we are working on right now....

CEC reward chartd

Message edited 9/15/2010 10:26:52 PM.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

YES!! I did it twice and noticed a quick change both times. We went over each item and if he did it he received a sticker. If he didn't then I reminded him why he didn't earn a sticker for that one.
I have the Melissa and Doug Magnetic one. It has a whole bunch of items and then 2 blank ones so you can make your own.

Re: Do reward charts actually work?

I think so. We are using one to get ryan to master poop on the potty and we are there I think! Only one in underpants over a wk ago but he told me he had to go and he had a bad stomach so, well yuck - but he told me!
This morning he woke up and said he had to go, got on the potty and pooped and was happy to get his star (10 stars get him the guitar he wants)
I am curious to see how things go 4 stars from now when he reaches his goal - I don't have the space or $$$ to continue this LOL