I have just created my first blog entitled "Moms Tidbits".
The hope will be to blog information that will be informative, funny, educational and engaging for moms.
I hope to share in my stories, experiences and would love to hear back from you on how I am doing.
Thank you for your support.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Rewarding our Children with Stickers for Good Behavior
Have you ever had one of those "ah ha" moments when the lightbulb turns on? Well I had one of those the other day. I was playing with my 34 month old. We were putting the magnetized alphabets on the board, and playing nicely when all of a sudden the letter goes flying in the air. Jacob has a very bad issue with throwing things and at times it could be at you. I'm not sure why this is, it's not like he's frustrated or anything.
So my normal reaction would have been to get frustrated with him and tell him "no throwing" or "that's not nice" all negative comments. Then I would put the game away and at times he may even go into time out. But that day I realized that I never have shown him the "proper" way to hand things to people and I thought well let me give it a try. Ok I know this is like in every Parenting 101 book, but it never clicked in until that moment.
So I decided to take his hand and show him how to nicely and slowly place the alphabet in my hand. It was amazing, from that moment until we finished playing the game, he nicely handed me the alphabets. Well as usual when Jacob does good, he gets a sticker. I normally only use this reward system for potty training, but figured let me try it when he listens and demonstrates good behavior. I'm hoping this will help him get over these bad tendencies for when he enters school.
I read about a reward system for potty training and figured I would try it. So, when I came across this potty training chart with stickers http://www.allaboardtoys.com/sesame-street-potty-training-rewards-kit.aspx in a store, I brought it. So now when Jacob goes potty, we go through the whole process of flushing the toilet, washing our hands and then he gets a sticker, which is always followed with positive affirmations. This has worked wonders because he is doing fantastic on his potty training. So when we finished cleaning up our game, I handed him a sticker and told him "he was a good boy for handing the letters to Mommy nicely".
The next day I was shopping in Walgreens and I always walk down the aisle where the toys are and stopped right in my tracks in front the books. Because there in front of me where Barney stickers. Life couldn't be better. Everything is Barney for my little guy, so I figured how great will it by giving him Barney stickers when he does good. He gets something he loves, and realizes he did good. Win-win for everyone!
It's been a few days and knock on wood things are going nicely with the throwing. I hope we are starting to break this bad habit of his, as I would hate to get a note sent home from the teacher that Jacob threw something at someone.
Now there are some moms who do not believe in rewarding their children for good behavior. And this is just a personal preference. But for me and my situation it works. You see, Jacob has Down Syndrome and although he is an incredibly smart child it takes him alittle longer to figure things out and this process of rewarding him for potty training has worked fabuously for me, and my thought is if it's working - stick with it!
So there you go moms, my "ah ha" moment. Nothing big, but it's amazing how in those little moments you see yourself shaping your child. I guess we all need them from time to time.
Visit http://www.jacobsbirthjournalbook.com/. As a first time mom of a child with special needs I decided to publish my first book. This book is a celebration of Jacob's first six months of life.
So my normal reaction would have been to get frustrated with him and tell him "no throwing" or "that's not nice" all negative comments. Then I would put the game away and at times he may even go into time out. But that day I realized that I never have shown him the "proper" way to hand things to people and I thought well let me give it a try. Ok I know this is like in every Parenting 101 book, but it never clicked in until that moment.
So I decided to take his hand and show him how to nicely and slowly place the alphabet in my hand. It was amazing, from that moment until we finished playing the game, he nicely handed me the alphabets. Well as usual when Jacob does good, he gets a sticker. I normally only use this reward system for potty training, but figured let me try it when he listens and demonstrates good behavior. I'm hoping this will help him get over these bad tendencies for when he enters school.
I read about a reward system for potty training and figured I would try it. So, when I came across this potty training chart with stickers http://www.allaboardtoys.com/sesame-street-potty-training-rewards-kit.aspx in a store, I brought it. So now when Jacob goes potty, we go through the whole process of flushing the toilet, washing our hands and then he gets a sticker, which is always followed with positive affirmations. This has worked wonders because he is doing fantastic on his potty training. So when we finished cleaning up our game, I handed him a sticker and told him "he was a good boy for handing the letters to Mommy nicely".
The next day I was shopping in Walgreens and I always walk down the aisle where the toys are and stopped right in my tracks in front the books. Because there in front of me where Barney stickers. Life couldn't be better. Everything is Barney for my little guy, so I figured how great will it by giving him Barney stickers when he does good. He gets something he loves, and realizes he did good. Win-win for everyone!
It's been a few days and knock on wood things are going nicely with the throwing. I hope we are starting to break this bad habit of his, as I would hate to get a note sent home from the teacher that Jacob threw something at someone.
Now there are some moms who do not believe in rewarding their children for good behavior. And this is just a personal preference. But for me and my situation it works. You see, Jacob has Down Syndrome and although he is an incredibly smart child it takes him alittle longer to figure things out and this process of rewarding him for potty training has worked fabuously for me, and my thought is if it's working - stick with it!
So there you go moms, my "ah ha" moment. Nothing big, but it's amazing how in those little moments you see yourself shaping your child. I guess we all need them from time to time.
Visit http://www.jacobsbirthjournalbook.com/. As a first time mom of a child with special needs I decided to publish my first book. This book is a celebration of Jacob's first six months of life.
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