I have been at wits end lately with the whining and not following instructions. I am so tired of repeating instructions over and over again. I visited Teacher’s Tools, a wonderful store just down the street, and found this marble jar poster. We have been doing the marble jar since October 24th, and it has been an answered prayer. The poster hold one hundred marbles. When Aleck gets the poster completely full, he gets a nice toy. I drew a line at twenty marble increments and when he reaches a line he gets a small reward. The wonderful thing is that I picked up some toys at the consignment sale and tucked them in a closet, so I have a stash of rewards for a bargain price.
Yesterday, Aleck was really close to the twenty marble line. I wasn’t feeling well and I told him if he made is bed, picked up his room and Ella’s room, I would give him three marbles. He looked at the jar and saw that three more marbles got him a toy. When he was finished cleaning, every toy was in it’s place. I only had to tell him once. I love the look of satisfaction and accomplishment on his face when I reward him for positive behavior.
Positive reinforcement, that’s the ticket to modeling good behavior with my strong-willed child. I hate that it took me 4 1/2 years to figure it out!
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