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“What color were you on today?” That’s the question I ask my son every time he gets in the car after school. After I ask how his day was of course. I always want to be sure he was on his best behavior and there isn’t anything we need to talk about. Luckily he is usually a pretty well behaved child. But, there have been days where his behavior isn’t that great and it catches me off guard on how to respond. To solve this problem we came up with a chart of rewards & consequences related to his behavior at school.
My son’s school uses a rainbow behavior chart system. Purple=outstanding, Blue=good, Green=not as good, Red-yikes! The kids usually start out on blue. Based on behavior they move their clip up or down.
Most of the time B is on blue & purple. When he started coming home with some greens and even a yellow, I was caught off guard on what his consequences should be. Instead of just making something up on the spot I knew I needed to figure out some at home consequences to reinforce the importance of good behavior at school. I firmly believe students do so much better in school and in life when their parents are involved and hold them accountable. Not crazy helicopter parent involved but a healthy interest in their child’s education, helping them with homework, checking their daily folder and reading together.
So after being caught off guard a couple of times, I sat B down and together we came up with a chart of rewards & consequences related to his behavior at school. I even had everyone sign it to make it even more official š
At Home Rewards & Consequences
Rewards
Because mom & dad like to sleep in on the weekends we’ve incentivized B with donuts on Sunday if he doesn’t wake us up Saturday or Sunday. This incentive has worked rather well! During the school year in order to earn donuts he also has to earn 5 š . Purples are worth two smiley faces. That way if he has a rough day early in the week he still has a chance to make up for it. Hopefully, encouraging extra-good behavior.
Consequences
No my kid doesn’t eat candy, ice cream and Snow Cones every day, close but not EVERY day. The consequences build on each other and are very spelled out because B is a good negotiator:
- Green = No Candy, Ice Cream, Snow Cones or Sweets of any kind
- Yellow = No Sweets + No Video Games (Friday, Saturday or Sunday -the days he’s allowed to play video games normally)
- Orange = No Sweets + No Video Games + No TV (night & morning)
- Red = No Sweets + No Video Games + No TV + Spanking
These are the punishments we use. They are spelled out and agreed to. I don’t have to try and come up with something on the fly. The rewards & consequences we’ve come up with (sometimes) help him stop and think about his actions and behavior at school. It also reinforces that we, his parents, think it is important to follow school rules and obey his teacher so everyone can learn. I believe it is very important that teachers have the support of parents in the classroom and at home.
What rewards and consequences have you come up with for your kid’s school behavior? Share in the comment section below.