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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

New strategies we're trying

Problem #1: Behavior Issues and Need for a New Training Tool

It's the ongoing challenge - how to teach our children to have better habits, attitudes, behavior, etc... We run out of motivational tools sometimes. But my friend Andrea gave me an idea over the summer that I tweaked a bit to come up with this:

The idea is that everytime Pete or I see a child doing something LOVING for someone else, we tell them they can put a rock into the bowl. Once the bowl gets completely filled, they can collectively choose a fun outing for us all to go on. Hopefully this team approach will be good. So far it's been working well... although we had to teach Colsen to not keep saying, "Thank you for making this dinner, Mom. I just did something loving -- can I put a rock in the bowl??"

Problem # 2: Getting Strider to Keep Track of His Daily Assignments

Last year we had a hard time making sure Strider did all he was supposed to do for the day. I was endlessly writing out lists for him... that got old. So this year, I had these little tear pads made (cheap at Vista Print!) with all the possible things he might need to do in a week. Then on any particular day I can just fill one out by checking off which subjects he needs to do, tear it off, and give it to him. At the end of the day, he brings it back to show me what he's accomplished. It has the added benefit of helping me remember what I wanted him to do! So far so good on this strategy, too... He loves his tear pads!

In my old business terms, this would be my latest attempts at KAIZEN! ("attempt" being the key word)

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