Do Kids Behavior Charts Work?

Yes and No is a good way to summarize it.

After asking my kid to do anything more than 3 times my voice starts to get louder and sterner. Than by the 5th or 6^th ask, I either have to bribe him or threaten to take something away. Either solution is a short term fix for a long term problem and as many of you know there is no magic bullet or catch all method of getting your little boogers to listen to you the first time around.

I have been using the “good behavior chart” for about 3 months now and it has helped in some areas that I will point out below but first. Let’s briefly touch on the:

Failed Methods

Bribes – I have tried are treats/snacks, taking him to the park, extra TV time and probably any other bribe you can think of.
On the flip side I have given time-outs, taken away screen time or time at the park, etc.

So how does this star reward chart thing work?

After my many failed attempts at getting mini-me to listen to me, I read one too many articles on the best methods to use one, I finally landed on this Magnetic Reward Chart and once I received it and set it up, I threw out all of the tips in the articles I read about.

I sat down with my 7 year old and together we mapped out which chores & behaviors he needed to work on, what kind of point system to use and what the prizes were. We settled on 3 types of points he can. 1. Daily Points 2. Bonus Points 3. Bonus Bonus Points.

Daily Points – As the name suggests, if he does a chore/and or activity, he gets a star and at the end of the week, we tally up the points and they go to his big prize.
Bonus Points – These are points that he can earn if he exhibits a behavior that is not on the chart and you want to reward him. Or it could be something you think about on the fly. For example, my kiddo is not very social, so I offered him 20 extra points if he made a friend and it worked like a charm.
Bonus Bonus Points – These are 20 points that he gets at the beginning and he has the potential to keep. For example, if I ask him to brush his teeth, I will start counting and take away a point for each second until he listens. This last time I counted 3 seconds before he ran to the restroom and decreased his bonus bonus points from 20 to 17. Than he wouldn’t stop instigating his little brother so I took away 5 points so decreased from 17 to 12.

Prizes

Honestly, a prize could be whatever your kiddo is into. For my offspring, he gets a family movie every Friday if he gets 40 stars, I will buy him a book for 100 stars, and for 350 stars we get will take him to a trampoline park. But at the end of the day if it’s not something they are really into, this behavior chart won’t work.

My Experience So Far

It has its ups and downs but I have seen some improvement in his behavior. What I have learned is that there is no one-size fits all method of doing this. Kids get bored easy so you have to be creative and let them be involved in the process.

At the end of the day if yelling, bribes and the occasionally spanking doesn’t work you really don’t have anything to lose with the behavior chart but consistency is key!! Stay on top of your little rascal and help him help you hold each other accountable.

Stay patient my friends, it’s not easy and I don’t think it gets easier!

Good Reads

Click on the pic to check out on Amazon

In a nutshell, I feel like both of my kids are “spirited” which is a nice way of saying hard headed and difficult. Picked up this book when my 7 year old was in Pre-K. It has some good nuggets.