Motivation for my homeschooler! "Money-Money-Money!"

Preparing for this year's first grade homeschool year I looked at a few different options for monitoring behavior in the class room. I found many color coded charts, smiley/frowning face charts, even "good"-"okay"-"bad" charts. I didn't feel that any of those really resolve the need my son has to understand how his behavior and choices, good or bad, really affects his life.

This summer has been heavy on education about choices and being in control of yourself even when you are being instructed by or listening to an authority. Basically, my son learned that even though it feels like he is not in control when someone else is telling him what to do, he still has the choice to listen or not. That choice is his control and the consequences of that choice is what he has to live with. So in reality, we are in control of what happens to us and what choices we make. Which had a direct translation into adulthood and other aspects of growing up. When we work, have significant others, working in a group, driving, just about everything really... We will have to make choices that have boundaries set up by someone else. So, the sooner my son understands that his control of his choices is just as real as the control of the supervisor or parent the faster he will feel in control of his life and ultimately will be making better choices.

The education about choices has already had a positive affect on his behavior and willingness to get along with authorities and others. The concern I had with many of the typical behavior charts was that they didn't really give him the visual understanding of what his actions and choices will ultimately do for him or how they will hold him back. So, I felt a reward chart would be more appropriate. We used one for his chores and choices around the house. Which has already created a positive relationship to him independently getting himself ready in the morning and doing chores with a good attitude and willingness.

So how do I reward behavior in a classroom? MONEY!


Why? Because that is what also rewards us in life.... seriously. If we abide by the laws of our society work hard and get an education, we make money. Typically, the harder we work and more education we get, the more money we make. If we don't go to work and we don't do what we are supposed to do, we don't make money or we get fired... same end result.

Why do I think its a good idea to promote money as a motivator? Because it is a motivator in real life. Simple as that. Also the
lesson that money is earned through hard work and furthering his education. Also, he can learn how far a buck really goes. He is notorious for wanting super expensive toys and not fully understanding why he can't have them, he just says "Go to the bank." Now he will get first hand knowledge of how money is made and how far it goes. Another great lesson is saving his money and setting financial goals. Right now we have a goal written on the board of a lego set he wanted from the store. He is saving his money to buy that set. Every day his choices directly affect how fast he will have the money to purchase that toy. The third lesson he's learning is that if you aren't willing to be cooperative and responsible, you won't make much money.

 

How he makes money.  His chart has three boxes for each of our coins, $0.01, $0.05, $0.10, and $0.25. He starts each day at the top and moves down the chart earning money as he completes assignments as well as making other positive decisions and loses money when he breaks classroom rules. I chose to make the chart that way because I wanted to make it simple.  It also shows that sometimes you can make mistakes and not totally blow your day or work hard and not quite make it to the big time, think of each step to bigger coins as raises and being demoted for poor decision making. Again, just like life. If he were older and understood adding money better, I might have changed it to make every box say how much he's earned total instead. I keep track of it in my classroom binder and I have a print out that has the school days on it. I found it here: Link to Calendar

That's all good, but why not just do a color chart like most other classrooms? For my son the pressure of being "good" or reaching that color at the very top prove to be a cause of stress and feels its too hard to get there. Because of that pressure he ends up acting out just because he can't be perfect. It's not an effective way for him to gauge his day. Realistically, what do colors prove anyway? Some of us aren't perfect and can't be "purple" most days and some people try hard to be "purple" and never really reach the expectations. So, what about them? This way he's able to earn something regardless of how perfect he fits into a mold and can work toward something that benefits him, not look at a frown face and see what a disappointment his day was. That doesn't help my boy make better decisions, it only makes him feel bad about himself. Not really the point of a behavioral chart and with the money chart he gets to decide how much effort he put in that day and what he's getting out of that effort rather than defining how "good" or "bad" he is.

When do you give him the money? I've decided to do a bi-weekly "pay day" where he can either cash in what he's earned or keep in adding up to his goal. I feel that its important to show him what he's earning by giving him the payout option. A dime everyday doesn't really have the same affect that a crisp dollar and three quarters does. It also gives him something to look forward to. I've also planned on making special trips to the store where he can purchase what he wants with his money, from his own wallet. He will get to to pick out his purchase, add the money, and hand it to the teller, get his receipt from his own money.  He will see how hard he's worked for so long for that money to be gone in a second! There are so many lessons offered with this reward chart, the options are endless!

He also gets a kick out of me when I move the car down his chart I sing some "Money"
 tune.

I also attached a link to the file if you would like to try it yourself! ->>> Show me the money!


- xoxo