So we've been having discipline issues with Ryan. He is loud, disobedient, and he is constantly pushing his limits. It is exhausting and it makes us all grumpy. A few weeks ago, my friend Janae shared an idea - using a marble jar. If he's good, put a marble in. If he's bad, take a marble out. When the jar is full, he gets a new toy. That worked for about a day. I think Ryan wasn't motivated by a toy and it took too long to get a reward. He needs to see results a little faster. So we abandoned the marble jar. We've tried other things like time-out and taking away toys, but he doesn't seem to be learning and I want something to reinforce good behavior instead of just punishing for bad behavior. So we will try the marble jar again, but with different rules. His everyday "rights" will now become privileges. His current reward: watching his favorite show, The Dinosaur Train. And I won't wait until the jar is full, he only needs to get 10 in the jar. We'll see if it works - I'll keep you updated. Anyone else have any other discipline ideas that work in case this one doesn't?
1 comment:
You were smart to limit the marbles to 10. Kids this age can't think that far in to the future and they do need an immediate result: good or bad. You could keep really small/desirable prizes and if he gets 5 marbles or stickers or whatever in a row, he gets the prize. If he is earning them too quickly, then just increase the number of marbles before the earned prize. And, always really celebrate/praise the rewards; make it a big deal even with dad.
Good luck. Our issue is responsibility around the house, so we have a job chart with prizes as well.
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