One Lucky Boy

David's teacher at school suggested a motivational tool to help David stay on task and complete all his work at school. Each day she will send home a sheet with 10 squares and if he finishes his work, he gets a smiley face stamp. If all the squares on the paper are stamped, then he gets a reward at home - that's where I come in. The school counselor said a "grab bag" works really well. Put 40-50 things on slips of paper and put them in a bag. These things are simple - pick what's for dinner, mom reads you a story, 15 minutes extra at bedtime, a quarter, mom puts your clothes away, etc. Things that would motivate a kid and something that can be given or done that day. Then, if they have had a good day at school, they get to draw out one slip of paper. She suggested that one item be something really big - like $5.00, so that they have the excitement of maybe picking out that big item. So, today after school we brainstormed a bunch of ideas. Several papers had very small money amounts - a nickel, a dime, a quarter. I put one paper (out of 40) that had 5.00 written on it. The rest were similar to the suggestions, basically a special time spent with David. Anyway, you can probably guess what happened today, the very first day that we tried it - David pulled out the slip with $5.00. You are supposed to put that paper back in the bag, but I think I'll leave that one out. With his luck, he could be pulling in $25 a week! Hopefully having some motivation of something special at home will help him stay focused at school.