Lesson 5: Setting Goals
Learning To Earn
Teaching a child how to earn can be fun. Approached in a positive manner, most children grasp the concept fairly quickly. This can begin with toddlers. If they perform a requested task without a fuss, a small reward can be offered, along with a reinforcing comment. As the child grows older, a chart or other tool can be used to track completed tasks. Both you and your child can decide what the reward or monetary amount will be.
It’s important to be firm about rewards only for full completion. This is an excellent lesson on how they will be expected to perform when they are older.
A separate reward can be randomly given for unexpected acts of selflessness or kindness. This shouldn’t be monetary, but very special. In our home, collecting 5 or more of these tokens, awards the child with a lunch or dinner out with Mom or Dad. The boys love this, and try very hard to practice their sharing and kindness skills. I have heard some skeptics say they thought kids would just pretend in order to get rewarded. I agree it might happen initially, but as they never know what and when they earn this reward, it makes it very difficult to fake. The idea is: positive reinforcement brings positive change, if used consistently.
It’s important to keep some chores out of the reward system. There has to be a balance struck between earning and doing things out of love. Paying a child for good grades, is in my opinion, a very bad idea. It sets up a pass/fail situation, the child may struggle with. A much better way to reward good grades is going out to dinner as a family or having some special treat. This reinforces the family value system and removes the idea of money from the equation.
Exercise: Work up an earning plan for your child. Keep track of the child’s progress in this area.
