We have been using this reward method for a few years now, but not really very consistently.  We get back into it when there is something specific that I would like to encourage the children to work on.  But as we're home now and I'm teaching the children, I definitely do need a bit of help to keep them motivated (and I'm not too proud to basically bribe them to get their school work done, these are unprecedented times!)

I know that reward charts and systems are not for everyone, and this is not that different from many methods that I'm sure that you have already seen.  But that's why we like it, it's simple to follow and the children are keen to earn the rewards.


So the set up is very basic, each child has an empty (yogurt) pot with their name on it and we have a container full of pom poms.  The children can earn a pom pom for completing a piece of school work (without complaining!) and then put one pom pom into their own pot.


Once they have collected 10 pom poms they can then choose a reward from the box, then empty out their pom poms and start again.



Reward box ideas:

• blind bag / surprise toys (these can often be found at discount shops or online)
• party bag toys (these are easy to get with our grocery shop delivery as well)
• small soft toys
• stationery
• Hot Wheels cars
• small action figures
• Lego Minifigures
• trading card packs (sports, Pokemon, etc)
• balls
• craft kits
• books
• activity books
• magazines
• homemade vouchers
• 5 /10 / 15 extra minutes of video games
• 5 /10 / 15 extra minutes of tv
• having the tv remote for a day
• movie night at home (they choose the movie)
• stay up late one night
• bake their favourite dessert
• choose a new book to order from Amazon

This is working really well for us, especially on writing tasks that the children are not very keen on.  They are motivated to collect the pom poms and get a reward, and it makes our home school days run a bit more smoothly.  I hope that this might work for other families as well.

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