The Carrot and The Stick

...kind of like The Tortoise and The Hare, but not really...

Shelby's teacher suggested, nay, ordered me, to develop a carrot and stick program for Shelby. I had to come up with meaningful rewards (carrots) for her as she reaches her academic goals, and also come up with consequences (sticks) when goals aren't met. And she said it shouldn't involve giving her money. She took all the fun out of it!

So I sat down with Shelby last night and told her that we were going to think of rewards for when she reached 10, 20 and the goal, 25 points in AR. For those of you who don't know, AR stands for Accelerated Reading. The kids are tested on reading level, then they have to read at their level or above, and quiz on the books they read for a certain amount of points. Easy books might earn you 1 point, whereas a more difficult book at the same level will earn you 7. The kids are required to earn 25 points a trimester.

So, here's what she came up with: at 10 points she wants a Payday candy bar, for 20 points she wants a bucket of red vines, and when she reaches 25 she wants to have a friend sleep over. Yes, I think I'm getting off easy as far as "carrots" are concerned. However, having a friend sleep over is a huge deal around here because of my doing daycare. I really don't like to have kids at my house when daycare hours are over. I'm done. So this will be a sacrifice for me.

We did the same thing with end of the week work. Her teacher gives weekly awards if all work is turned in and the kids have at least a C average on tests and quizzes. So if she brings home a weekly award she gets an orange Fanta soda. (Now you know how deprived my poor children are.) And if she brings home 5 in a row, I will take her to Walmart for a $20 shopping spree. (Yes it's money, but can't I plead a technicality on that one?)

Oh, and the stick? No Hannah Montana. Yes, I know, pretty harsh, but tough times call for tough measures, and with kids Shelby's age Hannah Montana is more like a 2-by-4 with a nail in it than a stick. Yes indeed, I think ol' Hannah is going to help me out quite a bit by the look I got from Shelby. I love a good stick!