Tuesday, November 17, 2009

the right motivation

I think I've mentioned the sticker charts I do with the kids. Noodle gets a sticker for each page of math she does (I was tired of hearing her complain about doing math when it really isn't difficult for her) plus two if she gets 100% on ] her weekly test, and Spud earns stickers through reading or doing phonics lessons with me. But it isn't something I want to require that Spud do every day, or even really on a regular basis. Today, though, I mentioned to him that he might want to read some books to get some stickers on his chart, as Noodle would have hers full in a few days. "Okay," he said. We pulled out the beginner books and he ended up reading three books from the Clever Critters Level 1 Advanced Set (The Hot Yak, The Big Cub, and The Fox Begs, and re-reading the BOB books Sam and Mat. (I gave him 4 stickers for each "new" book and three for each "re-read".) He needed very little help, I was so proud of him! He filled up his chart (16 stickers) in one fell swoop!

Of course, then I had to figure out a way to let Noodle finish up her chart today, so she did today's math pages, plus tomorrow's, plus an extra one, and then took her weekly test. So, happily, they both earned their prizes. And now Noodle is done with her math for the week! (We'll do computer drills and flash card reviews, but I thought it was funny that she was willing to plow through so much.) It's all about motivation, I tell ya!

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