You have been using the General Store at home for a few weeks and you wonder if it is appropriate to withdraw tokens from your child when he does not respect the established rules or opposes your requests? At Les Belles Combines, we strongly believe that it is preferable not to do so, at the risk of greatly harming his motivation to participate in the system and to collaborate positively . Just imagine the idea of being paid a salary every week for your work, but then taking it away a few days later! We therefore suggest that you instead apply logical consequences to your children's inappropriate actions , which will undoubtedly have a much greater effect than using classic punishments (" go for a walk in your room! " or " you don't won't have dessert! ") or withdraw hard-earned tokens. Are you out of inspiration or struggling to come up with ideas in the heat of the moment or in the heat of anger? Here are some ideas to help you:
Your child refuses to comply when you ask him to put his toys away
Gather all uncollected toys and deposit them in the General Store. To recover them, your child will have to pay the number of tokens that you have determined.
Your child does not complete his daily task as requested
Postpone each time the task to the next day, in addition to the task that he already had to accomplish during that day. He refuses to perform his tasks throughout the week? Ask him to take them all back on the weekend before he has a chance to play with friends or participate in planned activities.
Your child is distracted or does not cooperate during homework and lessons
Ask him to make up for the time you will have lost by helping him by helping you prepare supper or do the dishes.
Your child is rude or engages in hurtful behavior towards another family member
Ask him to make a gesture of reparation towards the person targeted. Running out of ideas? Here are a few:
- Help care for the person the child has physically injured
- Repair the damaged object or pay the amount necessary to replace it
- Make a pleasant surprise to the target person (make a drawing, write a letter, prepare a special snack, etc.)
Find several other suggestions in our calm down kit !
Your child disturbs or adopts unpleasant behavior during the family dinner
Ask him to eat on the sidelines or wait until everyone has finished their meal to eat.
Your child has fun making his little brother scream or making his big sister angry
Demand that he find something to do with you (while you continue to go about your business) so that you can provide the constant supervision he requires.
Finally, remember that, beyond simply applying consequences to your children's inappropriate behaviors, it is the consistency of your measures and the use of positive reinforcement that will be your main allies when it comes to inducing the full cooperation of your young and old alike!