The Gold Coin Initiative
Hey Dads and Moms,
So we've been having some difficulty with the big boy completing his home responsibilities. We've tried different types of incentive and discipline strategies but nothing seemed to work. So I took an ideas from work and school and came up with "The Gold Coin" check list.
So basically it's a checklist of things that need to get done by a certain time during the day. The checklist is broken down by "Before School", "After school", "After Dinner", "Before Bed" and "Special Assignments".
If he completes everything on the list within it's proper time period he receives a "Gold Coin" for the day. He can get a total of 7 coins in a week and at the end of the week he cashes them in. Each coin is worth a dollar but if he gets all 7 he will get a bonus $3 for a total of $10. If not each coin is $1. Now each one is literally a dollar but he cashes them in for paper dollars. If he continues being consistent into the following week there will be special rewards during that week to help promote good consistent behavior. The Gold Coins are used like "Star for the Day" stickers you used to get back in grade school. The incentive programs we used before made him wait till the end of the week for his reward. So if he messed up on Tuesday it torpedoed his whole week and he never got the reward. Since he rarely got the reward, he eventually stopped trying to get it. What that translated to was he not doing his home chores consistently.
One day I was talking to a co-worker and he asked about the whole discipline thing. He had the same problems with his kids that are now grown. He pointed out that if the discipline comes swift then so should the reward. Kids can't wait till the end of the week for rewards. That's like a lifetime to them. He had a point and it lead to the "Gold Coin" Checklist.
At the time of writing this, we've only been doing this for a week. As parents, It's my belief to provide every tool our kids need to be successful. That doesn't mean to do it for them or to expect them to get it right away. As frustrating as it is, I have to keep telling myself that "he's 12". He doesn't see the bigger picture when it comes to being responsible and hard working.
I'll post an update in a month or so. Hopefully sharing this will give you folks something to work with. And if you have some suggestions or something that has worked for you please leave a comment down below. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next blog.
~ Sean Flac