I was chatting with a friend about the new year, and discovered, "Ugh. 2011 so far feels a lot like more of the same old 2010." This brings me around again to the old realization about my quirky own self; I still miss the change-everything-up aspect of academic quarters, even though I haven't been a student for something like a decade. I thrive on the way I can throw myself at a new pursuit, and of course the thrill of accomplishment when I've conquered...whatever it was. But then after an academic quarter of that course, I'm ready for a refreshing new schedule and challenges.
This isn't a totally new revelation, and my kids definitely know it. Whenever I decide to crack down and really focus on teaching them something useful, I have learned to put a specific deadline on it. I have some really organized friends who have chore schedules and practice schedules and routines for their families that they've been following for years. Um, not here. Even my most brilliant chore schedules only last for, at most, a month or two.
The kids' favorite chore program is rather complex, but motivating. It revolves around a weekly grid with each child's assignments listed; they can get a "check" for each job, each day, that they fulfill. At the end of the week, the checks are tallied up and they get paid money. Now for the fun part: the value of the checks is on a sliding scale; when a child only has a few checks, they are only worth nickels, but as the number increases the value does as well, up to 0.25 each. (Hey, I just used both a colon and semicolon in one sentence and I don't know if that's proper.)
The boys are often found doing quick calculations, "If I just do two more chores today, I can double my income. Gee! I am not going to miss any of these!" Needless to say, the part of this program that bogs me down is the way I must be the police and verify that things have been done (we've seen plenty of gratuitous self-awarding of checks.) In the past I found the first few weeks were fine, but then I really started letting it crumble in frustration.
So, when I pull out the grid, amid cheers of delight, I let the kiddos know it's only here for two or three weeks. The same applies when I institute any program- I let everyone know exactly how long we'll be focusing on making it a success (after which point it will disappear for an undetermined period of time.)
I'll let you in our first fun-time teaching program of 2011, which I call "Be Awesome Every Morning." The boys helped me devise it. The goals are to wake themselves with the alarm clock, practice piano autonomously, eat a minimum of 300 calories for breakfast and get on the bus. They must get 30 days of completing the morning goals, AND 21 of the days must be consecutive. We're keeping track with both numbers and alphabet letters; if you miss a day, that's fine for the number count, but the alphabet starts all over again for the consecutive requirement. As soon as the goal is met there will be a big prize (involving Pokemon), and then we'll move on. Use your Monty Python voice here: "And now for something completely different."
Perhaps "Be Awesome at Bedtime" or "Sit Still and Listen During Church" or "Actually Make the House Cleaner When You Do Chores" will be our next big program. It's too bad I can't keep more than one thing rolling at a time, but at least we keep it fresh every academic quarter and can now jump into 2011 with a bright new class schedule.
No comments:
Post a Comment