The Monroe-West Monroe community is such a fun place to live, and the Holidays provide families with many opportunities to get out and make some wonderful memories!
Several of our Holiday events also provide parents with lots and lots of candy! It starts with Easter, the July 4th Parade, Halloween (the motherload of candy), and then comes Christmas Parades and New Year Celebrations! What do you do with your mountain of candy?
Before I tell you what we do with ours, let me first say, "Our child brought home more than the occasional conduct mark from school. It was the typical "Not sitting still, not keeping his hands to himself, talking, talking, and talking. He was getting punished at school and had consequences at home too.
So, as I looked at a mountain of Holiday candy, I had an idea. Make a treasure chest! I decided to add stickers, little toys, Pokémon Cards, you can add a fruit option, etc.
He earned a surprise from the treasure chest every day! Yep, you read that right conduct mark or not. He could pick up to 3 items per day, one candy and two other items. If he got one conduct mark, he was able to pick two items, with two conduct marks he picked one item. If he got three or more, I got to pick one item for him.
The Treasure Chest gave us time to talk about the good choices he made during the day. If he received a conduct mark for talking, I would say, "Wow! I noticed you kept your hand to yourself today!"
The Treasure Chest incentive will not work if it becomes a punishment. We tried it both ways and at first, we had a rule that three conducts marks equaled no Treasure Chest. This became a distraction at school and on the third conduct mark, he became preoccupied with, "not having any more chances" which made a difficult situation worse.
So, we pressed on with the plan. Eventually, he became more aware of the good decisions he could make, and the conduct marks decreased and there were days when there were none. He isn't perfect and I am cool with that!
Of course, this reward instead of punishment system is now happening in most school systems now and it is called PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support). It is believed that through this 3-tier system every student can feel valued, connected to the school community, and supported by caring adults. You can learn more about PBIS.
Every candy-riddled holiday is now a search for candy or toys to put in the treasure chest and he loves it! I want to point out that excessive conduct marks could also be an indication of an attention deficit disorder, sensory sensitivities, anxiety, and other medical issues so it is always best to check with your pediatrician.
Hey, while you're here, why don't you SUBSCRIBE to our free weekly e-newsletter?
