Reward / Chore tokens!!!!

 We've used sticker charts to encourage good behaviour, however I felt we'd try out something a bit different.
A little while ago I wrote about reward tokens I'd found on another blog, and I thought it would be an idea I'd save and try when they kids were older, but I was getting a little bored of the stickers and I started thinking these tokens may be a good opportunity to encourage a little responsibility from the kids inshallah.

Basically, how it works, the girls have a jar each (which we've been using for 3 weeks but I just got round to labelling and decorating today!) and in the same way in which sticker charts are used, a token is given for various acts of good behaviour including chores.

I have 3 different token values, 1, 2 and 5. I'll give a token according to what I deem appropriate to the action. Mostly it is 1's......I keep the 2's or 5's for something extra special.

So what is the purpose in the tokens and how do they promote responsibility?  Well, these tokens can be saved and traded for a treat! .....

• For 10 tokens they can choose a colouring page from the Internet to print off (google images)
• For 25 tokens they can have 15 minutes on the computer to play a game. (we don't encourage screen time so this is a treat)
• For 50 tokens they can stay up an extra 30 minutes at bedtime on a Saturday.
• For 100 tokens they can choose a pre-bought gift. (I went to pound-land and chose 3 different gifts they can choose from)

There's a poster up on the wall so the girls can see what they can trade their tokens in for.
They are in control then of how they wish to use their tokens and gain treats.
They can either spend on the smaller value rewards or save up their tokens for something more special....or as I encourage, a bit of both - spend tokens on the lower value trades whilst still saving some tokens for the higher priced incentives!

The only rule I really have, is I won't give a token if they do something and then ask for a token.



So far they seem to be working alhamdulillah.

I tried to use rewards which were low cost or zero terms of monitory value such as the colouring pages and staying up past bed-time.

The big treat for the 100 tokens is an incentive gift to try to promote the idea to save for something and encourage patience.....100 tokens isn't something they will collect pretty soon.

The thing to remember is to be consistent with the tokens.....its all too easy to allow our children's good behaviour to get overlooked and ignored, whereas negative behaviour is always always always picked up by us immediately!

Its nice for the kids to have their good behaviour noticed and appreciated by us.....if they were naughty there would be no way we'd allow them to escape without attention being given to it.



The tokens are available to download inshallah:
Value 1 HERE!!!!
Value 2 and 5 HERE!!!

Number Fact "Partners"

I've been working with my 6 year old for a couple of months trying to enable her to recall without thinking number facts to 10 inshallah.....without telling her that is what we are doing! (if she realises we are "doing maths" you can count on a full scale melt-down!!!)

The past couple of days I have found something which alhamdulillah, seems to be working and she is catching on quick!

Using the Montessori addition and subtraction board we started playing a game, in which I ask her to find the partner of a given number which would make the total 10.

So here, you can see I presented the blue number strip "5" and asked "What is the partner of 5?", to which she responded "5" and placed the corresponding partner in red besides to show the total of 10.

To make it appear more like a game, we took in turns to ask one another to find the partner of a given number. Here K presented "8" to me........

........and I responded with "2".

We end up with all the number facts to 10 (excluding 10+0 / 0+10)



I found this to be quite successful alhamdulillah, as it does appear like a game, but in playing this game a few times, the number facts are indirectly learnt and memorised without any effort inshallah, alhamdulillah!

And of course, you can change the total to different numbers to learn various other important number facts such as 5, 20 etc etc etc (although if using number facts beond 10, you'd have to make your own resouces)

It is not at all necessary to have the number board as I have pictured, I just linked it up at the top just for those who are interested.

It is easy to use any other similar material to demonstrate this to the child....unifix cubes would be good.

Alternatively, to use the Montessori equipment but without the price tag, Wikisori have listed free printables to replicate the same materials at home!

Addition / Subtraction strip board can be printed HERE!!!!

The red number strips can be printed HERE!!!!

The blue number strips can be printed HERE!!!!

If you have not checked out http://www.wikisori.org  before, its a brilliant site with free Montessori albums, printable worksheets and equipment replicars.....very useful alhamdulillah.

Raising children upon tawheed...

A mother recently had a conversation with her 6 year old. She can't remember what her daughter was doing at the time, whether she was eating a meal or reading a book; but they were sat at the kitchen table.
The girl randomly without prompting, told her mother that she is so happy that she was not born into a "family of shirk" because if she was, then they would teach her to do shirk and other things which displease Allah!

Alhamdulillah, indeed all praise is for Allah, this girl's mother felt so humbled by her daughter's thoughts.

 A child so young understanding the difference between being upon Tawheed or being upon Shirk, and being thankful for not being born into a family calling to the later.