Summer is upon us in all it's idle splendor. The kids are officially free to play as they wish and apparently to drive me absolutely bonkers at their will. While I do long for a break from the daily grind of school, I also enjoy the routine it gives us. When the kids do schoolwork everyday, it cuts down on the snack and television requests. When we are school work-less the kids are CONSTANTLY asking me for food or entertainment. They are rarely satisfied with "Just go play!". So we've barely been out of our school routine for two weeks and already I am longing for school again. So I thought of something. I made some coupons a few months ago that the kids could earn for exceptional good behavior or for finishing their "extra" workbooks that I give them for additional practice. I sat down with them and showed them several books that we have that they can be free to work through when they are bored. If they finish "x" amount of pages or chapters in any given book then they can pick a coupon. Hey, these coupons are cool too. There are things like "Order a dessert at a restaurant" or "Bake cookies with mom, any kind anytime!" or even "ONE trip to Chuck E. Cheese" or the McWane center. So what are my kids doing as we speak so that I actually have enough time to write this? They are busily, happily, writing or adding/subtracting, or coloring. Did I force them to do it? NO! They are doing because they want to....well because they want to earn coupons...but I have the sneaking suspicion that they just might be sharpening their skills at the same time.
My mom has Parris points at school, and this is exactly why. Bribery is key when you are trying to get kids to do something that isn't exactly "fun". My mom does it for good behavior though since during school they kind of have to do school work. You need a treasure box!! :)
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