I'm curious about your opinion on rewards for kids. There are some parenting experts who'll tell you not to use them at all because you want kids to receive "intrinsic" rewards for doing a good job rather than to have your praise/rewards as a motivator.
Professionally, I believe that rewards are a good option for parents who want to use positive discipline methods, but I recommend using them sparingly. In particular, I think they're helpful to turn the corner on behaviors that have been resistant to change.
Personally, let me share what happened with my kids. We were closing our cabin down for the winter and there was a very long list of things to do yesterday. I knew that my kids could be a great help with this, but it was an all-day project that would never sustain their attention for 10 hours. So, I had them "work" for short intervals and then let them play for awhile. I kept doing this throughout the day. But, I also said if they gave me great effort all day long that they could have a "treat" that they love at the end of the day.
Here's the good news. They were incredible! They were even asking me what else they could do to help! It saved me at least 1-2 hours of work.
Here's the bad news. I asked them to do one last thing AFTER they had received the treat and they both declined the offer... After 5-10 minutes, they had not put the item away. I gathered them together tellling them what an awesome job they did all day and also shared my observation that without the treat, they didn't do what I asked. We then had a talk about why we chip in as a family, take responsiblity for our own things, etc. and with heads hanging, they put the item away.
What's been your experience using rewards? Do you use them often? Do you think they're a good discipline tool?
