Decide where rewards will be provided -- either at home or at school. Home based contingency programs allow for more varied type of rewards like earning time on a favorite video game, telephone privileges, or earning time off from chores. And when the rewards are provided at home the teacher’s workload with the daily report card system is eased. For the younger students (K-1st graders), however, rewards that are provided at school are often more powerful because the positive consequences of their efforts are received more immediately.
Rewards don’t have to be large or cost a lot of money, but they do need to be motivating for the child. This is why it is important to have the child involved in generating the list of possible rewards. It often helps to have a mixture of material, social, and activity related rewards. Keep in mind that the rewards may have to be switched up from time to time so that the child doesn’t become bored with them.
Examples of Possible Rewards:
If provided at school...
If provided at home...
Know that pro-social rewards that tie people together are very powerful. So the student may earn special privileges for the whole class. For example, if the student has made progress on goals the class might get to eat their lunch together outside on a nice day or extra free time for everyone. At home, the child might earn a trip to the ice cream store with his or her siblings. This way everyone benefits and classmates/siblings are motivated to help support the positive behaviors.
