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The Weekly Word

ABC’s of Homework Oct. 5, 2009

Good Job!

It is important to reward and reinforce good study habits.
REWARDS are given to you after you finish a task.
REINFORCERS make you want to keep doing a task. They can happen during the activity or after.
Help your child design a reward program.
1. You and your child should make a list of things that your child really likes to do or eat (rewards).
2. Choose one or two rewards that will motivate your child to work. For example; Mom will make me a milkshake or I will get to watch TV.
3. Decide how much of the assignment will need to be done to get the reward.
4. Estimate how much time it will take to do the assignment (make sure he is realistic).
5. Decide how long your child will work before you check back to see how he is doing. You should check twice; once, right after they start, to make sure they are doing the work correctly and, again, about half way through the assignment.
Help you child design a reinforcement program.
1. You and your child can make a list of reinforcing things that will help your child keep studying. For example; having Mom sit with me, having Dad help, or listening to music, can all be reinforcers.
2. Choose one reinforcer.
3. If your child does not stay on task, he will have to select a different reinforcer.

The Token Jar

Chris Curry often encourages parents to use a token system to help mark the positive behaviors we want from our children and motivate them to do that behavior more. I know that token systems really do work, but had not incorporated one into my home until after my sister and her children moved in with us. Once the honeymoon of living together wore off, the children began arguing and fighting so much that we all were getting irritable. Wanting some peace, I went to Walgreen's and bought a container of poker chips. Then I took out a vase and put it in a central location. I informed the kids that each of them has a certain colored chip/token and that whenever they are caught doing something that is family friendly (or helpful to other members in the family) one of their colored tokens would be put into the vase. I explained that when all of the tokens were in the vase, then the whole family could go on a special outing. (I like activities and would have taken them places anyway, so I just made them work for the outing.) I let them know that tokens cannot be lost because they already have consequences for negative behaviors. I did this because I noticed that kids will give up if they keep losing what they earned. When one child's tokens are all in the jar and they still do family friendly behaviors, they can choose someone else's token to add, thus continuing family friendly practice by helping each other. The kids are much less argumentative now. They share better, assist with chores better, respond without arguing to requests better, speak nicer to each other and help each other more. The kids earn a special outing every 2-3 weeks. It is much calmer at home now and I can say that I enjoy being with them much more now, which makes both home and outings more fun for all of us! Give it a try...it will work!!!

OCTOBER WEBINAR

Chris Curry will be presenting a webinar on behavior!

Oct. 16 - 12:00-1:00 PM

Chris Curry will be presenting a 1 hour session on behavior! You will not want to miss this!

Space Is Limited

Only $10.00

CHRIS CURRY'S CD'S FOR SALE

You can buy any or all of Chris' CD's at our online store!

These are all songs we've heard and sung at our Family Enrichment Weekends!

Click on the CD to hear one of the songs.

www.shop.familiestogether.org

FACECBOOK CAUSE

We've become a "Crew"

We have 117 members!

Come join the Families Together Cause

WEBINARS

Come to as many as you want in a year!!

In an effort to make things easier for you, we've decided that you can now have your choice in how to pay for the webinars you would like to come to! You can either pay the $10.00 registration fee for each webinar you want to attend or donate $50.00 and attend as many as you want in a year! We plan to have at least 1 a month and hopefully more. If you donate the $50.00 you would automatically be sent an invitation and you can choose to attend or notm it is up to you.

To donate the $50.00 you can click on the logo below or go to www.familiestogether.org

This week's Weekly Word

The Weekly Word
ABC’s of Homework Oct. 5, 2009
Good Job! It is important to reward and reinforce good study habits. REWARDS are given to you after you finish a task. REINFORCERS make you want to keep doing a task. They can happen during the activity or after. Help your child design a reward program. 1. You and your child should make a list of things that your child really likes to do or eat (rewards). 2. Choose one or two rewards that will motivate your child to work. For example; Mom will make me a milkshake or I will get to watch TV. 3. Decide how much of the assignment will need to be done to get the reward. 4. Estimate how much time it will take to do the assignment (make sure he is realistic). 5. Decide how long your child will work before you check back to see how he is doing. You should check twice; once, right after they start, to make sure they are doing the work correctly and, again, about half way through the assignment. Help you child design a reinforcement program. 1. You and your child can make a list of reinforcing things that will help your child keep studying. For example; having Mom sit with me, having Dad help, or listening to music, can all be reinforcers. 2. Choose one reinforcer. 3. If your child does not stay on task, he will have to select a different reinforcer.	The Token Jar Chris Curry often encourages parents to use a token system to help mark the positive behaviors we want from our children and motivate them to do that behavior more. I know that token systems really do work, but had not incorporated one into my home until after my sister and her children moved in with us. Once the honeymoon of living together wore off, the children began arguing and fighting so much that we all were getting irritable. Wanting some peace, I went to Walgreen's and bought a container of poker chips. Then I took out a vase and put it in a central location. I informed the kids that each of them has a certain colored chip/token and that whenever they are caught doing something that is family friendly (or helpful to other members in the family) one of their colored tokens would be put into the vase. I explained that when all of the tokens were in the vase, then the whole family could go on a special outing. (I like activities and would have taken them places anyway, so I just made them work for the outing.) I let them know that tokens cannot be lost because they already have consequences for negative behaviors. I did this because I noticed that kids will give up if they keep losing what they earned. When one child's tokens are all in the jar and they still do family friendly behaviors, they can choose someone else's token to add, thus continuing family friendly practice by helping each other. The kids are much less argumentative now. They share better, assist with chores better, respond without arguing to requests better, speak nicer to each other and help each other more. The kids earn a special outing every 2-3 weeks. It is much calmer at home now and I can say that I enjoy being with them much more now, which makes both home and outings more fun for all of us! Give it a try...it will work!!!
OCTOBER WEBINAR Chris Curry will be presenting a webinar on behavior! Oct. 16 - 12:00-1:00 PM Chris Curry will be presenting a 1 hour session on behavior! You will not want to miss this! Register Today To Reserve Your Place Space Is Limited Only $10.00	CHRIS CURRY'S CD'S FOR SALE You can buy any or all of Chris' CD's at our online store! These are all songs we've heard and sung at our Family Enrichment Weekends! Click on the CD to hear one of the songs. www.shop.familiestogether.org
	FACECBOOK CAUSE We've become a "Crew" We have 117 members! Come join the Families Together Cause
WEBINARS Come to as many as you want in a year!! In an effort to make things easier for you, we've decided that you can now have your choice in how to pay for the webinars you would like to come to! You can either pay the $10.00 registration fee for each webinar you want to attend or donate $50.00 and attend as many as you want in a year! We plan to have at least 1 a month and hopefully more. If you donate the $50.00 you would automatically be sent an invitation and you can choose to attend or notm it is up to you. To donate the $50.00 you can click on the logo below or go to www.familiestogether.org	This week's Weekly Word Sponsored By Jeannette Solimine Let us know if you would like to sponsor a Weekly Word
Families Together for People with Disabilities 213 B Smith Gym - Box 641410 Pullman, WA 99164 Families Together Store shop.familiestogether.org	A United Way Agency