Free-Reprint Article Written by: Susan Kruger See Terms of Reprint Below.
***************************************************************** * * This email is being delivered directly to members of the group: * * [email protected] * ***************************************************************** We have moved our TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article. Be certain to read our TERMS OF REPRINT and honor our TERMS OF REPRINT when you use this article. Thank you. This article has been distributed by: http://Article-Distribution.com Helpful Link: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- Article Title: ============== Homework; The Power of 'Positive' Consequences Article Description: ==================== Learn how to use rewards to improve homework motivation and cooperation. Additional Article Information: =============================== 611 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line Distribution Date and Time: 2007-02-07 10:24:00 Written By: Susan Kruger Copyright: 2007, All Rights Reserved Contact Email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Susan Kruger's Picture URL: http://www.soarstudyskills.com/SelfPictureBW.jpg For more free-reprint articles by Susan Kruger, please visit: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Susan_Kruger ============================================= Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters: ============================================= If you use this article on your website or in your ezine, We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let us know where you have used this article, and we will include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com: http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=4357&p=load HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of Article Are Available at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/k/homework.shtml#get_code --------------------------------------------------------------------- Homework; The Power of 'Positive' Consequences Copyright (c) 2007 Susan Kruger, All Rights Reserved SOAR Study Skills workshops http://soarstudyskills.com/ At a recent presentation for parents, I mentioned the importance of providing positive consequences to motivate students with homework. Afterwards, one mother approached and explained that her daughter has been having problems all school year. "Her teacher has been insisting that I provide a lot of punishment at home," she explained. "I think that might be the problem...that my daughter is turned off by her negative attitude." Wouldn't we all? Don't get me wrong...punishment has its place and can be an important element of molding and managing behavior. However, we often overlook the power of being positive. As human beings, we naturally focus on the negative and are conditioned to dole out negative consequences first. However, providing positive rewards for good behavior is usually much more effective. For starters, positive consequences cultivate positive attitudes...and you need as much of that as you can get when it comes to dealing with homework! Secondly, they allow you to be much more specific about your expectations, which makes your children more likely to meet them. For example, "Stop fooling around and get your homework done," is not as specific as, "If you can stay focused and finish your homework in 20 minutes, I will let you watch an extra TV show tonight." The latter statement tells the child specifically what they SHOULD do and this will always result in a better response. Finally, punishment is often NOT motivating, especially for children who have fallen into complacency. Before long, there will be nothing left for you to "take away." Action Plan * Determine realistic, yet motivating rewards. When you first start, you may need to provide rewards immediately. After a short while, start extending the time. For example, you might first offer stickers, extra time on the computer, or a small treat each evening. After a couple of weeks, change the parameters and offer weekly rewards, such as taking your daughter out to lunch on the weekend if she does her homework tear-free four nights in one week. Gradually, increase the time-span and slightly increase the value of each reward. You can guarantee motivation if you ask your children for 'reasonable' reward ideas. * Back up your positive consequences with negative ones. This creates a choice for your child. "If I do my homework on time tonight, I can go to a movie with dad. If I don't, I will loose my video games for the night." Which would you choose? * Be firm and ALWAYS follow through. The moment you do not enforce your expectations, you loose the game! Your children know if you do not always mean what you say and they will test you to the end of time. There are not shortcuts; only offer consequences that you are willing to enforce, and then ENFORCE them! * On a similar note, be aware of the "Three Factor." The first few times you introduce a new routine or expectation with children, they are likely to fight it. The first time will be bad. The second time will be awful. The third time may be unbelievably awful. By the fourth time, they will start cooperating because they will KNOW you are serious. * Rewards of your time are most motivating. This often surprises parents, especially parents of middle and high school students, but the opportunity to spend 'special time' with Mom or Dad is very attractive to students of all ages. Seize the opportunity while you have it. In Conclusion As a parent, if your homework management strategy relies strictly on punishment, you are wearing away motivation and fighting a loosing battle. Turn the tides by using positive consequences and reap the benefits of happier and more successful children. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Susan Kruger is the author of "SOAR Study Skills; A Simple and Efficient System for Earning Better Grades in Less Time". Get Susan's FREE Homework Rx Toolkit, featuring "25 Ways to Make Homework Easier...Tonight!", at her website: http://soarstudyskills.com/ --- END ARTICLE --- Get HTML or TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of This Article at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/k/homework.shtml#get_code ..................................... TERMS OF REPRINT - Publication Rules (Last Updated: May 11, 2006) Our TERMS OF REPRINT are fully enforcable under the terms of: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281.ENR: ..................................... *** Digital Reprint Rights *** * If you publish this article in a website/forum/blog, You Must Set All URL's or Mailto Addresses in the body of the article AND in the Author's Resource Box as Hyperlinks (clickable links). * Links must remain in the form that we published them. Clean links should point to the Author's links without redirects having been inserted into the copy. * You are not allowed to Change or Delete any Words or Links in the Article or Resource Box. Paragraph breaks must be retained with articles. You can change where the paragraph breaks fall, but you cannot eliminate all paragraph breaks as some have chosen to do. * Email Distribution of this article Must be done through Opt-in Email Only. No Unsolicited Commercial Email. * You Are Allowed to format the layout of the article for proper display of the article in your website or in your ezine, so long as you can maintain the author's interests within the article. * You may not use sentences from this article as an input for any software that steals sentences from others in order to build an article with software. The copyright on this article applies to the "WHOLE" article. *** Author Notification *** We ask that you notify the author of publication of his or her work. Susan Kruger can be reached at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** Print Publication Reprint Rights *** If you desire to publish this article in a PRINT publication, you must contact the author directly for Print Permission at: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ..................................... If you need help converting this text article for proper hyperlinked placement in your webpage, please use this free tool: http://thephantomwriters.com/link-builder.pl ===================================================================== ABOUT THIS ARTICLE SUBMISSION http://thePhantomWriters.com is a paid article distribution service. thePhantomWriters.com and Article-Distribution.com are owned and operated by Bill Platt of Stillwater, Oklahoma USA. The content of this article is solely the property and opinion of its author, Susan Kruger http://soarstudyskills.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ---------------------------------------------------------------------
