Responsibility Chart

The teacher in me loves positive reinforcement and concrete ways to measure "desired" behaviors. With my own two year old son, we decided to introduce Melissa and Doug's Responsibility Chart to him. I chose 6 goals that we are currently working on with him. His six are:

1. Put toys away.
2. Potty when asked (Potty in the potty)
3. Show Respect
4. Listen the 1st time
5. Say Please and Thank You
6. Help with chores

Every evening before bed we go over his Responsibility Chart. We talk about if he met his goal and why or why not. The first several times we did it his response to every goal was "Yes Ma'am" (gotta love Southern living)....so it's taken him some time to realize the difference between meeting his goal and not. For example, he knows if he has an accident now he doesn't earn his magnet for the board. But, if he goes in the potty, he earns his magnet. To make it even more meaningful for him and to begin teaching him about money, each magnet he receives is worth one nickel. Therefore, he can earn a $0.30 allowance every day for meeting his goals. Now he has his own piggy bank (which he LOVES). After several weeks when we feel he has mastered these goals and does them automatically we will move on to some new goals. It has been a really positive way to reinforce desired behaviors in our house. I found my Melissa and Doug Responsibility Chart at Tanger Outlet at Osh Gosh. The sent a $10 coupon in the mail which I used on the board - so I was able to buy it for around $11. Otherwise, many places sell them (including Bob Evans, AC Moore, Barnes and Noble, etc.) or you can find them online. Amazon has them on sale for $14.99 right now. It comes with a big set of "goals" and a ton of colorful smiley face magnets. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Magnetic-Responsibility/

I did attach velcro to the backside of the board so mine would hang as one piece instead of two separate pieces. I also took all the other goal/smiley face magnets off the board for now. It was too much of a temptation for little hands and also kind of distracting to him.