Ep #65: Rewarding kids when they Follow Instructions with Hawa Dogbey

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When parents reward kids when the Follow Instructions, they encourage their child to repeat the behavior. 

Rewarding a child doesn’t have to be costly or involved. Sometimes the most effective rewards are one-on-one time with mom or dad, getting a hug or high five, or choosing a family activity.

Different rewards will motivate different kids, and those rewards will change as the child gets older. 

We always recommend involving kids in rewards as it allows them to know you’re focused on building the relationship sometimes though kids can ask for rewards that don’t match the behavior or aren’t things that parents can do. 

As a parent, you can help guide them to rewards that would work. Have them write out a list of rewards they would like. Then decided what rewards you think are doable. It may take a bunch of back and forth to get to rewards that both you and your child think are fair. 

Different kids may want a different reward on different days for the same behavior. Having a list of three or four rewards they can choose from is helpful as it reduces discussion and makes it easier to follow through.

Teaching kids to Follow Instructions is such an important part of helping children learn to navigate the world. 

To learn more about Following Instructions visit: https://www.smarterparenting.com/lesson/view/following-instructions/

To learn more about the agencies worldwide that are using the Teaching-Family Model visit: https://www.teaching-family.org/

For more information about how Smarter Parenting uses the Teaching-Family Model, visit the episode podcast page on SmarterParenting.com https://www.smarterparenting.com/adhd-parenting-podcast/