Homeschool-Friendly Reward Programs

Homeschooling can be a fulfilling and gratifying experience, but it can also be difficult at times to keep your kids on track. One way you can keep your kids attention focused, so that their school work and projects gets done, is by instituting a rewards or incentive program during school time. Your program can be tailored to suit your children and be as simple or complex as you'd like. Rewards can be a fantastic way to motivate your kids, states The Children's Trust, a Florida organization whose goal is to improve the lives of children and families in Miami-Dade County through childcare programs, after school programs and youth development and leadership programs.

  1. Homeschool Store

    • Create a homeschool store in your home. Use a closet or an area in your garage or basement to set up shelves and fill them with inexpensive, little trinkets and toys purchased at a dollar store. You could also include special treats that your kids enjoy getting to eat, along with cool stickers, coloring books, activity books, mechanical pencils, special markers and other items you think your kids would like. When your children do well during homeschooling, whether it's scoring high on quizzes, completing work on time, studying without being asked or helping younger siblings, reward them with coupons or play money that they can spend in the homeschool store.

    Individual Student Rewards

    • Set goals for each of your children for homeschooling. Create goals that are specific to each child and are realistic. Decide on daily, weekly and monthly goals, such as completing a chapter for a certain subject, reading a set number of pages, getting high scores and behaving well during homeschool sessions. When each child reaches a goal, allow that child to choose a reward. Rewards for small goals could include getting extra play time, staying up later than normal or having fewer chores for the day. Larger goals could mean bigger rewards, such as having a date with just mom or dad to the movies, going fishing, spending the night with a friend or camping in your backyard.

    Family Outing Reward

    • Work together as a family to create goals for all of your children to strive for together. This could mean that each of your children study when they're asked to, everyone remains quiet during testing times, all of your children work hard during homeschool time and everyone's work gets completed and turned in on time. When these things happen each day, give your children a marble to put in a jar. As soon as the jar is filled, your kids will get to choose an exciting family outing to enjoy together, such as going out for a special dinner, attending a sporting event or going swimming or bowling.

    Reading Incentives

    • Use incentives to get your children reading more during homeschooling. Create a chart that tracks the minutes that each child reads, then set goals for them to reach throughout the year, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals. When goals are met, rewards are given. Help get your children excited about reading by signing them up for reading programs at your local library, book stores or online at places like Scholastic.

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