What I learn from 'the merit stickers'

I first started using stickers during my teaching days in Al Hidayah Islamic School, Bentley, Perth, Australia. I wanted to motivate the Year 3 children to do well, and to do better than they always do. 

Those days were gone, but now I have a group of more crucial students. My children.

Sticker books bought by Kak Ti @ Red Dot Perth.

An example of how I use the sticker (in Bacalah Anakku Book, as they completed them).

For Al Fateh, it is a reward for him to do a single activity seriously, neatly and cautiously. At times, he can be too relaxed with his homework or other academic activities. Telling him that a sticker will be awarded to him if he does well, voila! He suddenly switches his character and become a more diligent boy. No joke!

For Alwani, it is an incentive for her to read, and not to get flustered easily. This simple tiny stickers can actually help me to get a little more cooperation from my young student.

In addition, I started giving Alwani stickers when she was four for behaving well, and for helping me out with little chores... nowadays, since it had became a routine to her, no stickers were needed, and the good behaviour and deeds that she learned earlier 'stick'ed till now (and in the future, insha Allah). Alhamdulillah.

What I learned from using these merit stickers together with a reward chart;

1. They are powerful tools to

• encourage behaviour you want, such as read a book/page a day,
• discourage behaviour you don’t want, such as not sharing or shouting
• reward your child for practising new skills, such as placing the cups in the sink after drinking or putting all the toys in a box when asked and even to eat veggies!

2.  It's a wonderful practice for parents to catch our child being good (as oppose to shout when they misbehave!). It’s a good idea to reward the behaviour as soon as we see it – since our child might lose motivation if his/her efforts aren’t being noticed.

3.   My children engage more readily if they helped choosing their final reward – Magnum/Slurpee treat, playing with sand at the beach, fried chooks for dinner... (my kids are easy to please!!)

A beach outing after house cleaning and group car wash!

Please share your experience in the comment box, too!

p/s Thanks kak Ti for buying my sticker top-ups in Perth. It's pretty hard to find them here! Cheap ones, I mean ;D