15 marbles is too little I think. We use 100 marbles, he starts out with all of them in the out jar and as he earns them he puts them in the in jar and writes down how many he put in. He earned 100 in 1 week the 1st week, well every week he gets 100! [/QUOTE]
I thought I could start with 15 in the IN jar...that way, the extra marbles are still in a bag or something?????
[QUOTE=DillonsMom]
Buying time means they can spend some of their earned marbles for things they would like to do...I think?[/QUOTE]
I think that's it? Hopefuly Ogram can explain it....
[QUOTE=DillonsMom]
I was confused about the bad behavior thing too.......Ogram can tell it better, but yes, continue to let him earn marbles soon after he has to take some out. You are trying to build self esteem with positive behavior, the better they are, and the more marbles they earn, the harder they try and the happier they become! I bet he will only have to take marbles out 1 time in the beginning....you'll see! All I have to do is mention marbles being taken away and his behavior improves immediately.
[/QUOTE]
I really hope that this will help his behavior. The counselor I talked to a few minutes ago on the phone thinks it will. :-) THANKS!
Hi Ogram!
I was wondering if maybe you could answer a few questions (and anyone else on this board - if you have answers, please feel free to answer too!).
I am planning on starting the marble system on Sunday evening (as tomorrow he will not be going to school and will be with his father for the weekend). I will be picking up the decorative glass rocks (marbles are definitely too rolly poley!) and 2 plastic jars (or something close to it) Saturday from the Dollar store.
Anyhow. I was reading through the pages and pages of responses to your system (at the top of this forum) and I had a few questions, that I think were answered but had me confused.
I plan on starting Jon out with 15 marbles on Sunday as a "start-up." I will have a chart hanging on the wall with point values for good behavior, etc, and -marbles for bad behavior. However, I'm confused about this "buying time" option. Could someone explain that to me?
Another question - when Jon does something that is considered bad behavior, and we take marbles away, is it ok to stop allowing him to get marbles, or do I continue to reward for good behavior, even after a "bad" act has happened?
I think that's it. If I think of anything else, I'll ask. Thanks in advance!
15 marbles is too little I think. We use 100 marbles, he starts out with all of them in the out jar and as he earns them he puts them in the in jar and writes down how many he put in. He earned 100 in 1 week the 1st week, well every week he gets 100!
Buying time means they can spend some of their earned marbles for things they would like to do...I think?
I was confused about the bad behavior thing too.......Ogram can tell it better, but yes, continue to let him earn marbles soon after he has to take some out. You are trying to build self esteem with positive behavior, the better they are, and the more marbles they earn, the harder they try and the happier they become! I bet he will only have to take marbles out 1 time in the beginning....you'll see! All I have to do is mention marbles being taken away and his behavior improves immediately.
We're starting it this weekend too, with 2 little boys. Luckily we have enough marbles around here that they don't use anyway, we will use those. I think it's really going to fly here. I love the acknowledgement of achievement associated with it.we have a modified marble version. You can earn marbles for good behavior, we also have a chart that they color in for the marlbes they earned that day. We do not take away marbles you just didn't earn them. Our Dr. doesn't think DS needs the negative of taking away something.. so every day there marble cup is empty then they get one for there good behavior..I think the idea of starting him off with some marbles in his jar is great. My sister in law ran into trouble when she started it with her kids because they lost marbles more quickly than they earned them the first couple of days.
Also, you may want to prepare him for what happens when the jar is full. I use this with both my kids (1 ADD, 1 not) and they both freaked out when I emptied the marbles back into the bag after they had earned their prize. They did not like to see the jar empty after working so hard to fill it, and my 5 yr old (without ADD) was afraid that people would think she was bad because it was empty.
jaderock54 - This is what I did about the marbles being emptied after 100. I bought 2 bags of 100 (2 boys, 10 ADHD, 3) and each of the bags had a couple shooters (the big marbles). So after 100, I dump them out and replace them with one big marble that symbolizes the 100. I also give them the other shooter to turn in whenever they choose for an added bonus, such as renting a game, friend overnight, etc. It's worked great!