The Zimmer Zoo

Burke and Maggie have picked up a few bad habits, so in trying to break them, I thought a star chart might work.

What are we trying to break? Burke has this way of talking with his teeth clenched/through his nose…and it’s really hard to understand him. He also replies to things he doesn’t like with a high-pitched “Ehhhh!” (I can’t even describe it…). So…we’re trying to get rid of those things.

The funny thing about Maggie’s chart is that she actually asked for it…we originally just wanted to get rid of Burke’s habits and Maggie didn’t want to be left out. Easy enough to find something to get rid of…She screeches when she doesn’t like something.. For example, if Logan takes one of her toys, she screeches instead of saying “Hey! I would like that back, please.” So…we’re working on that.

We started out with 6 stars each. They get one warning of “Okay, here’s your warning. One more time and we remove a star.” They also have the possibility of earning a star back…usually for random stuff like cleaning up without whining about it, or helping each other out…stuff like that.

At the end of the month, if they have 6 stars, they’ll earn the toy of choice (a Gameboy game for Burke and a heart-shaped jewelry box for Maggie).

We’ve also found that the star “threat” works for just about everything…if they’re getting crazy and doing something we don’t like, we can use the warning. It’s great! LOL

Since I took the above picture, Logan requested a star chart as well. His is for potty training. When he uses the potty, he gets a star. If he has an accident one goes away. I’m not sure that he really cares all that much, but he has a chart just like Burke and Maggie – so he’s all good.

Filed under: behavior | Tagged: bad habits, behavior, behavior charts, star charts |