Tricks to Ensure Good Behavior in Kindergarten

We’ve written previously about the difficulties our son is having with starting Kindergarten. Things have really settled down since the first couple of weeks, and I credit two changes that we made for the remarkable transformation.

First, we moved his bed time up an hour. He now starts getting ready for bed at the shockingly early hour of 6 and is usually asleep before 6:30. Because of this, he even woke up on his own the last few mornings.

Second, I resorted to bribery (err, positive reinforcement). I promised him that if he got on the bus without protesting for the entire week, I would play the video game of his choice with him for 15 minutes. You should have seen his eyes light up, because he knows I detest playing video games. I then decided to take it one step further. I told him that if he stays on a “green lily pad” all week, then I would play another 15 minutes with him. (Note: His teacher moves each child’s frog to a yellow and then a red lily pad if they misbehave.) He could earn a whopping 30 minutes of mommy video time!

These two things seem to have done the trick. He gets on the bus each morning with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. Last week he had all green lily pads too! My only saving grace is that I am REALLY bad at the video games. He just might get frustrated enough with me that he’ll let me out of my obligation. To tell you the truth, I enjoyed the time I spent with him. Last weekend I played for forty minutes without even realizing it. He’s been doing so well with Kindergarten that I have a feeling I’ll be putting in my half hour this weekend. No biggy… Seeing those green lily pads makes it all worthwhile.