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A child's greatest pleasure in life is derived from their amazing ability to provoke an Oscar worthy performance of temper, frustration and rage in their apparently in-control parent, at times without even uttering a word.

How do they manage to get us worked up so easily? The common frustrations of many parents....

"He doesn't listen to me when I'm speaking to him"
"She wont eat her dinner"
"She wont get dressed in the morning without a drama"
"He wont do his homework"
"She just doesn't listen"

As parents we need to be in control. We need to create expectations for our children, make demands and follow through with action. Consequences create an awareness of our expectations, and consistency in implementing consequences influence a child's potential to make good decisions and demonstrate compliant behaviour.

Children are extrinsically motivated, meaning their motivation comes from outside the individual, such as reward and praise. We know that despite some good performances to the contrary, all children thrive off positive approval. Reward charts are a fantastic way to encourage positive behaviour in children. For a reward chart to be effective, the child needs to feel a sense of satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. The sense of achievement felt by the child is generated not only by the reward, but the approval of the parent. The effectiveness of any reward system will quickly evaporate without the interest and encouragement of the parent.