Our ticket system

We don’t do cleaning or chores regularly enough to institute a chore chart or schedule, but I was looking for a way to motivate the kids to help out when we did get around to straightening up. I was also looking for a way to take the fight out of school assignments. Most of the kids do well most of the time but there is one who tends to be more attitud-y about assignments than others.

Enter PJ’s CC Tutor. She uses a ticket system in her class to promote responsibility, excellent work habit, and good behavior in her class. His enthusiasm about the system made me want to try in our family. We’ve been doing it for a couple months now and it’s going so well that it became blog-worthy.

Here’s how it works:

Earning Tickets

I award tickets for random acts of kindness, unsolicited help around the house (i.e., emptying the dishwasher without being asked), managing free time well (i.e., going out to play soccer instead of moping around the house), completing schoolwork without complaining, and knowing the CC memory work at the end of the week.  Speaking of CC, they can also earn tickets when doing their presentation rehearsal.  I give a ticket each for getting over 2 minutes, for not using notes, and for accomplishing our community’s focus for the week.

When we started, I gave each child a small envelope to decorate anyway he or she wanted where the tickets are stored until redemption.

Redeeming Tickets

The kids can redeem tickets for special meals (i.e., pizza lunch or pancake breakfast), rides home in the Genesis from Tae Kwon Do, and other special treats.  Each ticket is equivalent to $0.25 so they also act like an allowance of sorts and can be cashed in for church offering or a purchase of choice.  We do not link them to screen time simply because limiting that more than I already do is a punishment to me as well.

If you want to try a ticket system with your kids, here are some to get started.  I’d love to know if it works for you.

PRINTABLE TICKETS