Behavior Charts for Preschoolers

Is your little preschooler getting out of hand? His rants may have seemed cute in the beginning, but now as they gain momentum and start becoming more and more common, parents start getting a little fed up. And it is not just the parents who are looking for behavior modification techniques, it is also the teachers. An over-pampered child is a menace to all. At the same time, child behavior modification is a very tricky field if you want your kid to be mentally independent. Over the years, several techniques have been suggested and popularized. This includes charts that you can use to keep track of your child's good and bad habits.

Understanding Behavior Charts
It is a point-rating system. Like companies have a point-rating system for performance appraisal of the employees, the chart works in the same system and to the same end. First thing the parents have to decide are the critical events on which the points will be given. There will be positive as well as negative marking for different behavior that the children display. Parents will also decide the amount of points that a child has to rack up at the end of every week. The positive reinforcement theory suggests that if the child does clear the cut-off mark, there should be some predefined award, as decided by the child. On the other hand, it may not be a good idea to levy a harsh punishment on the child in case he is unable to meet the target. After all, he is just a preschooler! Not getting what they want will serve as an adequate punishment for the young toddlers.

Now the next question that comes to your mind is what are the critical behavior patterns that should be rated and how many points to allot each behavior. To make that point sufficiently clear, here are two sample charts that you can use to gauge your kids behavior.

Preschool Child Behavior Sheet

You can add more positive and negative behavior as you deem fit, to the following charts.

Positive Points Chart

Name of Activity	Points	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
Waking Up on Time	+ 1
Getting Ready for School on Time	+ 2
Making Bed	+ 2
Breakfast	+ 1
Going to School	+ 1
Homework	+ 2
Helping Around the House	+ 3
Preparing for the Next School Day	+ 1
Sleeping on Time	+ 1
Bonus Points for Any Extra Effort	+ 5

Negative Points Chart

Name of Activity	Points	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
Not Cleaning the Bedroom When Told	-1
Fighting with Younger Sibling	-2
Arguing and Crying	-2
Lying/Cheating	-3
Not Dusting the Shoes on the Way In	-1
Serious Complaints from School	-5

Additional Ideas
When it comes to children, you cannot make a chart as dry and boring as this! You can print out chart from various websites in the format of your child's favorite cartoon character. So you can have a chart with a batman theme, a Powerpuff Girls theme or even a Scooby Doo theme. Alternatively, you can allot some bonus points to your preschooler for making and designing these charts for you.

It is essential to ensure that there is a marked improvement in the child after the implementation of this system. It is also important that you explain the significance of this chart to your child and sit down and discuss the points system and the reward system which your child will like.

This will ensure that the child follows the rule. After all this a very important matter of child care and child development. It is essential that the children learn the good habits early in life as their minds are more impressionable at this time. A good habit reinforced in the child at this stage will go a long way in his/her future development.