I'm just wondering if you have any ideas on how you can make the naughty step work if all my kids (ages six, five and nearly four) are playing up at the same time. I've tried with the naughty step before but can only sort one out at a time. Would getting little mats make it easier for each one?
Also, I'm doing the wall charts with my girls now, where if they are good they go up one and if they're bad they go down one. Would you suggest if they are naughty to go down one on the chart and go on the mat/naughty step, or just go down one on the chart. Any advice would be gratefully received.
Rosey28uk
You can do different things here. You can either place all your kids in different areas and deal with them all at the same time. Or you can do them one at a time on the naughty step. If you put them all in the same place, they're just going to fight with one another. I would suggest for your girls that you stick to what you're doing with the reward chart.
Use the chart so that if they do well they go up one and if they don't do well, and they end up in a naughty area, then they go down one.
You'll see that in the Supernanny programme that some children were given charts that just recorded the positive behaviour and some were given charts that recorded the positive and negative so that the child could visually see that as well, all depending on the child's personality and maturity.
As your kids are all older, I would do the chart that shows it going up as well as down because it makes it useful for them to visually see the progress they're making.
You can give them more activities. Get them involved in doing activities, especially if the activities help them with team building. You could try board games with them, which can be good fun, but make sure they follow the rules of the game.
And if they behave well, then make sure you reward their good behaviour. Also, physical activity like cycling, swimming, walking and roller-skating will help to let go of that physical energy. Get busy, not bored.
All the best,
Jo
