At the moment we are using coins to help DD1 behave a bit better. She was the same at the shops, always demanding toys and we just struggled to get through to her that we did not have the money to buy her one every time.
So now at the end of the day we go though all the things she has done, set the table, played nicely with her little sister etc, was good for mummy. She will get a coin for each thing, but she will also lose a coin for back chatting etc. It seems to have helped, she is not so demanding at the shops and will often just go and look at the item she is saving for. We do help her out to buy the toy that she wants.
I suppose we are using coins a bit like a sticker chart. At some point we will graduate to proper pocket money.
Yeah, think I'm gonna back track on the whole not associating it with chores thing LOL. having thought about it.. there's no other way really to teach the whole earning thing at the moment. I think the thing that scared me off it was I've seen so many kids refuse to do anything extra unless they get paid. How do you avoid that? Do you have set chores? or is it for general co-operation and helpfulness?
Hmm... your coin thing could be good Astrid. DS back chats at the moment, and when he's upset says horrible things like "go away" or "kill you" (and is teaching his sister!!) so perhaps once he has a bit of a grasp of what his own money can mean to him, this might work for us in some way too. Stickers don't seem to mean much to him and he loses focus on charts that move back & forth and don't seem to get to the end LOL. Tried it for getting him to remember to flush & wash hands after using the loo.. but it seemed to constantly go backwards LOL so the chart just didn't seem to work. But if he twigs at the concept of money and what it can mean for him, it could well work as a 'star chart' for us too.
The coins can be very hit and miss some days. There are days where she demands coins and asks will she get a coin for doing something. So I also try to reinforce that we also do things as it is a nice thing to do, so where possible I am using praise (which is hard, as she is a really hard to deal with at the moment). We tried to make sure with her first toy that she did not have to wait too long to get it, so she did not lose interest.
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