Behaviour Chart & The Rewards
By Hanifah, M.Psi., Psi.
As we learn and know more about our child, we need to realise that they are learning through observation, imitation and also modelling. This is what psychologists learn from Albert Bandura's theory about social learning. The children will look at the person that they observe. The person is called a model, and afterwards they will follow that person as their model. In this digital era, the model is not only a human in person — children also get many influences from the media.
There are several things that we can do to help our children against the negative influences they might get from unpredictable sources. First, parents need to have a specific rule for the children and also become the parents that the child can trust. Becoming a parent that the child can trust is not something that is easy. As parents we need to give a good example to the children, and when we are about to set the rules, parents need to also be committed to the rules.
The easiest way for us to make a set of rules and make our child follow it is by using a behaviour chart. A behaviour chart is a chart that we use to let the children know whether they can follow the specific rules and routines that they need to do. Some parents think that giving a lot of gifts as rewards is what makes the child do it. But the basic need of a child is to be loved and to be attached to their parents. Parents can give acknowledgement, a hug, and a kiss to show appreciation when the child follows all the rules and regulations that they make.
A gift such as toys or games can be given at a specific time — for example, when they can get through a full month of obeying the rules, or every three months. Parents can also add more rules and roles for the child as the child becomes more obedient to the previous rules. With this behaviour chart we can also see the development of the child at home.