JESUS ACTS & MARBLE JARS

 

I think I must be nesting...in a "paper pregnancy" sort of way. As the school year comes to a close,

I'm reflecting on all that's transpired since fall. Crisp school supplies have served their purpose well.

Buckets of broken crayons and shortened colored pencils will scribble their last through summer.

I consider what's worked well and wonder what could use tweaking for next year. I type up award certificates and empty out drawers and binders full of hard work remnants. I sense the end of a job completed and welcome next year from afar. And, something inside me wonders why the finish line bleeds so seamlessly right into the starting line all over again...surely fall will be here before we know it and all will be fresh and crisp once again. Until then, though, I'm thankful for this year and soaking in all that God has taught us.

I've been adding homeschool links here, which led me to consider documenting some incentives that work well for our family here:

JESUS ACT STICKS:
Our favorite reward system! We use what we call Jesus Act Sticks to encourage Christlike behavior as well as to ensure that each child is going on one-on-one dates with Mom and Dad regularly. It can be easy to miss out on those special dates, especially in a big family, so using this reward system allows the dates to be built right in to the flow of our family. I'm an advocate for Quantity Time, but we also see the beauty in quality time with each child. Our Jesus Act Stick system is one catalyst for memories of quality time.

Here's how it works: We have labeled glass jars for each child. We're constantly on the lookout for selfless, sacrificial, loving, Christlike behavior, so when we notice it, we point it out with positive reinforcement and give that child a Popsicle stick in their jar. Even the kids have come to notice a true Jesus Act and they're quick to yell it out. (A Jesus Act must be an out of the ordinary, laying-your-life-down-for-another action worthy of acknowledgement...going above and beyond.)

Once a child has earned 10 Jesus Act Sticks, they pick a special date with Mom or Dad and get a certificate which goes into their yearly school binder. We're intentional to take a photo for the sake of nostalgia and do our best to celebrate our individual relationships with each child. Our dates can be inexpensive or even free (and often are), but we try to make them special which is priceless. The most important part of our JAS dates is delving into conversation, holding hands, and staying connected to each other as the years FLY by.

Jesus Act Sticks cannot be lost once they are earned and they can only be earned if the good behavior was observed as stemming obviously from a genuine and sacrificial heart, never done with a motive just to earn a stick.

We love and cherish our Jesus Act Stick dates! They will probably be some of our favorite memories
when our children are grown and I hope that they will look back on them with fondness.

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them."

Matthew 7:12

MARBLE JARS:
This system has also been effective in our family, both for positive and negative reinforcement, though not regularly. A child can gain and lose marbles based on attitude and demeanor. Since the marble jar system can be tedious to keep up with, we typically use it for a specific duration of time with a specific reward in sight which varies depending on what we're aiming to teach, then take a break.

 

In the past, we've used the marbles to add up to points for buying fun goodies in a little store of sorts, or to earn coupons with rewards. Since we do not give set allowance to our children, we have also used the marbles before as a way to earn pennies or nickels, though this is rare. I'm sure we'll come up with more marble jar reward ideas as the kids grow older and ideas turn up. The point is to create an incentive that motivates the children for a time period and helps to set up new habits.

. . . . . .
 

We love these quality interactions in the midst of our Quantity Time as a family and we're thankful that God has given us some tools to instigate interactions that are pleasing to Him, making special memories in the process. We don't execute any of this perfectly, but even just in the writing it down, it reinspires my heart for the benefits worth pursuing through rewards.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward."

Psalm 127:3

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
 

We aren't dogmatic when it comes to incentives (or anything for that matter) and we definitely use communication and prayer above and beyond any methodology when it comes to rearing our kids. Nonetheless, we do appreciate what our Jesus Act and Marble Jar systems have brought to our family through seasons and over years, enough so that they've made the cut for the next school year.

Till then...

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1