Educ-Actions

Educ-Actions Archives

Motivational chart

Everyday children change; they change their behaviors, their way of thinking, the way they act with others. They need us, to help them, notice these changes in order for them to persevere and overcome new challenges. The motivation table is built to do exactly that. It is very important to discuss and explain this to the children when introducing the motivation table. You must be careful to not hinder the child's self esteem but rather boost it.

At the end of each day, each child should be able to mention one behavior, one action or one event that he/she is proud of. They can use the mood faces to express their feelings. The educator and others in the group can lend a helping hand to a child who hesitates or can not choose a good behavior for the day.

This table allows for an enriching discussion with the children. You will have to change the way you intervene depending on the child's age, his/her personality and how the day unfolds. Ask open-ended questions that will lead the child to think things over, to ponder. You may openly discuss or talk about non favorable behaviors that occurred during the day, without naming anyone discuss with the children ways to remediate or fix the situation or behavior.

The time taken to do this activity must be a privileged moment for you and the child. It is up to you to make the activity pleasant by adding in a bit of humor and turning this important activity into a fun game for the child.

Sonia Leclerc

No element of this text may be copied, reproduced, distributed, published, translated, downloaded, posted, or transmitted, in any way, without prior written authorization from Educatall and the copyright holder. Elements may be posted and/or downloaded solely for personal and non-commercial use provided no modifications are made and all notices of intellectual property are fully shown (name of the author, title of the article, name of the website, date the text is used and the date of the part in question).