I have talked for the past week about praising your children--praise them specifically; sincerely; and in a character-based, non-outcome-based manner. AND using praise as incentive and motivation for positive behaviors in preschoolers. Today, in lieu of a review, I want to give some links to some things that you might find helpful.
One way that we encouraged our children is with what we called "lunch box notes." (I mentioned earlier about my then-sixteen-year-old son exchanging sixteen cents various times--a penny for our thoughts, a nickel for a hug, and a dime if you tell me that you love me; that was actually borne out of his dad and I leaving lunch box notes around the for children.) Anyway, these notes (or any notes, really) can be tucked in their lunch boxes, left in the bathroom for when they go in to get ready in the morning, placed in book bags and back packs, clipped to notebooks--anywhere that that child might see them.
We used ones that had a message on the front--and then we wrote a note to the child on the back that explained the front. For example, if the front said "You are a star reader," we would write a note on the back telling the child how proud we were that he was reading chapter books now--and how we saw him work so hard to get through that first one, etc.
Personally, we kept them in a little basket in our bathroom--and strove to each write two or three a week for a couple of years. (That woud be a good thing for me to do with my three guys now!) If one of us got out of the habit, we would remind the other--don't forget the notes in the bathroom. We would also point out things that we each saw, to remind each other of what to say. (The kids really love that--if they know that Dad has been telling mom how many free throws he is now making at night in the drive way or that Mom told Dad how fast he is getting his morning routine done in the mornings now--sort of that "public praise worth twice as much" that I talked about last week.)
Anyway, I'm sure you can purchase these at Christian bookstores or teaching supply stores, but I will post some links below--some for ones that you can print offline, some you can purchase then print off line, and some you can order hard copies of. Of course, if you are computer-savvy, you could create your own, as well.
Enjoy praising and encouraging your children this week!
Printable: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/lunch_box_notes.htm
Printable: http://printables.familyeducation.com/lunchbox-notes/lunch/58189.html?WT.mc_id=SOP_2008-09-22_email
Pre-printed: http://www.amazon.com/Hugs-Lunch-Box-Focus-Family/dp/0784713634%3FSubscriptionId%3D14H876SFAKFS0EHBYQ02%26tag%3Dthesoma-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0784713634
Book about leaving teen daughter notes: http://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Bag-Notes-Everyday-Daughter/dp/0829420606%3FSubscriptionId%3D14H876SFAKFS0EHBYQ02%26tag%3Dhubp0c9-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0829420606
Another book about writing notes of encouragement for children: http://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Box-Letters-Encouragement-Children/dp/1552095266%3FSubscriptionId%3D14H876SFAKFS0EHBYQ02%26tag%3Dhubpages-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1552095266
More printables: http://www.youthonline.ca/stationery/lunchboxnotes/
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