School Store Sticker Options for Week 1

In review, the school store activity is for extracurricular or supplemental learning. It is in addition to "core" subjects that are taught each day by the teacher-parent. Each activity is designed to be self-guided. Each week the teacher-parent will post a list of tasks and activities that can be completed to earn stickers. The teacher-parent can assign specific things that need done or the student can choose an assigned amount from the list. 

The student should always be encouraged to do more than the minimum. Sometimes the student will have an idea that he or she would like to do to earn a sticker. That is great! 

But be sure the student knows that they must receive approval for all projects by teacher-mom or dad first in order to receive a sticker.

Below is a list for the first week of activities that our children did in the school store project. You should adjust your list to the abilities, needs, and ages of your own children. The list below was designed for kindergarten and lower elementary grade students. This list should be printed and laminated for easy use. An of course your list should be designed to meet the needs of your specific children. Place in a notebook or on a clip-board where the child can find it with ease. 

List Week #1

_____ 1) Walk laps around the front yard, outside the tree line where you will receive maximum exercise. One sticker per lap; maximum 20.

_____ 2) Weed the flower bed beside the well-house. Prepare it for planting using your hand rake and trowel. Worth 2 stickers.

_____ 3) Pull the weeds in the bark beds on each side of the back porch. Two stickers per side.

_____ 4) Watch an approved animal program on PBS. After the program is over, tell teacher-mom five (5) things you learned or that you thought were especially interesting about the program.  Worth one sticker.

_____ 5) Watch a Moody Science DVD on a nature subject. After watching a complete program, write the following information on a piece of paper (or type on the computer):  a) subject of the DVD, b) three complete sentences, each telling of something from the DVD. Worth 2 stickers.

_____ 6) Draw a memory verse from the memory verse jar and memorize it.  Then repeat it (without help) to teacher-mom or dad and receive 3 stickers.

_____ 7) Surprise dad! Clean the area around his workbench in the shop.  For this service project receive 2 stickers.

_____ 8 ) Bake cookies and put them in a package that you decorate. Ask Dad to drop them off at Mrs. Smith's house on his way to work tomorrow. For cheering up a shut-in you receive 5 stickers.

_____ 9) If you make a nice card and add a note that says "thinking of you" to go with Mrs. Smith's cookies, receive 2 more stickers.

____10) Make a memory verse book using nature pictures from the picture box. Find and write a memory verse to go with each nature picture. Take your book to children's story hour at the migrant camp on Saturday afternoon. Receive 5 stickers.

____ 11) Go on a nature walk at the wildlife refuge next door. Take a notebook with you and record the things you see that God has made. Use words and pictures to record your findings. A careful observation list merits 3 stickers.

____ 12) Learn your multiplication tables through the five's. Repeat them from memory to teacher-mom or dad. Worth 3 stickers.  (Younger sibling can do addition or subtraction instead).

____ 13) Play the game "Sentence Game for Juniors" with your sibling. At the completion of the game you will be rewarded with one sticker.

____ 14) Practice making baskets on the basketball court. Earn one sticker for every 10 baskets you make (limited to three stickers per day).

____ 15) Take turns leading your sibling in exercises like jumping jacks, push-ups, running in place, and more. Earn one sticker for every 15 minutes of exercise.

____ 16) Pretend you are a teacher. Teach your younger sibling a math lesson.  Concentrate on the 100's family chart. Worth one sticker for every 15 minutes you spend teaching. (If you are the younger sibling, receive on sticker for every 15 minutes spent learning).

____ 17) Play the game "You Can Read" using the phonics card game set. Teach your younger sibling the words and what they mean. Worth 1 sticker for every 15 minutes spent playing. (If you are the younger sibling, receive one sticker for every 15 minutes spent playing).

____ 18) Write a letter or draw a picture and send it to Grandmother. After you have it in an envelope and it is properly addressed and stamped, you will be given one sticker.

____ 19) Learn how to do origami paper folding. Find a site online that teaches you how to fold something or use the origami paper kit that we bought at the craft store. Every correctly and neatly folded project earns one sticker.

____ 20) Use your kids cookbook and bake a loaf of mini-bread. Clean up the kitchen afterwards. Worth 4 stickers for a completed project and clean kitchen.

Enjoy a very great week! Keep up the enthusiasm and good work.  You are doing a great job! If you would like to earn stickers by doing something that isn't on this list, tell teacher-mom your idea and receive her approval to do it.  

Tomorrow suggested activities for week 2 will be posted.  We'll see you then!

The School Store

Learn about our "school store". It was a great motivational force for our elementary age children.  Here's more about it:

• The school store was a large bulletin board with a banner that said "School Store". Attached to the bulletin board were objects or coupons of things that could be purchased. Small zip-lock bags were stapled onto the board which held things like pencil erasers, miniature cars and trucks, trading cards, pocket knives, flash lights, compasses, combs, Legos, hand-held games, flashcards, and other small games or objects.  Obviously our school store was geared to boys, but girls items would be easy to add.  Also attached were coupons for fun things to do, like going to get an ice cream cone with dad, or tickets to go roller skating or to the water-slide park. Each item or coupon had a value attached to it. But the value assigned was not for money. The items in the school store could only be purchased with stickers. Stickers were given for work completed that was above and beyond the "core" curriculum that was taught each day. Stickers given were attached onto sticker sheets that had spaces for 25 stickers.
• Our core curriculum was what was considered the essential for each school day. It consisted of opening exercises (devotions, prayer, story time/character development, Bible class, daily language arts/reading instruction, and math instruction). Things could be added to the core each day, depending on teacher-mom.  Stickers were not given for school "core".
• Each sticker earned was worth one unit towards purchase of an item in the school store. Stickers were earned by doing extra-curricular activities like completing drills creating things, doing extra work in a subject, chores, or other activities that teacher-mom had printed up each week and put into a notebook.  Each activity completed was worth one sticker. Remember, stickers were not given for "core" schoolwork.
• Items were not easy to earn. They were worth as much in effort as they would if you were to earn actual money and go to town to buy them.
• Items in the store were marked or labeled with a sticker price. There were many one-of-a-kind items. An item could not be reserved for any specific person. Whoever had the stickers necessary to purchase an item was allowed to purchase it. An item would not be saved for a specific individual simply because they really liked it and wanted it.  This helped give incentive to the children.  If they really wanted something badly, they had to work hard to get it.
• The school store was only open on school days. It would not open until all chores and all school work were completed by all the students for that specific day.
• The school store would stay open for 15 minutes per day. Then it was closed until the next school day. No exceptions.
• All purchases were final. Students could not exchange items purchased for something else simply because the purchaser changed their mind or got tired of their purchase.
• The teacher-parent reserved the right to take store privileges away due to lack of work or poor attitudes or behavior.
• Students were reminded that they may not be able to purchase something from the store every day. There might be inexpensive items available that the student could spend their stickers on daily, but they were encouraged to save their stickers for higher sticker priced items, like a small Lego set or coupon for doing something fun.  

There were several reasons for developing our school store. First, the children enjoyed the motivation. It helped them to develop self-discipline and take some of the responsibility of learning upon themselves. Some days (most days, perhaps), the teacher-parent can be very busy taking care of the household, the children, and the their education. On really busy days, the children might be short-changed because their teacher-parent may not have enough time to sit down with them and do as much as they would like. The school store was a supplemental plan which allowed for enriched learning experiences for the children. The school store provided the opportunity for children to spend their own time exploring learning experiences. They could select their own projects according to their interests and abilities. Occasionally the teacher-parent might select activities for the child, but generally the idea was to be open-ended and to allow the child freedom to be self-motivated and self-directed in their learning.

The next post will give ideas for the learning activities children can complete to earn stickers.  Please come back again to see what ideas will be shared.                                                    

Self-Directed Learning Activities for Little Ones

Sometimes parents find it challenging to keep younger children on task while older children are receiving instruction or help with their assignments. Young children often need tools to help them focus and work on their learning activities independently. Today I found a laminated chart that I made for our youngest child. It was the school chart that he used when he was six or seven years old. Each day I would assign a specific number of tasks for him to complete. Some days he would be required to complete them all. On other days (like piano lessons days) I would shorten the list and mark the ones he was to complete. 

Sometimes he was allowed to pick and choose a specified number from the list. He liked having the freedom to choose and it fostered independence and incentive. He received a sticker from teacher-mom for each task completed.  The stickers would go onto a sticker sheet that had spaces for 25. He would save all his sticker sheets because they were valuable to him. They could be used as homeschool currency in the school store.

Here is an example of the learning activities he chose from each day:

• Count aloud to someone from 1 to 100 by one's, ten's, and two's.
• Write your alphabet, upper and lower case, in your handwriting booklet.
• Say all the single letter phonograms out loud to someone.
• Write your single letter phonograms in lower case as someone says them to you.
• Complete an addition or subtraction math page. Use a number chart and Matchbox cars to help.
• Read a book out loud to mom or dad.
• Do your addition or subtraction flashcards.
• Carefully color a picture from a nature coloring book.
• Draw a careful sketch of something you see.
• Play a file-folder game or table game (learning bingo, matching game, etc.).
• Spend 15 minutes working in your garden.
• Work on one page or activity in your garden or nature journal.
• Learn your memory verse and repeat it to dad when he comes home from work.
• Write a sentence or two on lined paper and draw a picture about it.
• Walk or run laps around the front and back yard (1 sticker per lap).
• Put a puzzle together.
• Listen to a Bible story CD and draw a picture about the story.
• Cut pictures out of a magazine and make a collage or poster.  Choose a subject or theme.Chose a recipe from the kids recipe notebook and cook something.
• Other ________________________________________________________.

*Note that some of these activities require parental involvement, but it is the child's responsibility to take the incentive to come to the teacher-parent for help rather than the other way around.

*The activities listed above were to be completed after the morning "group learning activities" such as devotional time, calendar, prayer, thankfulness chart, story time, and Bible class.