Are Rewards in Pre-School a good thing?

Question

My son is almost 5 yo and he joined the school last December. In the class there is in place a reward system that rewards children whose behavior match some pre-defined pattern. They can earn a certificate and points. Providing they get say 20 points, they will be in turn rewarded and presented in a public party where a big size certificate will be given.

Okay, my son has no chances to win the big certificate, due the fact he joined the school later than his mates... But that set aside, I find this practice horrible... I cannot understand why the school do these things with small children... They should reward, but not create competition between children. It seems that they support this practice on Gordon's work, which I doubt.

Could you please help me to clarify this practice, giving me your opinion, and providing bibliographic references to support your thoughts. I need to make a presentation to the Principal, based on sound pedagogic grounds.

Thank you!

Answer 1

I agree with you as well. There shouldn't be competition in a classroom of such young children.

I agree that there should be rewards, but never a competition. I think your best bet is to speak with the director of the school, not the teacher. The teacher will become far too defensive. Telling the director what's wrong with the situation will more than likely change it in some way.

I hope this stops, best of luck.

Answer 2

yes if there are right you should give them a treat to show it

Answer 3

Hello,

Public schools do far more than just “shelter” students from the opportunities of enlightenment, opening ways that exposure to wider social, ethnic, and mixed age groupings might afford them.   Students lose their freedom, their right of choice, and control of their lives.  Through intellectual and emotional dependency, individuals are taught to wait for experts and authoritative individuals to inform them what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and where it do it.  Further, the use of grades, report cards, tests, and reward systems nourish children to develop a deluded perception of one’s self worth. Through the use of such things including reward programs, children lose the ever so needed virtue of seeing and obtaining rewards from one’s inner self. A child whom walks for the first time does not do so for material rewards like candy or toys but for the simple inner rewards of self-gratification, self-empowerment, confidence, self-esteem, and praise and smiles from those he or she loves.  Children in the short term and the long term benefit far more from verbal and affectionate praise than any type of reward system. As such, as far as sound pedagogic grounds¸ the Montessori Method is a great system to base your presentation on.

All the information that I have provided above is a reflection of the Method. The Montessori Method itself was developed by Italy’s first female physician Dr. Maria Montessori. She was born with the two remarkable traits, curiosity and

determination, on August 31, 1870, and died in India on May 6, 1952.  In the year 1896. The Method nourishes the natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being to learn.  It fosters a sense of community, is highly individualized, is self-paced, non-competitive, and builds self-esteem without grades, report cards, or tests.  A Montessori classroom is like a mini community. It is orderly, structured and composed of both social and ethnic diversity.  A teacher’s role within an environment is to act as a guide, facilitator, and a link between the materials and the children. Everyone and everything is given the utmost respect. Multi-age groups interact in a prepared environment ages 2 ½ -6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15, and 15-18.  The combined age groups within an environment give way for older children to teach those who are younger.  Younger children at the same time are inspired to more complex work by observing the older ones. Thus, everyone learns and co-exists with one another, and the teacher is not at times the only one encouraging or teaching.  ÃƒÂ¢Ã‚€Âœ[Montessori schools] show . . .  There are many things which no teacher can convey to a child of three, but a child of five can do it with ease.” (http://www.littleredrobin.com/pages/quot...

Within this type of an environment, every student works at his or her

own pace, without competition. Some children decide to work individually,

while others decide to work in small groups. What they work on, where they work on it,

and with whom they work on it, is up to the children.  For they are given the right of free

choice and freedom within limits.  Liberty of a student and Montessori education go

hand-in-hand. Character and integrity are built through freedom of choice when a student works in an environment with respect for others as a principle. Thus, the freedom given provides a child to take responsibility for what they do, how their day will unfold, and how to be independent, learn, explore, and to develop an “I can do it myself!” attitude.

A Montessori education is an education for life. It does not only have academic benefits. Former Montessori students have mentioned personality and behavioral

aspects that they see as Montessori-like and credit their Montessori education for

them.They include: learning for the sake of learning, independence, finding the

importance in things, patience, calmness, thinking before speaking, open mindedness, self confidence, self stability, tolerance, social awareness, concern

for others and one’s community, and awareness for one’s environment. (Gleen,

2003, p.18).

  

I hope this helps you produce and present your presentation. The best of luck to you.

Answer 4

I agree with you completely!  I think that the children should be rewarded, but I don't think that there should be a party held and I don't think that the prizes should be so big.  What I do in my class is let the children pick a small prize from the treasure chest.  I have them line up behind the treasure chest at the end of the day and as it is each child's turn I tell them something that they did that day that I liked, such as "I love the way you shared with Tommy during block time" .  That way the children get positive reinforcement and all of the children are included.  If a particular child does something that I think deserves a reward I will give that child a sticker to wear, but the sticker is the prize, it doesn't add up to anything.  I hope this helps!

Answer 5

I can not believe a school would do this! I learned early in my Psychology courses that children this young need INSTANT gratification, like as soon as they do good, reward. The way it was put to me, is that children are like dogs in the sense of remembering a good or bad behavior. If a dog does something good, and you give him a treat, he does the same thing again, because he wants another treat. If you waited until the end of the day to treat the dog, do you really think he would even remember why he was getting it?

Also, it is like the time out rule one minute for each year of their age, that is because after 4 min., a 4 year old will not remember why he is there.

I totally disagree with the system in practice, and when you speak to the Principal, I would suggest INSTANT gratification. (I use goldfish crackers as a reward.)

Answer 6

There's a book called "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn.  It talks a lot about how reward systems indoctrinate kids to look at everything in life by what's in it for them.  Why be good for the sake of being good?  I'll only be good if I get a prize for it.

That being said, the occasional use of rewards can help kids get started in the right direction.  I've used rewards at times (especially with potty training), but tried to limit it to things like stickers.  

If you are concerned about this in pre-school, it's only going to get worse the further along your child goes into school.  Your child will always be held to a pre-defined pattern of behavior and learning and be praised or shamed as compared to his classmates.   This is the socialization (aka conformity) process in schools.

You might want to serious consider homeschooling.  Then you have complete control over behavioral expectations.  You can also tailor the curriculum to you son's abilities, interests,and learning styles, and you won't have to worry about him being singled out for harassment by his peers for being ahead of the class or being shamed by his teachers for being slower than the class or being being lost somewhere in the middle.

Good luck with your talk with the principal, but be prepared to have this talk with every principal at every school your child attends.