Wednesday, October 29, 2014

To Reward, or not to Reward


Parenting is a tough gig.
If you have a child - or if you're going to have a child - you are aware that parents can be quick to judge one another about choices made. Because everyone is different, everyone's parenting style will also differ. The idea of providing rewards to children for positive behavior, is one that divides parents - so we would like to offer you some pros and cons.

CONS
*Rewarding creates the expectation that every time a child behaves appropriately, something external will be given. This can lead to meltdowns, and general confusion in young children.
*External rewards can promote external motivation for "doing the right thing" vs. the internal motivation of doing what has been expected.
*Rewards are often junk food based, which can lead to unhealthy eating patterns in adulthood.

PROS
*A cumulative reward system can provide a longer-term motivation for a child who is working on modifying certain behaviors.
*Rewards can be experience based, which offer opportunities to create lasting memories with family members. Be careful that you're not basing all your coffee dates, trips to the movies and family outings on behavior, as this may feel as though bonding is conditional.
*Young children, or kids who have delayed development can benefit from the concrete nature of a reward system as a stepping stone towards more intrinsic behavior management plans.

Decide what works best for your family, and always keep the big picture in mind. 

Friday, October 10, 2014

YEAS Open House




Last Saturday night we pulled off an incredibly successful mixer, promoting the YEAS (Yoga Education for Autism Spectrum) program. It was a team effort - bringing together the families of past and present clients, as well as many people who have supported Kahlon Family Services through the years.

With good food, good wine and great company we managed to raise around $1000 to kickstart the products that we need to make in order to make YEAS a reality. With this money, we will be purchasing materials to create backpacks full of teaching tools that allow this yoga program to be accessible to children on the Autism Spectrum.

We would like to thank all who were involved, and we look forward to following through with the Indiegogo perks soon.

-With love from the KFS Team