to give SEN child rewards for doing maths

[empatheticpretzel]

In the past my child with SEN hasn't understood why she is getting a reward for doing something and thinks she should get the reward without doing anything. I don't think this is a good mindset to have, that she can get something for nothing, because in the real word that's not how it works. I understand she has SEN, and her thinking is different. But I want her to reach her potential. She is really behind on her maths and isn't motivated to learn. She is capable of learning, but it takes a lot longer and she finds it really frustrating. I know it's so hard for her. I want to give her a star for each day (a maths lesson a day) she does and then reward her with a movie night and takeaway at the end of the week so she gets somewhere with her learning. I'm not sure if this is the best approach, or if I should be giving her something each day as well?

Rewards do work for my SEN dd but they have to be immediate - half an hour of maths (build up, vary by day - some days there isn’t much chance) followed by 20 minutes of something she loves.

every kid is different but mine would stress about rewards too far in the future

How old is she? A week is a long time for a child, especially one with additional needs, to wait for a reward.
A star a day doesn’t seem much.

I’d look at making the maths as fun and practical as you can measuring, weighing, estimating etc for everyday tasks baking, shopping ( play shop?)

Use real objects and make learning multi sensory and fun. If doing actual sums use laminated numbers and symbols or type or write them so that there isn’t lots of writing involved.

For a shorter term “ reward system “ you can have a I am working/learning for visual
( laminated velcro tokens) with maybe 4 spaces for tokens
child decides on the motivator e.g. park, ipad time etc also written or represented visually
You give tokens for trying etc. You need to name what the token is for so your child starts to understand e.g. good thinking, I like the way you did that, good counting etc.

As soon as all tokens are gained she gets the reward.

Learning will need to be chunked with a period of free/ downtime and clear expectations e.g.how much, how long

I was thinking it was too much. That's insightful

I have two children with SEN. One is academically capable but struggles greatly when he doesn’t want to do something he doesn’t particularly enjoy. I reward him for ‘making a great effort’ - that usually means doing a great bit of writing as he particularly hates it. He is exceptionally good at maths and his reading comprehension is within the top 2% of his age range. However when the KS1 sats results came and he was at the ‘passing standard’ for writing, I told him I was especially proud of this and treated him for what must have been a very difficult test to sit through. All I ask is that he tries his best even, if he pours too much energy into getting great results then he starts falling apart more in the social/emotional sense, and that’s the last thing anyone wants.

My other son has little comprehension of school results nor targets. No reward system will help motivate him. I still get him treats though because I’m just bloody glad he’s getting through the school day at all in all honesty.

DD2 is 15. Wine gums help her to get through maths. One wine gum per question. I'm fine with that. A weekly reward wouldn't mean anything to her.