Star charts or black crosses charts?

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A couple of my friends use a black crosses chart as an alternative to a star chart reward system, so that every time their child misbehaves, they get a big black cross. One of them uses it in conjunction with a star chart, and the other doesn't. They both say the black cross chart works.

I feel rather uncomfortable with the black cross chart concept, but wondered if anyone else uses it, or if any one has any thoughts on it

We use it, if behaviour is consistantly bad after 2 warnings the threat of a cross is sometimes enough to make him (ds is 4) snap out of it. If not and he gets a cross, sometimes that 'closes' it for him and he even asks if he can draw the cross on! If that was to say happen in the morning, there is always the promise that if you are really really good your cross can be covered with a sticker. Saying that, we only bought the chart back in, after really awful behaviour after school in October and there is only 3 crosses on there after all this time. I personally think that it's a good way to acknowledge and close bad behaviour.

this is partly why i like the pasta jars system. you can add in pasta for good behaviour. take it out for bad behaviour.

we even do "negative pasta" when they get below 0, we figure it helps their maths to understand about negative numbers

Not sure - we have "red pasta" which is pocket money taken away but also have green pasta which is additional pocket money. I guess it amounts to the same thing but I think you need to have rewards, not just "punishment".

I think it's a rubbish idea to have only negative stuff tbh. Smiley faces and stars only, that's the way IMO. What motivates you more? Praise or criticism?

I'd feel uncomfortable with the fact that this concentrates purely on highlighting the bad behaviour rather than rewarding the good - it feels to me like telling the child there's nothing about them that's worth praising, only being negative about, and in my opinion positive statements are far better for a child's self-esteem and work far better as incentives than negative ones. Imagine appraisal time at work if the only feedback allowed was black crosses - it would be a cruel form of management for an adult, and even more so for a child.

We have reward stickers on ours as well, but also acknowledgement of bad behaviour.

Do like the idea of red and green pasta though.

At 4.5 DS has always responded extremely well to a positive star chart, and we have never used a 'negative' system. I think negative consequences may be more suited to older children (alongside the more important praise).

I have always kept the star chart very specific, too - focussing on one area of behaviour - sitting at table throughout meal, for e.g, rather than general 'being good'.

I do feel though that only praise doesn't really work for all children. my dds love firm rules, sanctions etc. of course they really like watching someone else being put on the naughty step, at which point all the others behave beautifully.

a mixture works well for us. we try to be really positive but the sanctions are what often are most effective in motivating my dds to improve their behaviour.

Actually we have done one-off 'witholding of treat' in response to something bad - but not as an ongoing system.

One of the mums at school has a little boy who loves Star Wars and she has made a chart with both positive and negative elements. If Jamie is naughty she moves his figure over to the Dark Side!

She says it works.

anorak, exactly. children love the Dark Side of life

My DSs respond very favourably to the threat of Red Pasta.