Motivating and Encouraging Children from 7 Years

In 2004, upon finalizing my original range of younger children's reward charts, I wanted to turn my focus to a child of seven years and beyond. I wanted to hear the nags and groans of everyday life from the parents and caregivers of these ever-growing mini adults. I asked them what they struggled with and what they were constantly asking their child to do. The responses were very similar ‘I can’t get my child away from the television’, ‘I am always having to tell them to put down their computer game’, or ‘I am constantly having to nag them to do their chores’ to name but a few. Also, I wanted to hear from the children’s perspective, this too had a similar theme, ‘Mum’s always telling me to put my shoes away’, ‘I’m always being told to tidy my room’, ‘Dad’s nags me to do my homework’.

Children from the age of seven have reached an important stage of their life. They have conquered the developments of the first six years. It is a time when they are settling down and life is at a steadier pace of growing and learning. They are settled into school with their chosen friends, and reading and writing becomes a major interest. Children of this age are also interested in everyday life tasks and they have a strong desire to do things right, independently and perform well. However, they now have a longer attention span for things they enjoy, but they are also at an age where decision making can be a tough call. This is where conflicts can often arise.

So the theory behind My Credit Chart is to give children from seven years of age direction. The chart creates a central point in the home for children to refer to with minimal adult involvement. It provides a list of everyday activities such as getting dressed, eating healthily, helping around the home and completing homework - quite achievable activities for a child of this age but so often require adult encouragement to see them through. Completion of the activities are acknowledged through a checkmark system, a more grown-up way to record achievements than that of the 'sticker' reward system.

By providing a physical, visual tool children have the responsibility of monitoring themselves and being in charge of their time.  In addition, setting simple rewards encourages them to see through their routine and complete the activities.

Children feel motivated to use My Credit Chart.  Minimal adult interaction is required to sensibly set rewards, oversee the routine and give praise for their child's endeavours.

My Credit Chart provides families with a more settled home life bringing great comfort from structure and routine - a great support for families of children living with Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia.

By Victoria Ballard


My Credit Chart is available for $12.99 from www.VictoriaChartCompany.com