TAGing Children

TAGing

First you pick a tag point.

You say, "The tag point is lips closed while chewing."

You don't say, "Don't chew with your mouth open." or "Is your mouth open with food in your mouth?"

When the lips close you click, or say good or yes or nice, and pass over a token or MM or skittle or something.

Other than that, you ignor the open mouth with the food hanging out.


SHAPING

You don't tell the kid what you are tagging. You wait for it.

My kidlet, age 7, was slow to get out of bed in the morning. I've shaped her to put her feet on the foot as soon as I wake her up.

First I used a stop watch for a week to see how long it was taking her to get out of bed after my first request. I never gave a second one because I thought that she was just waiting for my second one. Some times she got up before I asked -if she had before school care and was in a hurry to go and play with her friends. The longest it took was six minutes.

For a week, I jack-potted her with three tokens if she got up without me asking and I gave her one token if it took her less that four minutes after my request. She got nothing if it took her more than four minutes.

For the next week, I jack-potted her with three tokens if she was up without my asking or if she put her feet on the floor as soon as I asked her to get up. I gave her one if she was out of bed in less than one minute.

For the next week, I gave her one token if she was up without my asking or if she put her feet on the floor as soon as I asked her to get up. She was not rewarded for anything else.

Now I randomly reward with tokens or candy when she gets right up or gets up before I ask.

RANDOM REWARDS

Everyday I find at least three things to reward her for as does my spouse. Sometimes the kid gets tokens. Sometimes she gets quarters which are to her a higher reward as she uses them to buy fancy pencils out of the machine at school. Sometimes she gets candy - a rare treat at our house.

She used her tokens to buy prizes off of the prize table in our basement. I buy things that I know she will like (and want to earn) as I see them on sell. She can use use her tokens to go to the zoo, open swim, a movie, or open gym at the gymnastic school or to Chuckie Cheese. If she has earn enough in a week she can take a friend on the outing.

I find that I reward much more that I punish anymore.

Tag points don't include the words "You" or "I."
Correct: "Tag point is 'lips closed while chewing'."
Incorrect: "Tag point is 'close your lips when you chew'."

A tag point includes only one instruction:
Correct: "Lips closed while chewing."
Incorrect: "Lips closed with food inside mouth while chewing."

A tag point should ideally be five words or fewer (which will help prevent multiple tag points in a single tag).
Correct: "Lips closed while chewing."
Incorrect: "Lips are closed when eating at the table."

“Anything a dog can learn on his own is more effective and better understood than what humans can force on the dog.” – Randy Hare