Finding the right thing to motivate people is like a fine art.  It is so interesting how much incentive and finding just the thing to motivate the kids ( and myself ) can mean the difference between misery and harmony.

I would say the biggest thing so far that motivates Brayden is the green stuff.  Yep, you guessed it, moolah… Being that Brayden just started Kindergarten there is a huge push for him to start to read.  The first step of which is sight words.

I have tried numerous different things to try to get him to sit with me for a few minutes per day to learn these darn words.  It had been a struggle, until my amazing neighbor tipped me off to the fact that nickels were the key!

Every time he goes through the words, he gets a nickel to put in his “word learning jar”.  We also get a math lesson out of it when we count all of the nickels by 5′s to see how much progress we have made.

The end incentive?  He gets to spend the money in the jar when it is full!

What motivates me?  Shoes, handbags, and jeans.  I guess you could say the “green stuff” motivates me too.  I think I would need a really huge jar of nickels huh?

What motivates you?  What tricks have you found to motivate your kids?