How a reward system can help you manage your child's behaviour

Goals must be clearly set out to work, says Helen O’Callaghan.

MORNINGS are a disaster and getting them to school on time is a nightmare: the seven-year-old dawdles over cleaning her teeth, the five-year-old always finds something more interesting to do than put on his coat.

When you’re trying to establish a routine, a reward system can be a useful mechanism for managing children’s behaviour, says registered psychologist Niamh Hannan. But the goal has to be clear and succinct.