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Text Box:       From the Counselor’s Corner     Holiday Gifts That Cost Nothing! Sometimes I get so caught up in holiday gift shopping , that I forget that the “best things in life are free” or in this case, 5 cents. While I wish I could take credit for this great little idea, it comes from a daycare center.  It is called “Five Cents Worth of Positive Feedback.”   The “trick” is to put five pennies in your pocket or on a windowsill or other dedicated spot each morning.  The pennies are a reminder to the adult to give specific positive feedback to our child.  (I suppose with more than one child, you could use nickels and dimes, too.) While research shows that positive feedback has a huge impact on motivating behavioral change, it is sometimes simply too easy to get caught up in the routine and busy-ness of the day and to focus instead on what our children do wrong!  The idea is to give our child 5 statements of positive feedback every day for a week and see what difference it might make.   Each penny is a reminder to verbalize a positive comment to our child. To start the day put 5 pennies in one pocket or on one side of the window sill.  Each time you praise your child, move a penny to the other pocket or the other side of the window sill.  By bedtime, all of the pennies should be moved over to the other side.   Remember that effective feedback is specific.  It describes the behavior, the situation and the effect of the behavior.  Example: “Wow! You picked up the candy wrapper off the floor and threw it away even though I didn’t ask you!  You saved me from having to do that and now the floor looks so clean!   If you have a little trick or parenting “gimmick” like this to share, please call me at #336-1607/17 and I will put it in the newsletter!    Happy Holidays!   Arlene Weis School Counselor Briarwood and Colebrook Schools