34: new bike!

Zoran won a new bike today at school for his perfect attendance.

That's cool and all, but I wish there were some way to figure out one of the kids in his school who may not have had perfect attendance, but was pretty close and who worked really hard to get there. I'd like to pass the bike on to him.

We live in a district that has (among other issues) real problems with getting all the kids to school on time on a regular basis. Teachers and administrators are always working on ways to improve this, and this is one of the current incentive programs. But the thing is, Zoran doesn't need any incentives. Or a new bike.

He doesn't really get to choose whether or not he's going to school. We get him up and bring him there every day. Even the days (which is most of them) when he doesn't want to go. It doesn't really occur to him that he might not go. Good attendance isn't a goal; it's the expectation. Our goals when it comes to school are academic and deal more with excellence rather the ordinary act of just showing up.

But, Zoran has a lot of advantageous in this area that many of his friends and classmates do not. You can't get very far with academic goals if you aren't in school to begin with, and there are quite a few kids in his school who are basically in charge of getting themselves up and off to school. Some of them aren't making it every day yet, so they aren't going to win anything. But they do get there much of the time, and that is actually something much more impressive than what most of the kids who came home with the prizes are doing.

I don’t really know how to fix this issue and I try not to be too negative with people who are trying, but I’m so tired of rewarding kids for expected behaviors.

I just hate that after years of this sort of thing, my go-getter little seven-year-old may develop habits like his middle school brother where all our goals are as basic as showing up and just turning in the work (miles away from discussions I’d prefer about the quality of work or what he is actually accomplishing once he gets there).