Reinforcement has to be the single most important factor in the process of learning.  Looking to our 3-term contingency:

A – B – C 

Look at ‘C’ (Consequence) – What’s in it for the learner to do what we are asking? 

The answer is: REINFORCEMENT 

By definition, reinforcement is anything that INCREASES future likelihood of behavior.  Simply stated, reinforcement is what makes us want to learn.  

Some people are just intrinsically motivated to learn or to engage in specific tasks, but some tasks, we all need some external motivation.  This is so true for your child as well.  The goal of external reinforcers is to fade them over time, but your child may just need a kick start to help accelerate his/her learning.  

Reinforcers can be:

• Verbal – “Good work!”
• Social – a hug
• Tangible – food, toy, book
• Tokens – stickers, coins, points
• Activities – riding a bike, playing on the computer

We all get paid when we go to work.  Some people love their job and would go to work for free, but there are always factors that motivate us to stay at our jobs.  

When teaching an individual, ALWAYS ask yourself – What’s in it for my student to learn this???