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[quote=Anonymous]This sounds a LOT like my 6yo K son.  I agree with upping bedtime--he does best when we get him in bed by 7, but 7:30 seems to be the tipping point--later than that, and he catches a second wind.  Even if he's IN bed at 7:45, he'll stay awake til 9-10.  But in bed before 7:30 and he goes pretty much right to sleep.  Wakes around 7:30am.

We've also had some luck lately with a Kazdin-esque star chart (I say "esque" because I haven't actually read Kazdin's book, but read enough descriptions to figure out this simplified model that works for us).  He's obsessed with playing Mario, and was previously getting 30m mabe every 4-5 days, and tanrumming a lot when he didn't get it, when we had to turn it off, etc.  So he earns stars toward minutes of Mario time.

Instead of concrete tasks he has to do, he gets a star anytime he does something "quickly and cheerfully" (unprompted, or the first time I ask, quickly and without complaint). If he doesn't do it right away, no stars. 10 stars = 10m of Mario whenever he gets to play next (no promises its the same day).  Tantrums, rudeness, or bad comments/notes from any teachers = loss of stars based on the severity of the incident.

The really important thing for us is no pleading/reminding him to earn stars, and no shame/anger when he doesn't.  Either he does it the first time or not, no big deal either way. "Good job!" Or, "Sorry, no start this time, we'll try again next time!" Then move on.

To jump start it, we gave a mini choc chip (the really tiny ones) with every star for the first few days.

I try to signal him that I'm making a "star" request by getting down at eye level and asking him to look at me before I ask.  This really helps clue him in.

It's not been a magic bullet, but we've definitely seen an improvement.  And, bonus, he's playing LESS Mario with less complaining over it.[/quote]

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