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Have you tried some of the techniques I have suggested for improving your child’s behavior? (I recommend starting here and here). Maybe he or she hasn’t seemed quite as annoying today as in past days? Maybe you felt like snuggling with your child, when previously you would have preferred some alone time? Maybe you have noticed that your throat is less irritated than usual (for me this means less yelling)?
Other than subjectively “feeling” like your child’s behavior is coming around, how do you know any of this is working?
You measure the behavior!
I am not ashamed to display my inner geek for you – I love tracking behavior! It’s really fun! By the time we are done, you will think so too. Tell me I’m not alone here!
Let’s get right to it!
1. Choose a behavior
Essentially, we need to measure your child’s behavior repeatedly to see if changes are being made. In order to do that, you need to choose a behavior to measure. I’m sure there are several behaviors that you would like to change but I suggest choosing just one to measure until you get the hang of it.
How do you choose the behavior? It’s easiest to choose the most obvious behavior that also has a beginning and an end.
Let me explain. By obvious, I mean a behavior that you will undoubtedly notice – perhaps it is the most frequent behavior or the most annoying one. You want to choose one that will stand out so that you can easily document it.
It’s also a good idea to choose a behavior that is discrete, meaning it has a beginning and an end. Saying “no” or throwing a toy are examples of discrete behaviors.
Other behaviors are best described as continuous, and it is difficult to tell when these behaviors begin and end which makes them more challenging to measure. Some examples of continuous behaviors are watching TV, screaming (depending on the child), and not paying attention.
Have you chosen a behavior to track? Great job! Let’s move on!
2. Measure the behavior
There are many ways to measure behavior; however, we are going to use the simplest method – counting.
Every time your child engages in the behavior you chose in step 1, it needs to be documented in some way. (Note that counting would be difficult for continuous behaviors. If your child screamed incessantly for 10 minutes, how many screams is that? “One” just doesn’t seem to capture it.)
You can keep a piece of paper and pencil with you and tally the behavior, you can transfer macaroni noodles from one pocket to the other every time you see the behavior, or you can download a counting app on your phone.
Any way that is easy for you to count while continuing to function as a parent (and human) works!
3. Graph your measurements
At the end of every day, document the behavior tally from step 2 on a graph.
I prefer to make a dot where the day and number of behaviors intersect and then when I have a few dots, I draw a line between them; however, you can make a bar graph or whatever type of graph helps you see changes.
If your line is going in the direction that you want (typically down for behaviors you want to see less of), then keep doing what you are doing! Its working!
If your line is going in the opposite direction than expected or if it’s all over the place, you may need to change what you are doing or add something new.
Take a look at these examples!
Example #1: Saying “No”
This graph displays the number of times a child said “no” each day. This parent had a lot of counting to do! Things look really good on this graph, and whatever this parent is doing is working! This child went from saying “no” about 52 times per day to about 20 times per day after 10 days. See how the line keeps going in a generally down direction? That’s what we want!
Example #2: Hitting
This parent counted the number of times their child hit each day, and it doesn’t look as good as the last graph, does it? The lines do not trend in a downward direction and are all over the place. This graph indicates that the parent may need to do something differently.
You can draw your graph by hand (use my example graphs as a model) or use a spreadsheet program such as Google Sheets or Excel to draw the graph for you. The example graphs were made using Google Sheets.
There you have it! Tracking behavior is fun and easy (or so my geeky self thinks)! Visually displaying your progress lets you know if your efforts are working, and it can be rewarding for you and, if appropriate, for your child!
Please share your geeky behavior graphing stories!