Using ZCred

Allowances

What is an allowance?

An allowance is a number of ZCreds that you give to your children each week. Allowances are granted on Saturday mornings.

Allowance vs bonuses

If you only use bonuses to give ZCreds to children you're teaching them only to be good when they're being rewarded for it - not the desired outcome! Explain to your children that every week they will be given an allowance, this allowance is because they are kind and considerate children. Perhaps they already help around the house or look after their siblings - they needn't be given bonuses for these (although penalties may apply if they don't fulfill their duties).

Changing allowances

You choose the allowance amount when you add a child to the website. You can change the allowance values at any time under Settings, Children.

Bonuses

What are bonuses?

Bonuses can be given for extra effort, especially good behaviour etc. and result in additional ZCreds.

How do I set up Bonuses?

You can set up commonly used bonuses under Settings, Bonuses. When you award bonus ZCreds you can change the name, description and value that appears on the bonus.

Penalties

What are penalties?

Penalties can be given for poor behaviour. They result in a loss of ZCreds.

How do I set up penalties?

You can set up commonly used penalties under Settings, Penalties. When you apply a penalty you can change the name, description and value that appears on the penalty.

Rewards

What are rewards?

Rewards are the way that children spend their ZCreds. When your children claim a reward from you, select the reward from the menu and it will be deducted from their ZCreds.

How do I set up rewards?

You can set up your reward catalogue under Settings, Rewards. When you give a reward you can change the name, description and value that appears on the reward.

What rewards should I add?

That's up to you, but they don't all have to be "stuff" e.g. some parents allow children to use ZCreds for video game time or choosing a family board game to play. Ask your children what they'd like to see in the reward catalogue.

How many points per reward?

Start off by thinking of a virtual exchange rate - maybe one ZCred is worth one penny. A major advantage of using ZCreds is that you can subsidise rewards that you feel are more worthwhile. So a National Geographic magazine might be in your reward catalogue for fewer ZCreds than a comic (even though the comic may cost less).

Statements

How do children see how many points they've got?

For each child we generate a unique statement page that can be viewed on any computer (not just an iPhone). If you want to access statements from another computer you'll need to get the statement webpage (which contains a long string of random letters for security reasons). You can do this be accessing the statements from your iPhone and emailing yourself a link to these pages. Add a shortcut to the statement pages so children can track their statements at any time. From their statement pages children can also see the bonuses available, penalties and rewards. This enables them to understand better what is expected of them.