Training Whales - I found information on training a killer whales some time ago. It's a popular topic for parenting sites--and with good reason. Some of the 'lessons' we learn from training killer whales are very helpful to consider when teaching our kids.
Eight Steps for Training a Killer Whale
- Establish clear cut goal which can be described as actions the animal must perform. No vague requests like "be good".
- Break-down the path to the final goal into easily achieved mini-goals slowly going all the way.
- Alway be positive and happy when working with the animal.
- At first give a reward IMMEDIATELY and every time the animal even comes close to performing an interim goal.
- IGNORE MISTAKES.
- Slowly increase your standard for performance; and give rewards randomly only about one-third of the time.
- Give rewards immediately for approximations of the next step.
- Repeat the process, adding step after step to each performance of mini-goals.
 | Telling Ain't Training by Harold Stolovitch |