Frequently Asked Questions

If your Goodtimer won't light up or turn off when you flip it over it has likely be set to travel mode.  Press the "Travel" button on the bottom of the device to turn off Travel mode and this will usually fix the problem. Check out this video to learn more about Travel Mode: https://youtu.be/axtYTzmlFVo

Goodtimer was designed to go with your family, wherever the day may take you. Since Good Time is normally activated and deactivated by flipping Goodtimer over, we don’t want your child to miss out on Good Time just because their Goodtimer is bouncing around in a bag or the backseat of the family vehicle. So, Travel Mode turns off the “flip” sensor and uses a touch-activated metal contact ring around the speaker instead. Touching the contact ring will toggle Good Time on and off.

Also, occasionally the sensor in your Goodtimer may not respond when the device is turned right side up or upside down. Don’t worry, sometimes the sensor doesn’t recognize that Goodtimer has been flipped over, similar to your smartphone not recognizing a change from portrait to landscape mode. If this happens, there are a few simple things to do to get it responding again. First, make sure that your Goodtimer is NOT set Travel mode by pressing the “Travel” button on the bottom of the device. If it isn’t in Travel Mode, turn Goodtimer right side up and gently tap it down onto a flat surface. Sometimes Goodtimer needs a little “encouragement” and this will usually be enough to fix the sensor.

If Goodtimer is still not responding, press and hold the small “Reset” button on the bottom of the device until the unit shuts off. Power it back on, by pressing the “Power” button on the bottom of the device. If it is still not responding, please contact us at hello@gogoodtimer.com for further assistance.

Goodtimer was designed for children between the ages of 3 and 10 years old; although some have families have had success using Goodtimer with children as young as 2. It really depends on the developmental level of the individual child.

Goodtimer is designed to track the performance for a single child. A critical element of the Goodtimer experience is that your child takes responsibility for their behavior and therefore their performance is tracked by their individual Goodtimer. After opening Goodtimer, they will personalize it and it will track their performance over time helping them to progress as they reach new Good-Time milestones.

While it depends on how much Good Time your child is earning on any given day (some days are going to be more challenging than others) you can usually expect them to earn 1-3 tokens per day. Goodtimer has 10 difficulty levels, allowing it to work for kids of different ages. When set to Level 1, a segment will light up every 40 minutes, so your child will earn one token every 8 hours of Good Time, for a maximum of 3 tokens a day. On Level 10, new segments light up once every 60 minutes, taking 12 hours to fully light up the Goodtimer and earn a token, giving them a max of 2 tokens a day. Knowing this, you can set appropriate token values for the available rewards your child can earn.

Goodtimer has created an exclusive Facebook Group, The Goodtimer Village just for Goodtimer families. The Village is a judgment-free space where we can all grow into stronger, more positive parents, together. Our village vision is to build a close community that is happy and peaceful while connecting with like-minded people, who believe in positive reinforcement to form good habits that last for kids and parents. We will use this page to celebrate parenthood, find support with parenting challenges, and help one another to achieve our best selves. If you can't find the specific support you are looking for please contact our customer experience team of parenting professionals at hello@gogoodtimer.com.

Your child has earned a stack of Goodtimer tokens, now what? Sometimes, coming up with exciting, enticing things for your kid to earn is tough, but there is no need to stress or break the bank to encourage your little ones to keep being their best. Sometimes toys and special treats will work, sometimes it's the experiences that motivate them. Younger children typically aren’t as good at waiting, so smaller prizes may work best. Older kids will figure out how to get the most bang out of a buck, so setting bigger goals will help them learn about patience and saving. When setting up a list of potential rewards to be earned, remember, whatever works for your family is the best way to go. Also, we recommend you start by asking your kids what they'd like to exchange their tokens for. Here are some ideas Goodtimer families have shared with us:

• Read a book. Their favorite. And let them choose the time and place.
  
• Stay up late. 30 minutes to one hour when it’s not a school night.
  
• Screen time. Just a little extra. 15-30 mins
  
• Family Game Night. Kids pick the game the family plays together
  
• What’s for dinner? Let them choose, not just for them but the whole family
  
• Choose a TV show for you to sit down and watch together as a family
  
• Bake together. Let them chose the recipe.
  
• Download a new App for their tablet.
  
• Buy an ice cream for the whole family!
  
• A day off chores. Reward them with a day off from their daily chores.
  
• One-on-one time with mom or dad - Kids love spending individual special time with parents.
  
• Go for a bike ride. Make time for your kids, the two-wheel kind.
  
• Plan a family day out. Let them choose the next family outing
  
• Take the family to mini golf, laser tag, climb zone or a trampoline park
  
• Go to the park…and make a beeline for the slides and swings!
  
• Go to the movies. Can you guess who gets to choose the film?
  
• Have a play date or sleep over with their friend or cousin.
  
• Trip to Target or Walmart to get one item from the Toy department
  
• Camp out in the yard A date night with mom or dad Role reversal.
  
• Let your child be the parent and choose what you do for the day!

It’s no surprise to parents, that being honest doesn’t always come naturally and many kids learn at a young age that telling a lie can be easier than telling the truth.  Goodtimer is an award-winning positive reinforcement toy that has helped hundreds of families encourage their kids to be honest including not taking tokens they haven’t earned.  As a quick refresher, once enough Good Time has been earned and each of the light segments is glowing, Goodtimer will perform a celebration and tell your child they have earned a token.  Also the center button on the front of Goodtimer will glow indicating your child has earned a token.  At any time when this center button is glowing your child can press it and Goodtimer will tell them they can take a token. It’s true that tokens can be removed from the Goodtimer dispenser at any time even if they haven’t been earned by your child and some children, (especially little ones) may try to take tokens that they haven’t earned.  For this reason, many parents have made “being honest” part of their house rules and use Goodtimer to encourage their kids to tell the truth and learn not to take tokens they haven’t earned.  To discourage kids from taking tokens they haven’t earned we recommend that your family make one of your family’s rules about honesty.  This typically provides enough incentive for your child to wait.  Also, when you first get started, knowing how many tokens are loaded into Goodtimer to begin with, and how often they can be earned (2-3 a day depending on the level setting) makes it pretty easy to double check that only earned tokens are being claimed by your child. Also, some families have told us that they use the token dispenser to store tokens their child has earned and keep the token in a bowl or jar out of their reach.  If the parents keep the supply of tokens, when a token is earned the child pushes the nose button and the parent gives them a token, and the child places it into the dispenser to save until then exchange them for incentives on the token list. Here at Goodtimer, we support families using Goodtimer in a way that best works for them.

Goodtimer was designed to go with your family, wherever the day may take you. Since Good Time is normally activated and deactivated by flipping Goodtimer over, we don’t want your child to miss out on Good Time just because their Goodtimer is bouncing around in a bag or the backseat of the family vehicle. So, Travel Mode turns off the “flip” sensor and uses a touch activated metal contact ring around the speaker instead. Touching the contact ring will toggle Good Time on and off.

We believe that every family should create house rules that are consistent with their individual values. However, we’re often asked for suggestions for house rules by families who are new to Goodtimer. Here are a few ideas we hope will inspire you to create house rules that work for your family: For young children, it’s best to keep things simple and start out with just a few (3-5) house rules.

• Be kind and gentle
  
• Use your words
  
• Inside voices
  
• Be a first time listener
  
• Make healthy choices (this can apply to picky eaters and kids who struggle with bath time and brushing teeth)
  

For school-age kids your rules can evolve as they are ready to take on more responsibility:

• Patience is waiting without complaining
  
• Get yourself ready for school on time
  
• Get yourself ready for bed on time
  
• Keep your room clean and tidy
  
• Contribute to the family before exchanging tokens
  

We recommend your house rules be phrased as "do" statements rather than “don’t” statements. For example: “Use your words” is recommended over “no hitting” because it puts the emphasis on the desired behavior. Make sure everyone in the family understands what is expected of them and display the list of rules where everyone can see it. If your children are too young to read you can include simple pictures to help them remember. Setting clear expectations is the first step to forming good habits that last. For more information about creating your house rules, check out this article or contact us at hello@gogoodtimer.com.

Levels change the amount of Good Time needed to earn a token. Goodtimer has 10 difficulty levels, allowing it to work for kids of different ages. When set to Level 1, a segment lights up every 40 minutes, so your child would earn one token every 8 hours of good time, for a maximum of 3 tokens a day. On Level 10, segments light up every 60 minutes, taking 12 hours to fully light up and earn a token, giving them a max of 2 tokens a day. Knowing this, you can set appropriate token values for the available rewards your child can earn.

Turning Goodtimer over simply pauses the timer, it does not reset it. This way, children retain the credit they have earned by being good and following family rules, even when they are temporarily off of Good Time. Once their behavior improves and Goodtimer is flipped back right-side up, the timer picks right back up where it was. In this way, Goodtimer is consistently reinforcing the positive rewards of being good. However, there is a recessed, reset button on the bottom of the device, if you ever need to set the timer back to zero.

Goodtimer comes charged, so there should be no need to wait to start using it. How long the battery lasts between charging depends on how bright the light is set to. On the highest, brightest setting, Goodtimer will keep working for about 2 days, roughly 50 hours before needing to be plugged in again. On the lowest setting, a single charge can last 4 days, or about 100 hours. That said, we do recommend getting in the habit of regularly plugging your Goodtimer in so it always stays charged and ready to go.

Goodtimer comes charged so that your child can start earning Good Time right away. And though the battery will last for 2-4 days between chargings, depending on how bright the light is set to, we do recommend plugging it in regularly to make sure that it is always ready to go with your family whenever and wherever your day may take you.

Goodtimer has a built-in, rechargeable battery, and comes with its own ac adapter. While we do recommend getting in the habit of charging it regularly, it can last between 2-4 days per charge, depending on the brightness setting of the lights.

We encourage your child to name their Goodtimer, to make it their own, so we include different colored stickers that have room to write a name. This is especially important for families with multiple children, so you can easily tell their Goodtimers apart. Pick a color, pick a name, have a good time with it!

Goodtimer tokens come with a value of one each. But we want to give families the most flexibility in customizing their Goodtimer experience, so we include stickers that can be applied to boost the value of some tokens. Children can either earn higher value tokens or trade in lower value tokens for a higher value one, helping them to learn that five 1 tokens equals one 5 token, etc. But ultimately, how your family decides to use Goodtimer and the tokens is 100% up to your family.

We recommend that Goodtimer remain on as long as your child is making good choices and following your house rules as defined by your family. When reading the Goodtimer Children's book, you may have seen the worksheet after page 21 where you define your "house rules." If you haven't done this already, we encourage you to work on your house rules as a family and make sure everyone understands them. If, for example, your house rules include going to bed on time and staying in bed through the night, and your child is doing this, we recommend leaving Goodtimer on through the night. Your child will continue to earn Good Time through the night and may even be excited to see that they earned a token in the morning. If Goodtimer stays by their bedside at night, it can serve as a nightlight. However, you may want to adjust the brightness by touching the metal contact ring on the top to a level that is comfortable for your child. You may also want to use the left button on the front of Goodtimer to lower the volume to the lowest setting or to mute it so that Goodtimer's voice doesn't disturb them while they sleep.

Goodtimer was created to make it easier to track and reward a child for behaving according to their family’s rules. Positive parenting techniques typically avoid using punishments, instead focusing on praising and rewarding positive behavior. But ultimately, how your family decides to use Goodtimer and the tokens is 100% up to your family.

Although positive reinforcement is generally a recommended practice for improving behavior, the overuse of rewards can result in entitlement issues or a "what's in it for me attitude". Specifically, if children are rewarded for each good choice they make, they begin to expect a reward for every good deed they do. Goodtimer was carefully developed to address this phenomenon by incorporating a positive reinforcement approach that does not directly reward specific behaviors. Instead, Goodtimer tokens are earned when children consistently adhere to established house rules over an extended period of time (for example a 24-hour period). In this way, children are encouraged to make good choices without constantly receiving a reward for these desired behaviors. Also, families are encouraged to establish a token incentive system such that the child can exchange their tokens for reasonable privileges; not extravagant prizes. In this way, children learn to make good choices because it’s fun and the right thing to do, not so they'll get a big reward

If we haven’t answered all of your questions here, please check the Facebook Goodtimer Village (www.facebook.com/groups/goodtimervillage/) or email the Goodtimer Customer Experience Team at hello@gogoodtimer.com so we may answer your questions directly.

You can find the Goodtimer return and refund policy here: Goodtimer Return and Refund Policy

The Goodtimer shipping policy can be found here: Goodtimer Shipping Policy

At this time, we only ship to the USA and Canada through our website, however you may purchase Goodtimer from the Goodtimer Amazon storefront where international shipping is available: https://www.amazon.com/goodtimer.