Reward System in Preschool

Question:

I would like some feedback regarding the following situation:

My oldest daughter just turned 3 and is in a preschool program 2 days a week for 3 hours a day. There is a teacher and assistant for 12 children. The teacher is very young and this is her second year teaching children of this age group. The assistant is much older and has grown children of her own.

My present concern is regarding a newly instituted reward system. With only 2 1/2 months of school left in this school year the teacher began a reward system that she said would help to get the children to better use their “good listening” skills. Sounds like a last ditch act of desperation to me but then again I am already somewhat biased against “quid pro quo” types of discipline.

The system works like this: There are 5 major areas or tasks to be performed each day. The child earns one sticker per completion of each task. The stickers are placed on a reward chart and accumulation of 5 stickers on any given day earns them a plastic toy from a “treasure chest” at the end of that day.

I have a problem with tangible rewards to begin with but the fact that they began this at this time of the year leads me to believe they do not have adequate control over their classroom. The stickers are for walking in a straight line, cleaning up after crafts, snacks, being gentle, sitting in circle time and “using good listening skills” etc. There is only a reward at the end of the day for earning 5 out of 5 stickers.