Reward charts are built on a theory of behavior that works beautifully in a lab and mostly falls apart in a Tuesday afternoon kitchen. The theory is that if we make the right behavior pay — a sticker, a privilege, a screen — kids will do more of it.
The part the theory glosses over is that most of the behavior we’re trying to change isn’t a choice in the first place. A child who forgets their backpack didn’t choose to forget it. A child who melts down at homework isn’t weighing whether it’s worth the sticker. Reward charts work, when they work, on the behaviors you could already get by just asking clearly.