Rewarding your child

[Patrick]

What do you think about rewarding your child for good grades? If you would reward your child, how would you do so?

[Patrick]

When I was a child, I used to get $50 for every Straight A report card that I brought home. I must admit though that it wasn't the reward the really motivated me. It was the consequences of making bad grades that motivated me to study hard and excel in school.

My fiancee was paid a certain amount of money for each letter grade she earned. For example, I believe she received $10 for every A and $5 for every B. She received nothing for C's, D's, and F's.

I've heard different opinions about rewarding your child for making good grades. Some say it's teaching the value of hard work, while others say it's bribing your child into making the grade.

What are your thoughts?

[Keith]

I have never rewarded my children monetarily when it came to good grades. Fortunately, both of my kids make excellent grades, so I never had to worry about how they were doing in school.

Usually when the report cards came out, they were so proud of their grades that they were excited to show us. Normally, to reward them, we would take both of them out to which ever restaurant they wanted to go to. Then, we would let them know how proud we were of them. That alone made them happy and satisfied them. Don't worry, though. My mom and dad still give them money for good grades, but the amount differs each time.

When I was growing up, I hated to show my report card. My sister(one year older) made straight A's all through school, and I made B's and C's . Needless to say, if I ever got rewarded, I sure don't remember it. During the time I was growing up, money was hard to come by, so our rewards weren't ever monetary.

[Midtowner]

As a very young child, my parents filled up a bag full of crappy little toys and I got to blindly choose one when I had a good day at school (that's 1st grade and into 2nd). After that, I was paid for good grades. Something on the order of what Patrick's fiancée received.

[SoundMind]

Giving your children prizes for making good grades gives them the wrong idea. They start believing that they're only making good grades to earn the prize, not to become something in life. But, to each his own. I can see it both ways.

[mistipetal]

I was paid for my grades when I was in grade school. Honestly, my ego was what kept my grades up, not so much the money (but I did really like the money, don't get me wrong). I don't give my daughter money for her grades, but we celebrate with lots of praise and then doing something fun. Dinner and a movie or something like that. I think pride in themselves does it more than money. My daugher wants the trophy at the end of the year for being top 5 in class and that's what I remind her with usually.

[Midtowner]

Giving your children prizes for making good grades gives them the wrong idea. They start believing that they're only making good grades to earn the prize, not to become something in life. But, to each his own. I can see it both ways.

I got them mainly for good behavior. See, I was (still am) a wonderful candidate for the poster child for ADHD.

[rxis]

I got nothing for good grades and hardly got punished for bad grades. My mom would get upset but not say much about it because my dad didn't think the grade system was overrated. He figured I was smart enough to show initiative when I was ready and he was right. I guess it just depends on the individual situation.
My parents also knew I was being harrassed a lot at school so thats another reason they backed off and let me figure things out on my own. There were good and bad consequences of doing that.

I just hope my own daughter will know what is expected of herself.
I agree with Mistipetal that pride will bring forth more excellence.

[Midtowner]

Grades are highly overrated though, at least from an education standpoint. I can see where they may be important in early childhood, but beyond that, as long as the kid is confident that they are smart and capable, I think they're good to go.

Take me.. I've never had above a 3.0 cumulative average.. Just got into law school

Didn't get an academic scholarship in college, but did get a scholarship to play the violin.

Didn't get into law school with my grades.. that'd never happen I got in because I was VERY involved in student government, my fraternity, orchestra, various professional and civic organizations, etc. They say it like it's a fad or something, but it's really true. These schools want well rounded people.. So yeah, encourage your kid to get good grades, but don't get too hung up on it. Make sure they are able to really develop whatever they are interested in into something great for themselves -- that's far more important.

[mranderson]

My classmates got rewards for good grades. All I got was a "that's nice" while my dad had his head buried in the Wall Street Journal.

If I had kids. Yes. I would reward them for good grades... And for good deeds.