Giving Money for Grades????????

We do pay for good grades. In my opinion, for what it is worth, school IS their JOB and we are payed for doing a job well. We pay for A's, B's and C's but the C only earns 2.00. We have one in 8th grade, one in 1st and one in K. The 8th grader gets money and because the other 2 don't get letter grades they get a special toy(not expensive) for doing well.

I agree with Mi R. I don't like the idea of offering money as a reward for good grades. My parents expected good grades from me, and I expect good grades (or at least a good effort) from my children. I want my kids to be motivated by a sense of pride and accomplishment -- not by money.

Talk about wrecking the intrinsic value of learning!

Not everyone will agree with this, but I think paying for good grades gives the wrong message. Students should be expected to do well in school, not look for some extrinsic or material reward. The focus now becomes the 'grade' not necessarily the learning process, the studying, the joy of the subject or content area and turns into "what can I get if I do whatever I have to do to succeed?".

I have not nor would I ever pay my student for good grades.

Oh another controversy. This is my opinion...
A) Can you afford to give EACH of your three boys money for thier grades? If you reward the oldest two you need to do the same for the youngest (if in school).
B) Do they need an insentive to get a good grade? Our oldest just started living with us and going to school, I have tried paying for grades in the past, but it didn't work for various reasons.
I expect good grades and there is punishment for poor grades. I don't find a D acceptable in any way. Our oldest has 2Cs and at conferences on Thursday we are going to talk to his teacher about avoiding a D with some extra help either from her or a tutor. I can tell by his homework and grades that his Science grade is slipping and will soon be a D and then a F and we are going to do everything possible to avoid it. Hope that helps some Best of Luck!

I praise my kids when I know they are doing their best, even if they are getting D's.
I was a straight A student in high school but I never put forth much effort. it would not have been fair to reward mefor those grades. My parents did not.
It's all relative. IMHO if your kids are doing well due to effort, you should reward them. If money is the reward of choice (it isn't for my family), call it a bonus for working hard, not paying for grades. That way they don't expect it, and it is tied to effort rather than ability.

As an aside, I think those "perfect attendance" awards are stupid. Parents send their children to school sick, make my kids sick, and then mine miss days because I won't send them to school sick.

I think giving money for grades is GREAT! I told my first grader that she starts out with $5.00. For every grade that is NOT an A, she gets a dollar taken away. I think it's a great way to make it easy. Maybe for yours, you could tell them they start with $20.00, and every grade that isn't an A gets 3 dollars taken away. I think it's less confusing than saying A gets this, B gets this, plus, I don't want my kids to be rewarded for B's and C's, I'd rather them want the A's so they get to keep all their money!!

I used to be opposed to "rewarding" money for good grades...but what the hec?

Two in HS get $5 for every "A" and $1 for every "B".

Two in Elem. get $1 for every "A" and $50 cents for every "B"

I am sure there will be plenty of people to disagree with me. Just go with your gut.

Good Luck

When I was a child my parents always gave me and my brothers money for our grades. We got the most for a's, then b's and so on. I have done the same thing with Katie. Just go according to what you can afford. That's what worked for me.

I am a Mom of 5 and over the years we have given money for grades. But in saying that the are things you as a parent should think about. Number one is what can you afford to give them. It's not good to give then have to take it back at the end of the week to buy food or pay bills. Next talk to them about saving and teach then not to just run out and spend their money on junk. Giving money for grades can help them to work harder if they have a bigger goal in mind.
If you don't have a lot of extra funds maybe they could work toward a family outing.
Good Luck
Madi

I agree with Linda, reward for good effort. I went to cleveland public school and got really good grades and my dad gave me money for it, but i didnt have to work hard to earn it. You got a lot of good advice here. Go with it.

We do pay for good grades! They are in junior high now. When they were in grade school we used other rewards such as a new book, a trip to the museums, etc, but now it is how they get their spending money LOL. They know if they get good grades, they get X amount of money, this is their spending money for going to the movies, school games/dances,etc. They do get an allowance for housework, but this is some extra they can earn for doing well in school. I see it as a "merit" raise like we get at work...do well, earn more, do bad, don't get anything.

I totally agree with rewarding good grades or effort or improvement. that being said we normally do a fun activity as a family, dinner and a movie, a little trip, whatever just to show them that we know they are working ahrd and that we appreciate the effort. school is hard work.

whatever you decide to do keep a few things in mind

did the grades go up or down
what are the teachers comments
how much time did the kids spend on work at home

some kids just do well with little or no effort, other kids struggle for a D. but paying attention to the things i mentioned will help you actually gage their progress and reward them for that.