Ahhh…it’s that time of the year. Homework. Class work. Grades.
What is your family’s philosophy on making good grades? Should a child be rewarded for this?
I can’t help but feel a little sorry for my daughter who is in 10th grade this year. She is following in the footsteps of her older brother who had a well-known reputation for his schoolwork…he never turned it in. Or if he did, it was very last minute.
Smart as a whip, he never once studied for a test or exam but always got A’s and B’s. However his grades would reflect his failure to turn in class work or homework.
Teachers are already assuming she is going to be like him. So she will just have to prove them wrong.
I tried so many incentives when he was in school. I remember in middle school we bribed him with a $100 Lego set. Yes, that was quite extreme. But we were frustrated and didn’t know what else to do.
Guess what? He managed to pull the grade we were looking for and we dished out the money.
The next semester his grades went back down. But I wasn’t about to shell out any more money to reward him with expensive items.
I have done different things throughout the years my children have been in school. When they were in elementary school, they would receive money for every A or B they got. But then I started thinking that wasn’t really teaching them anything.
I felt like they needed to understand the importance of getting good grades (or at least giving their best) for the sheer fact it would impact their future. Suddenly it seemed wrong to reward for something that should be done anyway.
Parents have differing opinions when it comes to rewarding kids for good grades, especially with money. Some believe that it’s similar to a job. You work and get paid. Children work and so they should get paid.
But remember, that once you start a rewarding system like this, you will be expected to continue it. My kids were horrified when I stopped giving them money for grades.
You should also ask yourself, what is it you are looking to change in your child? Motivation is something we can tease with a carrot but it really has to come from within.
Maybe instead of rewarding for good grades, we should be punishing for bad grades. What about taking away privileges?
Where do you stand on this issue?
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