On the way home from school Jenna announced that her friend, Grace gets $10 for every “E” (which stands for Excellent) she gets on her report card. I thought that was a great idea, especially because I have been looking for a way to provide motivation and inspiration to the kids to work harder in school. I told them that we would start immediately with the report cards that had just been sent home and were currently unread, in the backpacks.
I ended up shelling out way more than I bargained for. NOT because my kids are such intellectual powerhouses (please). How was I to know they would get E’s in art, phys. ed., and library? I don’t want to say that those subjects don’t count, because I don’t want to send the message that artistic or athletic acheivement is any less valued in our family than intellectual acheivement.
My friend Maureen does it differently. If her kids report cards show improvement from one marking period to the next, the kids get $20 (each) to use at a family trip to Toys’ R Us. She likes this method because then the kids aren’t competing as to who got more E’s or VG’s, and it levels the playing field.
All I want to do is motivate my kids to work harder in school. What do other people do? Is it wrong to use money to motivate our kids?