I guess if you get a B or a C you have to skip the weekend trip to the Hamptons or something?
http://nypost.com/2015/10/24/kids-are-getting-louboutins-cars-and-spa-getaways-just-for-good-grades/
Same song, different verse. Everyone works for rewards at some level. Some rewards are internal, some external, and some higher priced than others.
I think it is a bad idea and does not work(most of the time)
I’ve bribed with grade money. It didn’t work.
My kids never responded to any kind of bribes.
There’s a lot of research showing that incentive plans actually don’t work: http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/best-results-forget-bonus/
@conmama, but you werent offering a brand new CAR! We never bribed or punished for grades. We wanted our kids to love learning for the sake of learning–it worked! D taught herself German and was reading blogs in German, Dutch and other romance languages because it motivated her. She also became a history buff to read more about the Emperor Franz Joseph and Cici. Our kids were never particularly motivated about grades–S said he was surprised that he just eeked out graduating in EE with honors by falling above the 3.5 rather than just below it.
I’m glad our kids love learning and will research and learn about things that interest them. They will even comb for rare texts and online resources to learn more about whatever is of current interest to them. I don’t believe giving them cash or punishing them instills this type of love of learning.
Heavy sigh…
From the article:
My thoughts exactly!
The closest we came to rewarding for grades was: “Hey! Great report card! Let’s go out and celebrate! Where would you like to eat dinner?”
My relative bribed her 3 kids that they could get a dog IF all 3 of them got all As on their report card. They still are dog-less after all these years and likely to remain so. One of their kids did get elected JR class president and both of the 2 older kids did get into a number of good colleges tho. 
I never felt the need to bribe. I guess an occasional ‘are we passing?’ was good enough. They often held themselves to higher standards than I would have. One thing I did stress was take the hardest classes / most interesting classes and forget valedictorian. Ditto for college and grad school.
Bribes worked pretty good for us, though I don’t recall using them for grades. Worked great for my younger son’s SAT scores, he kept taking that sucker till he got the scores he needed. We got him a new laptop ( that we were going to get him for college anyways, heh heh)!
When D was in first grade, she got straight A’s, and to celebrate I took her to the mall and bought her two Spice Girl Dolls (Ginger and Scary) . When my son learned to poop on the potty, I bought him a Buzz Lightyear doll to celebrate. I guess that’s it.
We live in a reward system lifestyle. Salary raises, bonuses, etc.
I have not been motivated enough to try bribes. But I did finally get pushed to the point where a negative consequence finally worked. If my HS senior did not get a 3.3 unweighted for 1st sem of senior yr, he was going to not be allowed to go to a 4-year college. It worked! He got the best gpa of his 8 semesters of HS.
how about you keep a B average or you have to sleep on the porch!
Way back a decade ago, one of my kids’ friends suggested to kid that kid was “owed” a better car based on test scores and class rank. I reminded kid that I had already finished my education and that kids’ test profile and class rank was kid’s own reward. She got in to dream school while driving the old family tank.
I’m an example of negative reinforcement working. Back in college, I had a crappy 1st semester. Too much goofing off and sleeping through early morning classes. Folks told me I’d need to pay for anything lower than a B. I knew I was very fortunate to have my folks paying for college for me, so made some adjustments - including making sure there were no early morning classes on my schedule going forward. It was a necessary kick in the rear.
doschicos…early morning classes…should be banned by proclamation!
the only people who should be up that earlier are people working the night shift in the hospital, people working in a bakery(making the days fresh bread,cakes and pastries) I guess some police and firefighters/paramedics…that is it! the world should be on hold until 10 30am! (IMO)
My bff made so many “mistakes” and ended up with two happy, high producing, goal oriented, self sufficient kids. She didn’t reward with things as expensive as cars, but she figured, as jym said, “Everyone works for rewards at some level.” She figured the carrot was a strong motivator.
We did get a report card dog. But it wasn’t just about the letter grades, it had to do with the responsibility they showed.
We have always been up front with the kids about the rewards of academic success. They know that they will have more choices and better skills when they go to college if they put in the work now. Happily, they like to learn and are self-motivated to do well. We don’t expect perfection, just that they do their best. So far it’s working.