by Todd Hicks

Created on: June 17, 2009   Last Updated: October 28, 2010

Are you a parent of elementary school students? If so, are you wondering whether it is a smart idea to pay them a cash reward for doing an outstanding job in school? There are times when it is useful to do so. You will learn when it is a good practice to reward your elementary school children's scholastic success with cash rewards.

Focus on how well they are doing right now

One method you can use to determine whether you should pay them to get wonderful grades is to look at how they are currently doing. If they are already receiving high grades, it would probably not be a good idea to introduce the possibility of getting money because you would risk causing them to no longer see that getting good grades naturally has its own reward.

Consider how they earn Money already

Before you decide to pay them to get good grades, concentrate on how they are earning their money at this time. Are they receiving an allowance? Are they mowing lawns, raking leaves or shoveling snow to earn payments? If you answered either question affirmatively, it would be wise to not offer pay for good grades because they need to learn that they cannot expect to be paid for everything they do.

Concentrate on what it takes to motivate them

Think about how hard they work on their studies now. Do they seem to lack motivation to study hard and effectively? Have you punished them or taken away their privileges for doing poorly at school to no avail? If applying punitive measures has not worked and they lack motivation to excel, tell them you will pay them money if they turn things around.

Teaching them Monetary Lessons

Have you been exploring the opportunity to demonstrate to them the value of earning money for accomplishing something? If so, it would be a good idea to offer pay for excellent grades. Encourage them to put some of that money into the bank and use the rest to buy something they really want as a reward for their success.

Offer Pay as a Last Resort

The best thing to do is teach them how to study and help them see that getting good grades is in one's best interests. However, if you have tried everything you can think of, consider paying them to excel. I flunked the fifth grade and was promoted to the sixth grade the second time around because I was getting "old". As a sixth grader, I received ten dollars for every A.

Use these guidelines to determine whether you should pay your kids to get good grades!

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