A mid the countless school cliques and clubs, most students belong to one of two groups: report card lovers and report card loathers.
Report card lovers view grades as a pat on the back, a tangible sign that their hard work is paying off. Report card loathers view grades as a slap in the face, a tangible sign that their academic struggles are being recorded for all eternity.
Some parents, on a quest to turn loathers into lovers (or ensure that lovers remain so), pay their kids for earning good grades. Makes sense -- reward systems are ingrained in our culture from potty training all the way up to annual bonuses. But is cash the best way to cultivate learning?
Maybe not, say Jack Jonathan and Sam Goller, co-authors of "Yes, You Can ... Raise Financially Aware Kids" (Stowers Innovations, $19.95).
Jonathan and Goller say children should be taught that earning good grades is an investment in their future, not a way to earn money.
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But how do you get that message across to live-in-the-moment, marketed-up-to-their-eyeballs kids? First, you define your expectations.
"It's an issue of rewarding a child for doing what's expected of that child, versus rewarding a child for something outside of your expectations," Goller says. "A child's responsibility is to go to school, to study, to get good grades."
So while shoveling the driveway might earn a few bucks, an A in algebra would not.
Goller, who has two kids, explains his family's approach: "They do the best they can on their end of the deal, which is to bring home good grades, excel where they can excel, accept that they're not going to be perfect at everything," he says. "And the reward is that Mom and Dad are proud of them and respect what they're accomplishing."
To frame this in a way his 10-year-old daughter can appreciate, Goller equates good grades with power.
"Kids want the feeling of making their own decisions," he says. "We emphasize that's one way she can make her own decisions about her future and maintain control of her life. Getting good grades will open doors to schools she wants to attend or careers she wants to pursue."
That doesn't mean the A in algebra should go unnoticed, though, which is where Step 2 comes in: Define your rewards.
"It's OK to acknowledge a job well done," Goller says. "But you want to make it a reward that will have value far beyond cash value. Something that supports your family's values -- spending time together, maybe a trip to the zoo."
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Jonathan suggests a system where you dole out a token for a job well done. When the child has collected enough tokens, he or she can use them toward a purchase or activity. This may sound a lot like paying for good grades, but Jonathan says it actually encourages saving and delayed gratification.
"Then the reward itself will have lasting value to the child," Jonathan says.
HEIDI STEVENS writes for the Chicago Tribune and is the mother of a toddler. Reach her at hstevens@tribune.com .
