I really need some advice on this one. I bet most people have very firm opinions about this one but I hope you'll read the details before you decide.
My nine year old son is a bit behind in reading and spelling. I decided to encourage him to read and write by offering him an 'At Home' financial opportunity . What the opportunity entails is him choosing to do practice work sheets at home any time he wants for pocket change. I write a cash value at the top of each paper (15 cents for an easy paper, 25 cents for a hard one, etc) and any time he wants he can do a work sheet. If he's done it correctly I pay him the money. I make him fix his mistakes.
We started this system today. He decided to do three worksheets, which took about an hour, and he made a total of 75 cents. At this rate, if he did three work sheets every other day, it'd take him a month just to make twelve bucks so I'm not exactly throwing money at him. He says he's going to wait until he has lots of money saved up and buy something good at a toy store.
I figure this system will do a few things; it will get him practicing reading and spelling more - which will hopefully make his school life easier, and he'll learn the value of a dollar. At his school the teachers reward children who do their school work properly by giving them special snacks and such. I figure my reward system is basically the same thing, only with pocket change instead of food.
The problem is I began to think that this could backfire because he might not be as motivated to do school work since he's not getting paid to do it like he is at home. So I made a deal that any time he brings home a paper with a 100% on it, I'll give him a nickel to add to the bank. So for example, if he brings home five A+ papers a day (which is rare) he'd make a quarter to add to his bank.
He's pretty happy with this system and has big plans to go to the toy store and I'm happy because he's motivated to practice reading and writing.
Do you think using money as a reward for school work is a bad idea?
I've never turned to a parenting forum before. I'm feeling unsure about this.
My nine year old son is a bit behind in reading and spelling. I decided to encourage him to read and write by offering him an 'At Home' financial opportunity . What the opportunity entails is him choosing to do practice work sheets at home any time he wants for pocket change. I write a cash value at the top of each paper (15 cents for an easy paper, 25 cents for a hard one, etc) and any time he wants he can do a work sheet. If he's done it correctly I pay him the money. I make him fix his mistakes.
We started this system today. He decided to do three worksheets, which took about an hour, and he made a total of 75 cents. At this rate, if he did three work sheets every other day, it'd take him a month just to make twelve bucks so I'm not exactly throwing money at him. He says he's going to wait until he has lots of money saved up and buy something good at a toy store.
I figure this system will do a few things; it will get him practicing reading and spelling more - which will hopefully make his school life easier, and he'll learn the value of a dollar. At his school the teachers reward children who do their school work properly by giving them special snacks and such. I figure my reward system is basically the same thing, only with pocket change instead of food.
The problem is I began to think that this could backfire because he might not be as motivated to do school work since he's not getting paid to do it like he is at home. So I made a deal that any time he brings home a paper with a 100% on it, I'll give him a nickel to add to the bank. So for example, if he brings home five A+ papers a day (which is rare) he'd make a quarter to add to his bank.
He's pretty happy with this system and has big plans to go to the toy store and I'm happy because he's motivated to practice reading and writing.
Do you think using money as a reward for school work is a bad idea?
I've never turned to a parenting forum before. I'm feeling unsure about this.