Tips to Keeping Your Children Motivated to Make Good Grades

My children love to bring home an "A." It gives them an opportunity to puff out their chest and be truly proud of hard work. It's an accomplishment that stays with them too. The more "A's" they make, the higher their self esteem, and the more likely they are to achieve the goals they set out to accomplish.

Getting them to a point where they brought good grades home, however, was not an easy thing to master. It's not any fun to sit and study when the video game system is sitting there, staring at them, calling their name. The hard truth is that very few people, even adults, enjoy doing what it takes to maintain a good score in school. It's hard work and commitment. When you add to that responsibilities like chores around the house, or extra-curricular activities it becomes even more of a hassle to sit my children down and have them study. What I've discovered, however, is that if I offer them motivation, then they do much better.

One of my children's favorite forms of motivation is money. Who doesn't like to receive money? After all it's money that we are after when we strive harder at work. That raise is a nice token of appreciation for our hard work. It's also a great motivational tool for our children to study.

We offer our children five dollars for every "A" they bring home on their report card. No other grades receive a monetary reward, because we know that they are capable of "A's." To take it a step further, we offer $50 for a straight "A" report card. That's $20.00 more money than if we just gave them $5.00 for every "A."

Of course, the opposite of reward is punishment. Punishment is motivation too. A "B" grade gets nothing, a "C" grade gets extra chores, a "D" gets added chores and a week of grounding, and an "F" gets both of those and the inability to participate in any extra curricular activities such as basketball or art lessons. Of course, there is more involved when bad grades come into question. As parents we care about our children's futures. If an intelligent child is bringing home bad grades, there is a reason, and sometimes it sincerely isn't the child's fault. He may not understand the material, or he may legitimately have a bad teacher. The school itself may be the problem. Sometimes, even, a medical condition is the cause: things like poor eyesight, depression, dyslexia. If a child brings home a bad grade, you have to look at why... all the possibilities, zone in, and fix the problem.

However, if the problem is truly just not doing her work at home, not paying attention in class, or disinterest, then motivation usually does the trick.

Sometimes we get creative with our motivation. Sometimes money isn't enough. There are those times when a certain test is particularly hard to study for, or a subject in Math is especially difficult to comprehend. When good grades, or at least, acceptable grades are made because of extra effort, then I believe a child deserves an extra special reward. A trip to the store for a new game, a special trip to a favorite location like the zoo, or a dinner at your child's favorite restaurant are all excellent rewards.

When you get to the end of the year, and your child has done well, even a really special treat may be called into play: space camp, a phone, a special vacation, even a break from an especially hated chore.

These motivations work very well for my children. They know what to expect no matter the grade, and it propels them do their best. That's all we, as parents, can really ask.