My favorite topic but I’m late to the party.
Lots of good thoughts in there.
I have no issues with the idea of paying for grades, but I’m not sure it is going to work.
If you have a kid who has been given allowance his whole life and makes his own decisions about money and understands the value of money (i.e. he isn’t coming to mom and dad every time he needs something), then it might work, but I’d be surprised if such a kid had trouble with grades anyway.
If you have a kid who isn’t used to handling his own money and he has to ask his parents to buy them things, then the pay-for-grades concept isn’t going to work because they will have no clue what $1000 means.
I say give him a chance to succeed on his own first, without the incentive. If he is struggling, try to understand why and react accordingly. I think it is better for him to get self-motivated A’s and B’s than cash-motivated A’s only.
I’d suggest not paying for grades the first year. See how the grades are to start with. Maybe he’ll be a scholastic star and you will have more concerns about his social skills. In that case, Temecula’s idea of giving rewards that are based on socializing is especially good.
For the first year of HS, avoid buying stuff other than food and basic clothes for him, give an allowance based on housework and see what he spends the money on. Once you give your kids the freedom to buy stuff with their own money, you learn quickly what they love (maybe ant farms ?) and then you either can use those things as incentive, or additional money.
Commincation by you to understand what motivates him is the key. Sounds like you don’t really know, which is OK, but taking time to find out will serve you better than assuming cash will do the trick.
