Kids who are rewarded for good grades--especially with any form of money--will quickly learn that all that has any value is money, and not much else. I think it is important to ask yourself if this is, in fact the message you want to communicate to your child.

By giving value only to the outcome (the grade achieved), and no value to the process by which the outcome was achieved you miss the very important opportunity to help your child learn how to learn and how to work hard--both critical life skills. By paying your child for grades you don't ever ask: did you work hard? Did you plan well? Did you work cooperatively with others? Are you reading a more challenging book (or in a more difficult class) that might make it harder to get an A, but is better use of brain power?

The message you give your child by paying for grades is that you care about the outcome and not the process by which the outcome is achieved. This is a slippery slope in the world of parenting because kids need to be valued for who they are, NOT for their achievements. In fact we can take this a step further, kids need to be valued by their parents for who they are on the inside,  not by what they 'look like' on the outside (grades, clothing, size/shape, popularity). In addition, it is difficult to quantify the value of a grade--one child may work very hard for a "B" and another in the same family may easily achieve an "A", so how would you monetarily reward these achievements...it can cause sibling rivalry, jealousy and resentment.

For all these reasons, I'd strongly caution you to steer away from motivating with money.
Good Wishes and Great Parenting,
Dr Susan Bartell
JustAsk Expert
www.drsusanbartell.com
Twitter @drsusanbartell
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