Rewarding children for good marks (money and gadgets). Good or Bad idea?
November 27, 2020
Is it a good idea to reward your child with gadgets and money for getting good marks?
Generally, rewards or fun incentives for good behavior in children can encourage and promote that same good behavior to carry on in future, for example letting them have a sweet treat after finishing their meal which was filled with fresh vegetables. The downside is that this might lead to expectations whereby a child expects/demands to be given a sweet treat after every single meal. The question we want to explore is, can the same method be applied to grades?
There are inexpensive positive reinforcements that parents can use to promote good behavior in children especially from a young age such as clapping/cheering, giving hugs and high fives, but in reality, as kids grow older their wants and needs grow right alongside them. Children go from wanting ice cream as a reward one day, pizza on the next, and suddenly they’ll be asking for money or gadgets in exchange for working hard in school for getting A’s and B’s.
Although many parents may oppose this, research has shown that paying kids for good grades often DOES improve them. It can be a strong sense of motivation for learners to know that at the end of the term they’ll receive P100 for every A on their report card. However, the same article states that this can go either way and quotes Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards, saying “the bigger the reward, the more damage it does’ by encouraging students to focus on the goodies, not the learning. ‘The more you use cell phones, T-shirts, money or whatever, the more you undermine motivation for becoming engaged and prolific learners”.
Now here’s the twist that parents can apply, instead of giving them hard cash, let your child open their own savings account. A lot of children, especially around the preadolescent age and up, will find this fascinating as it will give them a sense of being responsible and that they’re maturing into young adults. Alternatively, parents can instill the spirit of giving in their children at this young age, by asking them to donate to the less fortunate or a charity or their choice.
Overall, this can still be a good idea because when the student gets paid by their parents, it presents another opportunity for the parent to teach them how to spend money – financial literacy.
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Every Student learns differently! Think about it like this; In the real world, we customize our coffee orders, hairstyles, our music playlists, and occasionally take our own clothes to the tailor to get a perfect fit in line with our our tastes. All this is done to provide the best customer service as well as for the customer to cherish it. So, why should our children’s educational journeys be treated differently? From time immemorial until now, the education system has evolved drastically from the former traditional teaching where the teacher was ‘ Mr. I know it All , where learners were just like passive passengers on an intellectual train to the current modern approach known as Personalized Learning. When put together, Personalized Learning’ means teachers provide targeted learning towards each student’s unique learning needs, interests, learning styles and modify their experiences. Personalized Learning ensures every lesson is resourceful, relevant and engaging with all students, which helps them grasp concepts taught more effectively leaving them with a touch of confidence in themselves. How Do Personalized Learning Approaches Support Different Learning Styles and Learner Progress? As educators at Gaborone International School, we understand that learning how our learners process information is not just beneficial to them, but it is a crucial part of our work to become excellent at our jobs and in ensuring every student succeeds in their academic journey. At GIS, we adopt these fou r famous and common learning styles for our learners: 1. Visual Learners These are learners who understand and remember things best when they see them. Thus, as teachers at GIS, we make use of PowerPoint Presentations, use information in diagrammatic form, images/pictures and videos while teaching our students. Our growing innovative techniques with digital equipment; for example, making use of projectors and iPads with learners has proven very helpful to these specific learners. 2. Auditory Learners : These learn best by hearing information and they remember spoken words. For these students, we make use of assigning group tasks to certain subtopics in a topic/question and once a set time is over, we push for students to teach it /explain it to the whole class (peer teaching). Additionally, rather than the teacher delivering all the information, learners are given a chance to collaborate with each other, and this makes them retain concepts taught easily. 3. Kinesthetic Learners: These learners enjoy hands-on activities, they learn quicker by doing & moving or changing seating positions. DIY Ferris Wheels by Std 3 Learners during a Robotics lesson As teachers, we try to make this possible as they engage in different specialist subjects. For example, However, we can make these learners get involved as we take them to the labs, Music, Art, PE and making use of buildings blocks/models. This way, learners can 10 channel their energy productively without disrupting their concentration span. 4. Reading /Writing Learners: These are learners who understand better when they read and write things down. This one is a classic traditional style where students write notes during class, read out loud what is on the board, and they love reading articles. In the Lower Primary school, particularly Standard 1 to 3, our Guided Readers program takes care of such learners. By adding all these techniques to how we teach learners, it has helped us to answer a lot of questions our parents had and remove anxieties as they drop off their children at school each day. This makes them confident that their children are treated as individuals with unique talents and goals and are given room to thrive in a system that values them more and allows self-advocacy and the best to come out of them.
A message from the Deputy Principal: Hillary Siandula
It is the outcome of a carefully designed ecosystem that supports learners every day.
