Do you do something special for your high schooler when they get straight As?

[Anonymous]

I say, “Yay, buddy!! Awesome job!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About a third of high school kids get straight As now.

The distinction comes down to 97+ vs. 91. GPAs account for this.

How would a GPA account for that? A 93% and a 100% are both As and have a 4.0 weight. No one knows the exact percentage in a class anyone had except them. It isn’t on a transcript

[Anonymous]

Only do something if they get an A in something they normally struggle with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say, “Yay, buddy!! Awesome job!”

This. I never paid for good grades. I paid 100% for undergrad. And I took them on a very trip after.

[Anonymous]

Nope. We meet our kids where they are. Rewarding them if they can’t is demeaning. Think of all the outside the box situations that don’t equate to all As

Or a school that gives As to everyone, then they find out that’s a farce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. We meet our kids where they are. Rewarding them if they can’t is demeaning. Think of all the outside the box situations that don’t equate to all As

Or a school that gives As to everyone, then they find out that’s a farce.

I get this. But if you know your child is capable of an A with putting in some effort, but they are losing steam toward the end of the yr, sometimes knowing they get money or something else they’ve been wanting gives them that little extra push to stay motivated until the end

[Anonymous]

No, I expect straight As, even from my kid who is twice exceptional (high IQ but severe ADHD and learning disabilities). However, I praise effort consistently and we get their favorite take-out when they perform in recitals, finish AP exams, and similarly stressful periods. They get time to relax during the summer, which is the biggest reward of all, to be honest.

- parent of college kid and high schooler.

[Anonymous]

No, just as I don't pay them to do their chores. I expect them to get good grades.

[Anonymous]

We are surprising DD with a nice dinner out after she got As and A+s all year. I think it’s important to recognize the achievement . You never know how hard it may have been for your kid to get all A’s even though 25-30% of the class gets A’s nowadays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I take them to Krispy Kreme.

..:and I think they give the kids a donut for each A

[Anonymous]

No, we have never done this. We reward for an unusual amount of effort instead of for grades.

At my daughter's previous school, a huge number of kids got straight A's and she and all of her friends always received straight A's. The threshold for getting an A was just being responsible, turning in your work, putting in a minimum amount of effort etc. which we were proud of her for doing, but this is sort of an expectation in our family and not something out of the ordinary. She never really had to work really hard or overcome any challenges.

She moved to a different school that is much more challenging in general, and how difficult a class is can vary from teacher to teacher. Few students get straight A's. Some teachers are really expecting difficult and college level work, including sophisticated writing, while other teachers are more relaxed. Instead of rewarding for grades, we reward and praise her for the effort she puts in instead of for the grades themselves. Like if she had an especially difficult project that she struggled through, or an especially hard exam, we might take her out to celebrate and to say we are proud of her for the hard work. We would do this both for semesters when she gets straight A's and semesters when she does not.

[Anonymous]

I let my DD go out to brunch with her friends for straight As

[Anonymous]

I say "Great job!".

If it's not straight As I also say "Great job!" though.

I cant bring myself to care that much about a B vs an A.

[Anonymous]

Much better to reward effort rather than achievement. Money should not be used as a reward.

[Anonymous]

DS (rising senior) was talking about tickets for a concert a few days after school was out. We told him to purchase tickets/good seats (within reason) and invite a friend. They had a great time and we thought it was well-deserved after a tough academic year and all As.