Pocket Money - Performance Related (PRPM)

HelenKA_2

Ours are 16, 12, 9 and 9 yrs.

All start regular pocket money by Direct Debit when they were/are 10, £2 a week.

Get cash machine card when 11 yrs. Small raise around 13 years. Change to monthly and another raise when 15 - she pays for her own phone and all gifts out of that, she gets £25. She's always broke but it's all we can manage - they all dance minimum of two lessons each and eldest is taking 4 classes.

Raised only when we can afford it and the children are expected to help around the house/do their best at school anyway.

The older two both got a gift after they started secondary for transferring so well and I hope we'll be able to do that for the younger two as well.

Vaila

We didnt get pocket money for chores,exam results etc as it was just what was expected.A lot of the time pocket money is used as a bribe rather than teaching children the value of money

celebrate

i don't agree with pocket money either, we have a chart system as well and it has been working fine but my kids have started abusing it a bit so we are taking a break from it.

my sister has a teenager and we had the same discussion recently-doesn't want her wearing make up to school etc but my comment to her was what if you don't like what she is buying with the money, once the money is hers will you place boundaries on what she can use the money on?

thank goodness mine are NOt teens yet

devildog

My two got a fiver a week and then once at secondary school they were rewarded for grades achieved each year(discussed with them first) and targets were set based on reports, previous year's results etc. Did this upto and including GCSEs but once they moved onto 6th Form they were studying through choice and therefore I didn't need to encourage them.

glewis

Thanks for all the comments :-) and making me smile and laugh on a Monday morning

I know it is a divided topic of money (bribery/reward) v's what is expected of the kids. I think that if they get money then we actually talk about it and discuss it, 6 year old will give it away along with sweets and is very generous, and 8 year old is very careful and has to be persuaded that it is good to enjoy money a little, so spending a little of sweets is good (He picked up on a 'News round' report about house prices and peoples children not being able to afford a house a few years ago!!) at one point he was saving for a house at 5yrs old!

I love the idea of a DD of £2 at 10 and increasing it.

I remember a friend when I was ~12 being very rude to his parents and demanding the pocket money and that was a start off with £1 and -10p for bad behaviour, and have found the kids respond to 'smiley/ticks' rather than 'sad/crosses' but think you need a balance. I don't want a sulk every time I tell me 8yr old off or address poor behavior.

I should sit with the kids and get them to help draw up a list of house rules or expectations on behaviour (guess adults go off to earn pennies is one of those :-( such is life) for both kids and adults. And maybe link that into a chart.

With the scout/cubs we have started a behaviour scheme 'it's good to be green' in that its a traffic light system, of green, yellow, red...
http://www.primaryteaching.co.uk/detail.php?productid=ST01707&proddesc=Good+to+be+Green+Starter+Pack&supercategory=Good+to+be+Green+Starter+Pack&branch=&wcategory=CAT00010&catdesc=Good+to+be+Green+Behaviour+Scheme
But this issue is that before with green, yellow, red cards that you hand out the kids got a real buzz from good behaviour that they didn't realize they were doing like 'being a good sport' and letting a young one go first.
I think this is a little like the marbles idea - but it is what ever works to get the kids behaviour up.

Interesting thing about PRPM (Perf related Pocket £) is that linking it to the school stuff means that me as a dad is more involved and have to have finger on the pulse of what is happening.

I take the point of the kids have to be able to get 100% spelling, which at the moment they can, I was one of the kids that could never spell and still find it tough, my 8 year old is better at reading and spelling new workds than I am! Also like the idea that if they remember to ask for Pocket £ on sunday afternoon they can have it rather than when they remember they need money to buy something in the shop, 8 year old starts discussing spellings whilst out shopping and why he doesn't have his homework book at home to prove he has got all his spelling and that 1 maths test he did we but the other was very difficult and very few people got them all right. Up untill we started PRPM I didn't know they did a maths test let alone differnet types of maths test!

Thanks for all the comments :-) and making me smile and laugh on a Monday morning
Giles

kafkathecat

Rewards systems encourage people to only think about the things they are rewarded for and to only do what they are rewarded for, think waiting list times in hospitals. You are also encouraging an attitude of only doing things for payment not because there is a good reason to do it. There is a wonderful book called 'Punished by Rewards' by Alfie Kohn which shows from huge numbers of studies how damaging rewards actually are.
Saying that, at scouts you would have a limited time and children brought up with a multitude of attitudes so it makes more sense there.

barbiedoll

I'm all for encouraging kids to work hard at school but I don't really like the idea of monetary reward if they get all of their spellings/maths right. If one of your children is more academically gifted than the other, it can cause resentment later on. One of my friends really hated the fact that her brother (who is now a teacher) always got top grades and was given money for each exam that he passed. Whereas she is not at all academic but has always worked hard too, she always felt that she wasn't appreciated by her parents because she wasn't a genius.

I personally prefer to reward good behaviour. My son gets his pocket money stopped if he behaves badly but we never offer him money for doing his homework, he has to do it anyway! (Although when he was moved up a grade in his maths class, we did treat him as he had worked really hard, and he used to hate maths! )

ps...Your 8 yr old sounds very MSE! :rotfl::rotfl:

moomoomama27

themull1 wrote: »

We have one rule, if the kids remember to ask for their pocket money on a sunday they get two pounds each, they never remember!!! because they probably get too much. I don't do 'bribery' money or 'reward' money because i don't agree with it.

I feel the same way!

Mine get sweets and a magazine every saturday. My eldest is a teen, and I don't give her a set amount, as she wastes it! So if she's going out with friends, or going to the cinema I'll give her some money, plus I top up her phone monthly, and we shop for any toiletries etc she needs on a monthly basis. Works for us.

vixarooni

Sounds awful to me!! I had £2 pocket money from my auntie/uncle and nan once a week. (That stayed at £2 right up untill i was 21) It sounds silly, but i valued my £2! it used to buy me a days parking for college in the latter days.

I got myself a job at 14 to bump up what money i had. I then when in and out of work during my teens and in steady employment from 18 onwards. I think, give your child a little bit of money, and if they want more they go out and earn it themselves!! When you're older nobody else will help you out financially.

moomoomama27

vixarooni wrote: »

Sounds awful to me!! I had £2 pocket money from my auntie/uncle and nan once a week.

I don't get why parents make such a fuss over pocket money? Give your child a few quid and be done with it. I was 14 when i got my first little cleaning job, because I wanted a bit more money. That teaches your child more than giving them a stupid amount of money each week.

Yes it does, but it's a while before some children will be able to get a job, so you contradict yourself!!