We haven't used overt rewards. But maybe we should start with my son. I think he could use a little nudge.  My daughter is the most disciplined students on the planet.  My son is bright but forgets to turn things in or tends to get distracted when he should be studying.  So maybe a posative reward system, rather than my getting upset when he doesn't do as well as I know he could would be a good idea. 

I'm glad you brought this up.  It's got me thinking.

Since he's in pre k...no not really but if he gets a super++++ or the teach tells me he is the only one who got it right or did something correctly then we let him get an extra something...sometimes we just stop at the store and get a drink and a snack

Trish...our sons sound similar!

We do.  For straight A's (or darn near) we do a dinner out to his choice.  My stepson is the only one this applies to currently.  The others are not in school.

As children, my parents used to give us a certain amount of money for each A.  Like two dollars per A.  Simple, but fun.

I see nothing wrong with it.

I believe that doing well is it's own reward.  Studies I conducted in graduate school (many, many years ago) showed that students who got paid for good grades did worse later in life than students who were self-motivated to do well.

We do reward for good grades but typically only for straight As.  While all our kids get pretty decent grades, they tended to feel like they'd done enough when they got all As and Bs, even though we knew they were capable of getting all As (not because we are pushy parents, but because we knew they really could do it with a little more effort).  That little extra incentive really made a difference and my son just got his first report card with all As.  He loved the feeling and now wants to to it all the time!

For my youngest, she's 11, rewards like printable certificates and ribbons that say things like 'Student of the Week' and 'Great Report Card', they all work wonders and I usually make a big deal about it by taking her picture with the award and hanging it on the fridge. For my youngers son, I usually have to provide incentives, if my girlfriend were here she would correct me to say bribes, but since she's not here let's go with incentives.  Shannon works so hard to get B's and C's, and for him lunch at Subway is worth working hard for, so that's his reward for a good report card.  My oldest is 16 and in 11th grade, but last year was when I offered a huge incentive for end of year and the incentive was a Nintendo Wii.  My rhyme and reason was that he worked so incredibly hard all year that I wanted to give him something very special that he could have fun with and enjoy with family and friends over the summer. While all of his classmates were taking 6 courses, Sean took 8 courses, all Honors except for US History which was an AP class.  First semester he received all A's except for AP US History, he received a B in that course, but second semester he received straight A's in all courses.  This year I haven't offered any reward of any kind, but all 3 of my children are doing well, so perhaps that says something. 

Great question...you have so many good ones!!

Holly...I'm curious, do you reward monetarily, or with a "prize"?

Once ours hit highschool, I stop nagging about homework and we use that time to let them learn how to manage everything themselves, so they're ready for college.

To help keep grades higher, we have a sheet posted to the fridge that states various grade levels and the reward/consequence for that level.

IE - the bottom rung is "One or more F's ... loss of all electronic privileges".  This would include their cell phones, iPods, gameboys, etc.  If they have D's in classes, there is enforced homework time.  As they work their way up, they "earn" TV privileges, their choice of bedtime, full internet privileges, and if they get straight A's, they get $50.

I just put a sticker on the chart so they know where they are at (I can check grades online.)  For us it's worth it.  I don't nag at all, and I can be empathetic when there's a consequence. It keeps them motivated, too :)