Summer is always bonus season at our house.

One of my daughters chose a stylish raincoat to take on her travels. One bought a necklace and is contemplating some new décor since she finally has her own room. One got a new camera to take to camp.

It's all part of the academic incentives program I've been running since the girls entered first grade.

I don't pay cash, but I do promise outings or objects of desire for straight A's or relativeimprovement at school.

Am I bribing our kids for good grades? Yes I am.

I admit: It would be best if all children (and adults) could be motivated by an innate drive for high achievement and a thirst for knowledge.

But I also believe that it's easier to accomplish good grades after experiencing them. Fake it until you make it. The excitement and adrenaline of success are addictive, and if you get to experience it, whatever the motivation, you're inclined to seek it again. I see my incentives as helping orient my daughters toward success.

Furthermore, I admire the courage and confidence it takes to plunge into something difficult, intimidating and unfamiliar until you become its master and make it serve your needs. If not for some material promise, it's a rare person who takes on such challenges.

My husband, John, thinks this is all silly, at best.

'If they don't care about learning they're not going to learn, no matter how many rewards you give them,' he says. 'They have to want it for themselves. I don't think it's made much of a difference for them. Kids are smart. They know these rewards are phony.'

The more we talked about it, the more ardent John became.

'It's a bad bargain,' he says. 'They must value education. Giving them bribes is corrupting that value.' He feels it's short-term thinking that will backfire. 'They're going to live their whole lives and you're not going to be around to bribe them.'

So I thought I'd ask the people who know best: our children. What do the rewards mean to them?

Jamie, our rising senior, has profited most. She remembers horseback riding, taking a friend to an amusement park, getting brand-name tennis shoes and buying a star-shaped lamp for her bedroom.

'Honestly, I would have worked hard without the rewards but they were really positive for me,' she says. 'Not only were they an excuse to spend time with you and have fun with an outing that we didn't always get to do, but I felt you were proud of me and that meant a lot. It made me really happy.'

Emily, soon to be a sophomore, says our incentiveprogram has helped her try harder for good grades. She recalls a trip to the recreation center, getting Cheetos at a vending machine, and sitting on the playground and eating them, just the two of us. 'When you paid with experiences, we remembered it,' she says. 'If you paid us with a bit of cash we wouldn't remember what we spent it on.'

Anna, just starting ninth grade, says, 'it's not a bribe, it's a reward.' A bribe, she points out, comes with negative consequences. A reward, on the other hand, is a nice bonus when you've reached a goal that has merits of its own. If excitement about a potentialreward helps you buckle down, she says, that's good. 'It's important to work hard when you're this age because this is when you learn how.'

Isabella, now heading into seventh grade, remembers the pleasure of taking a good friend out for swimming and pizza. Still, she says, the rewards haven't motivated her. Instead, she says, she tries hard to get good grades because it's important to her to prove that she is a hard worker.

One other point the girls mentioned: They like our cash-free approach. A specified amount of money for every 'A' might have kept them from taking on challenging classes without guaranteed good grades. Instead, we always tried to find rewards reflective of the effort that had been demonstrated. They strove without a concreteprospect of defined fabulous prizes. And, overall, they acquired the habit of hard work.

John is willing to concede that our girls haven't been ruined by my program. But he thinks that's because we have done other things right (such as valuing education ourselves). He still feels strongly that a rewards strategy has too many flaws to recommend for most people.

As a new academic year begins, we hope the girls will continue to work toward personal bests. Whatever their motivation, we hope the report cards will reflectconsistent high standards.