3boysmama Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My kids want to earn some extra money, and I want them to read a bit more on their own (outside of school stuff), so I thought I might start paying them for books they read on their own. I'm not sure how much to pay them though. I had someone tell me before that they did this, but I don't remember how much they paid their kids. So, does anyone do this? If so, how much do you pay them? :bigear: TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I prefer to pay them to clean the house instead. That way, when they sneak off to read when they are supposed to be cleaning they really feel like they are pulling a fast one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Nope. I made sure there were lots of books (we went to the library weekly) available and let them have at it...or not.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I have paid him in Wii time. He can earn pizza with book it. But he gets money for keeping up chores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Ummm . . . no. I've never paid a child to read. In fact, I've been able to extort good behavior with regards to other things with the promise of being allowed more time to read or the promise of a new book. In general, I can't imagine that bribing a child to read is a way to encourage a love of books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 The incentive for my kids to read is staying up later at bedtime. They have to be in bed by 9pm or 9:30 and if they would like to read, they can stay up until 10 or 10:30 doing so in their beds. If they don't want to read, then they can go to sleep. Reading and sleep are the only options...no video games or TV. It has worked well with my two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I've instituted a reward system every time DD finishes reading 10 books. She just completed her first 10, and I got her a little Playmobil figurine. I think that's probably the biggest reward we'll do, though, and I just did it because it was the first and she worked really hard at it. I was thinking more like taking her out for ice cream or something that was a mini-celebration. I don't think I'd pay her to read. I pay her for doing extra chores around the house (above and beyond the ones she already does). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3boysmama Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 Ok, I was just wondering. Someone did tell me once that they did this, I just can't remember who, or how much they said they paid! My boys DO enjoy reading, however, they are boys who like to play and will chose to play and do other things before reading (which isn't a bad thing). But, they were wanting to earn some extra money, and I thought that this might be a good way for them to do it. I don't feel like it is that much different than offering a pizza for reading (which is not an option for us, as we live in a very rural area and don't have a Pizza Hut). They would rather have the money than a pizza anyway. Thanks to all who answered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Ummm . . . no. I've never paid a child to read. In fact, I've been able to extort good behavior with regards to other things with the promise of being allowed more time to read or the promise of a new book. In general, I can't imagine that bribing a child to read is a way to encourage a love of books. Some children will never love reading. It just isn't there. It was a disappointment for me to realize that my daughter is one of them (I love books and we have a huge library in our living room); but she is mildly dyslexic and, beyond that, simply hates to read. She NEVER reads for pleasure, only what is required for school work. Those with children like my own settle for the child reading without passion, because it's the only way to get it done. Lol. OP - I'm not above bribery. Amount depends on the book read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 We've tried but it didn't work. Even cash won't get DS to settle down with a long book. He'll read non-fiction in segments but a long novel is a no-go. I know most people want their children to love reading for the sake of reading, but if your child isn't one of those and cash works- go for it. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 No. I do not pay my children to do schoolwork or extracurriculars or grades either. I pay for *jobs* that are outside the normal household help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punks in Ontario Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Kind of. When they're learning to read, they get dollar store prizes based on how many words they've read either during free reading time or on their own. It's worked out to about 1 point per 250 words. Double points for really new readers, non fiction and triple points for Bible. While it's more complicated than a straight per book rate, this encourages longer books and trying new types of books. Once I see that they're reading for pleasure and relatively confident, I wean them off of the prizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I pay the boys to read books over the summer. It's my own summer reading program. They earn "points" that equal dollars which then can be used to buy video games. This year I'm making it a penny a page. The only condition is that I pick or must approve the books. It has worked out great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AprilTN Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 No, but I am definitely considering it for the summer. I am thinking of changing the way I pay for chores (right now we pay a certain amount per week but I am wanting to change it to paying per chore, because I have to remind them way too many times to do something. If I pay per chore I will not remind them so we can build their memory skills! ;). ) Additionally, I am thinking that I will pay them for reading books and for memorizing scripture. There is no reward that they would enjoy more than cold, hard cash and a trip to the mall. I will give them a book list they can work from. One of my dc will willingly read but the other only reads what is required. I am thinking $3-$5 a book depending on the length. I have taken into consideration how long it will take my dc to read a book and worked backwards from there. I want them to earn enough to make it worth it but not go crazy. So I estimate that they could easily read a chapter book a week without giving up any other fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Ummm . . . no. I've never paid a child to read. In fact, I've been able to extort good behavior with regards to other things with the promise of being allowed more time to read or the promise of a new book. In general, I can't imagine that bribing a child to read is a way to encourage a love of books. Totally agree with the bolded! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMW Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Well, I did not have to with a few of my kids... One daughter often heard me say, "Put that book DOWN and don't pick it up until you have finished ______" But, I had a reluctant reader and he and I selected many books together and I did pay him $5 per book one year. It was a temporary thing. He now enjoys reading a lot of books on his own! Goodness, that little boy is about to graduate HS in a few weeks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I did an incentive chart with rewards when my daughter was a very, very new reader. She needed lots of practice to build fluency, but it wasn't much fun. She had a sticker chart with rewards at 5, 10, and 20 books: family goes out for ice cream, favorite dinner, and camel ride at the zoo. (All of $4, but a big deal because she had never done it.) Once she was passably fluent, she enjoyed reading much more and no longer needed incentives. I wouldn't ever do it as a general system - I want reading to be its own reward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMomof4 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I was just talking about this the other day with a friend of mine. She and her siblings (all 9 of them) were paid a dollar a book during the summer. She loved reading and really earned some serious cash that summer. Her siblings, not so much. I have two that would be all over it and I might go broke with them - but nothing I say or do will encourage the 3rd to read when she doesn't want to. In fact, I can see that she would see through the entire thing and instead of seeing it as for her benefit, she'd see it as a way for me to get her to do what I want her to do. KWIM? I used to get stickers per book and get a reward of some sort based on that, but I can't remember for the life of me what those rewards were. I just remember that was the summer I read all the Ramona books and Strawberry Girl by Lois Lensky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Technically, no. However, if they are being uncooperative, their DS might go into time out, or they might not get a piece of their candy stash that day. I don't homeschool now, but in our house, the kids have "work" in the evenings, including music practice and challenge reading. My youngest loves to read, but when she's feeling oppositional, she'll bring a ridiculously easy book to read to me, just to be difficult. And then I have to get militant. My eldest is more likely to be all "oh, mom" when she's tired or distracted. So a little threat can be useful. When my sister was little, I used to give her a penny for each word she memorized (she was very good at that), and then we'd go spend the pennies at a nearby candy counter. I was sure she'd be a great reader, but she never really developed a passion for it. It was too much of being told what to do and when. So with my kids, I don't push other than to insist on a little challenge reading every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 (edited) Yep, I do. For ds17, he just got new books for reading. That was all the motivation he needed. DD13 loves to read, but is also incredibly social. We already had a huge library of books for her due to ds17. So for her, we set up a system years ago that worked something like this. We multiplied the grade level of a book by the amount of pages. A 5th grade, 100 page book was worth 500pts. Decent historical fiction was worth double. Once she got to 10-15,000 points (it bumped up as she got older), she would get a $10 gift card. Sometimes she still used the to buy books that she wanted but she also saved them up for a while and would buy something bigger. She paid for part of her laptop with reading money. I gave bonus points for book reports to go along with them too. LOL We used gift cards so the money didn't get piddled away at the local convenience store buying soda or candy. :D Edited April 23, 2012 by Tap, tap, tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I seriously do not recommend paying kids to read. Any activity that a child (or adult) associates with 'I need a reward to do this' immediately becomes less inately interesting. Cash, stickers, points toward a prize can all defeat internal motivation. :001_smile:Yes, I read Alfie Kohn's Punished by Rewards at a pivotal moment in my homeschooling journey. Why do you ask? :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 No. It's not something that I would even consider. I want them to know and understand that reading is a normal part of life. We have reading time during the day, and when they get 'older' (7 or so) they get to stay up for an extra hour at night reading in their beds. I would hate for them to think of reading as a chore or something that requires bribery. What about having them do extra chores around the house for money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I seriously do not recommend paying kids to read. Any activity that a child (or adult) associates with 'I need a reward to do this' immediately becomes less inately interesting. Cash, stickers, points toward a prize can all defeat internal motivation. :001_smile:Yes, I read Alfie Kohn's Punished by Rewards at a pivotal moment in my homeschooling journey. Why do you ask? :lol::lol: I guess that depends on the kids. DS17 still reads an hour or more a day. DD13 reads less but finishes at least 2-3 teen level books a month (outside of school work). DD13 got prizes for the fun of it.....it was never her sole motivation to read. If anything, it made reading easier for her, because of out point system, she read challenging books to get more points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My parents sometimes paid us to read--but only for particularly difficult books they thought would be good for us to read. I think I earned $20 for reading Stephen Hawkings' Brief History of Time when I was 11, though it may have been less. Otherwise I don't remember the amount going over $10, and it was always for something really difficult like books in French or Spanish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My son tested at a 4.9 grade level for reading but doesn't like to read. He thinks it is boring and just won't do it. In order to get him to really give it a chance (and hopefully learn it's not boring) I picked up some books that he chose (Ninjago chapter books) and he gets Pokemon cards for 1/2 hour of reading. Not all kids will have the internal motivation to give something a decent chance without some extra incentive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeslieAnneLevine Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 In general, I can't imagine that bribing a child to read is a way to encourage a love of books. I could see it encouraging an interest in reading because sometimes the hardest part is picking up a new book and starting it, especially when there are other things to do. They pay-off starts as you get drawn into the story. I don't think that gets lost on them just because they receive a little pocket money for spending part of their day reading. I'm not sure how not reading leads to a love of reading either (though I'm fine with the idea of providing lots of reading material to be picked up or not) and I'm not sure requiring reading for pleasure would have better results than offering an incentive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Yes I did! And I look at it as I look at other "chores" (which is how they viewed it at the time) and gave them a "reward" for a job well done. Call it bribery, payment, etc. it is essentially like anything else in life - an incentive to do something they didn't want to do. For my boys, the best incentive at the time was money. I think one can get creative with incentives. Mine were very young when I did this: I picked up what the boys called "fancy money" - $2 bills, $1 pieces, 50 cent pieces, etc. I paid based on the length of the book (in accordance with the individual boy's ability). Today they enjoy reading for fun :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 (edited) Yep and I am not ashamed to admit it. :D We have a full time maid who won't let them clean anything and they are too young to get a job and we don't have a yard so no yard work, etc. They do not get any money for books they have to read for their lessons but extra books they take on? yes. There are parameters, of course. Edited April 23, 2012 by Heather in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in IN Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Yes, I pay my boys to read books that are longer/more difficult than what they would normally pick up on their own. Some books are $1/hr, others are $2/hr, depending on the difficulty (yes, I know we're cheap, but it works here). Neither of my older boys love to read, so this has worked well here to encourage more reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morningxmorning Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 In general, I can't imagine that bribing a child to read is a way to encourage a love of books. It depends on the kid. It certainly worked for my kid. He is 6 and was a pretty reluctant reader. One day he announced that he wanted a Lego set that cost $70. Luckily I was able to find one for $50 on sale, bought it ,and stuck it on the mantle. I told him that if he wanted it he had to read 70 books aloud to me (or his father.) We went to the library, checked out a variety of "step into reading" type level 2/3 chapter books and he was happily playing with the Lego set by the end of the month. Since then reading one or more books a day has become a habit and I've even caught him reading on his own even though there is no new "motivation toy" on the horizon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 No. I pay them for chores. But I did sign up for Book-It, so they can start earning pizzas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Yes I do :001_smile: My DD is a beginning reader and I noticed she just wasn't picking up books outside of school time because she was busy doing other things. She doesn't get regular pocket money and wanted to earn some. I printed out a reading chart - every time she finishes a book she gets a stamp on the chart. When the chart is completed she gets $2. I think she has to read about 10 books to get the money.:D I don't believe the reward is big enough to make her only want to read for money - the stamps are the real encourager and it helps her learn to work towards a goal. I also pay her for schoolwork :tongue_smilie: She has another chart and for each lesson she does with a good attitude - again - she gets a stamp. When the chart is filled in she gets $5. It takes her about 2 months to earn that $5 so I feel it is just reward -if she has had a good attitude for 2 months (considering she has special needs) then I think she has justly earned the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I'm considering it, because money is really DD's favorite currency (no pun intended), and she's the one who tends to start books, read a few chapters, then quit. If money will motivate her to get past the middle parts of books and keep going, I might give it a shot. A penny a page, maybe, but she'd only get the money when she completed the book. Motivating her to read is not the problem; motivating her to finish a book is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 No. Here I have resorted to bribery to get him to stop reading and get some sunshine and activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajudy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) Ummm . . . no. I've never paid a child to read. In fact, I've been able to extort good behavior with regards to other things with the promise of being allowed more time to read or the promise of a new book. In general, I can't imagine that bribing a child to read is a way to encourage a love of books. I had one child who was barely reading in 4th grade. He knew all the phonics, etc. But he just could not read. Finally, in desperation, I resorted to bribery. I bought a big box of ice cream bars from Sam's Club and told him he could have a treat for every 10 books he read. Before I knew it, he was reading everything he could get his hands on. He loves reading! I will admit, however, that he is definitely not your typical child. Edited October 5, 2012 by mamajudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) My kids want to earn some extra money, and I want them to read a bit more on their own (outside of school stuff), so I thought I might start paying them for books they read on their own. I'm not sure how much to pay them though. I had someone tell me before that they did this, but I don't remember how much they paid their kids. So, does anyone do this? If so, how much do you pay them? :bigear: TIA! Not just reading. DS gets 1 dollar if he does everything he supposed to do. That includes homework, my assignment, reading, music practice and chore.. Edited October 5, 2012 by jennynd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Like it or not, apparently it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Like it or not, apparently it works. Fascinating. Thanks for the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I seriously do not recommend paying kids to read. Any activity that a child (or adult) associates with 'I need a reward to do this' immediately becomes less inately interesting. Cash, stickers, points toward a prize can all defeat internal motivation. :001_smile:Yes, I read Alfie Kohn's Punished by Rewards at a pivotal moment in my homeschooling journey. Why do you ask? :lol::lol: Ever had a child who hates, more than anything, to read? Lol. I have one. She will read, willingly and cooperatively, what I assign; other than that, the child would never pick up a book for leisure. She very literally would rather scoop German Shepherd Giganto Poo from the front lawn (and has indeed done so) when the only other option is to read for leisure. I will pay if necessary. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I offered my oldest $5 if he'd read a book out loud to his dad. He was five and I'd been suspecting he was reading on his owrn but wasn't letting on. He read the book and got the $5 and was on his way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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