Co-op Reading Incentive Program

[Incognito]

The co-op type thing my kids attend has decided to run a reading incentive program - whichever class reads the most minutes during the term will get some sort of prize. I don't like that. Avoiding things like that is actually part of why I like homeschooling. I am not going to make a big deal about it. Just wondering - am I particularly unusual in my feelings about this sort of thing as a homeschooler?

 

FWIW, this co-op thing has classrooms by ages, so it will be astronomically easier for the older kids to accrue points and win.

 

Please vote in the poll. :)

 

Thanks.

[Farrar]

I have a mildly bad opinion of them. But when they give us free stuff (free tickets to Six Flags! free Kindle Fire! free donuts!) I admit, we've taken advantage of it. But I don't generally think it does a good job encouraging my kids to read - it just encourages them to focus on the reward instead of the intrinsic reward of reading. And in many cases, it's clearly meant to encourage kids who wouldn't read to read... and my kids are going to read anyway, so it feels lame that we get something for just doing what we're doing.

[Miss Marple]

I don't mind having incentives for reading. In fact I think they can be quite useful. And I have used incentives from time to time in our homeschool. But I would hesitate to put all grades on the same playing field. I think reading incentives should be individual awards/rewards. Any time I was ever part of a "team" I would put out a huge effort only to be rewarded with being paired with some lazy kids or ones who had no desire to perform. Consequently I don't do well with teamwork :) (another reason I quit our co-op leadership and attendance).

 

In this case, I'd suggest changing the rules a bit.

[Incognito]

I have a mildly bad opinion of them. But when they give us free stuff (free tickets to Six Flags! free Kindle Fire! free donuts!) I admit, we've taken advantage of it. But I don't generally think it does a good job encouraging my kids to read - it just encourages them to focus on the reward instead of the intrinsic reward of reading. And in many cases, it's clearly meant to encourage kids who wouldn't read to read... and my kids are going to read anyway, so it feels lame that we get something for just doing what we're doing.

I guess I don't know what the prizes will be - if they were that nice I might change my opinion. :) I am picturing candy and/or dollar store prizes.

 

I don't mind having incentives for reading. In fact I think they can be quite useful. And I have used incentives from time to time in our homeschool. But I would hesitate to put all grades on the same playing field. I think reading incentives should be individual awards/rewards. Any time I was ever part of a "team" I would put out a huge effort only to be rewarded with being paired with some lazy kids or ones who had no desire to perform. Consequently I don't do well with teamwork :) (another reason I quit our co-op leadership and attendance).

 

In this case, I'd suggest changing the rules a bit.

 

My kids are young enough that I don't think they'll get it/care about it much. I'm not a boat rocker, I think I'll let them figure out for themselves that it is likely to be very unbalanced.

 

I had similar experiences as you did with group work in school. I do not like group projects. I could go on and on, but I'll stop and just say I am sooo there with you on not liking them. :)

[regentrude]

Like one of the previous posters, I strongly dislike that the incentive is given per class. Makes no sense to me - if you give incentives at all, they should go to the individual student. Why reward people who just happen to be in the same group as the kids who actually read a ton?

ETA: And the fact that the classes are by age makes this structure even more pointless, because older kids can read more than beginning readers. If they do incentives, they should reward the strongest reader in each age group.

 

This said, I find incentives OK for weak readers and pretty much useless for strong readers. And as we all know, the number of pages read says absolutely nothing about the quality of the books.

[Mrs_JWM]

I remember thinking these programs were totally bogus when I was a kid - a nerdy, reading kid. I know, I know - who woulda thunk it?!! My mother told me at the time that they were silly programs that wouldn't make a difference for me, but that other kids who might not read as much might get some use out of it.

 

We did the Six Flags thing. My kid finished her measly six hours in no time and earned her tickets. My nephew didn't read but his mother said he did, and he earned his tickets. My kid didn't like Six Flags. Meh.

[Incognito]

Like one of the previous posters, I strongly dislike that the incentive is given per class. Makes no sense to me - if you give incentives at all, they should go to the individual student. Why reward people who just happen to be in the same group as the kids who actually read a ton?

ETA: And the fact that the classes are by age makes this structure even more pointless, because older kids can read more than beginning readers. If they do incentives, they should reward the strongest reader in each age group.

 

This said, I find incentives OK for weak readers and pretty much useless for strong readers. And as we all know, the number of pages read says absolutely nothing about the quality of the books.

 

I *think* the idea of doing it by class is to build team-spirit for the class. From what I understand, local schools do things like this a fair bit. They make up teams of classes and have them compete for prizes by reading, getting good behavior points, athletic competitions, etc.

I remember working the system on these when I was younger - I'd read easy books just to get a higher page count/# of books. This one is minutes spent reading, so in that way it is more geared to the abilities of each student. I always found these kinds of contests hard as a kid. If I was honest on what I did, I blew every other kid out the water (I LOVED to read), and I didn't like the attention and it was negative as far as my peer group went. I guess I have more reading incentive baggage than I knew! :)

I remember thinking these programs were totally bogus when I was a kid - a nerdy, reading kid. I know, I know - who woulda thunk it?!! My mother told me at the time that they were silly programs that wouldn't make a difference for me, but that other kids who might not read as much might get some use out of it.

 

We did the Six Flags thing. My kid finished her measly six hours in no time and earned her tickets. My nephew didn't read but his mother said he did, and he earned his tickets. My kid didn't like Six Flags. Meh.

 

 

Yeah, and then there is the keeping track of the time. I always forget to do stuff like that.

[happi duck]

The programs we found worthwhile encouraged everyone to either set their own goal or read a set number of books within a certain reasonable time frame. The goal was for everyone to be encouraged without creating a need to 'cheat'.

 

I don't like competitive reading.