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Have any of you ever put together your own summer reading incentive program?


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I've been planning for next year, and once again I am torn between all the great books I would like for my dc to read, and all the books we can realistically cover in a school year.

 

My two older kids are good readers, and they enjoy reading. But they don't seek out books on their own as much as I would like. If I assign it for school, they'll read it with no fuss, enjoy it, and get the book done ahead of schedule. But during the summer, if I suggest a certain book, they tend to balk at my suggestions. I have no problem with books like Brisingr and Harry Potter, but I'd like to expand their horizons a bit.

 

I was thinking about putting together a list of books that every child should read that aren't on our curriculum (TOG) - books like The Secret Garden, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, etc. (for dd) and Treasure Island, Call of the Wild, etc. (for ds).

 

I also need some kind of incentive. A dollar per 100 pages read? A special outing after everyone has met a certain quota? Has anyone done something like this? I'm needing ideas.

 

I also need to come up with a way that ds (age 7), who is not yet reading independently can do as well. Maybe a set number of math worksheets to do per week, or reading an easy reader with mom.

 

I'm open for suggestions! TIA

Edited by Staci in MO
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Get a Candyland game board. Use each space on the board as a certain number of pages read. Then, use the special candy squares as special incentive squares (be creative). For every X number of squares moved, another special incentive may be earned. Incentives can build upon one another. For instance, each square might be 25 pages. After 4 squares, the child might earn a token. Special candy squares may earn a free token. Five tokens earn a dollar. Or a trip for ice cream. Or you can have an hierarchy of rewards that the children may trade tokens for. Or a prize box with dollar store goodies.

 

My friend didn't use this for reading, but she is ALWAYS coming up with games and incentive programs like this for her kids. I don't know how she does it. This is so not me.

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We use the Summer Reading program through our library system. It works really well.

It's divided into age groups so a square can be achieved by either reading a chapter, a book or being read to. It works for a variety of age groups and levels. My almost 9yo reads on a higher level so I require more reading of him. The library program has rewards for every 5 spaces completed (pencils, coupons for ice cream, etc.)

You could easily set up a program like this with the result being when everyone reaches the goal they get a trip to a favorite museum or a movie.

I think it's a great idea!

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What a great idea, maybe I should do that for ds. I don't like the program our library uses.

 

I like the idea of rewards for pages. I'm not above paying ds to read but it might set an expensive precedent to do for the summer.

 

Will the older ones compete with each other? Maybe get out of some chores?

 

For the younger can you add in some audio books with oral questions afterward? That way it's not dependent upon your time.

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I've been planning for next year, and once again I am torn between all the great books I would like for my dc to read, and all the books we can realistically cover in a school year.

 

My two older kids are good readers, and they enjoy reading. But they don't seek out books on their own as much as I would like. If I assign it for school, they'll read it with no fuss, enjoy it, and get the book done ahead of schedule. But during the summer, if I suggest a certain book, they tend to balk at my suggestions. I have no problem with books like Brisingr and Harry Potter, but I'd like to expand their horizons a bit.

 

I was thinking about putting together a list of books that every child should read that aren't on our curriculum (TOG) - books like The Secret Garden, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, etc. (for dd) and Treasure Island, Call of the Wild, etc. (for ds).

 

I also need some kind of incentive. A dollar per 100 pages read? A special outing after everyone has met a certain quota? Has anyone done something like this? I'm needing ideas.

 

I also need to come up with a way that ds (age 7), who is not yet reading independently can do as well. Maybe a set number of math worksheets to do per week, or reading an easy reader with mom.

 

I'm open for suggestions! TIA

 

 

I've bribed ds with Lego for a lot of things including reading during summer. It isn't that he doesn't like to read, but in summer, the last thing he wants to do is sit still.

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I'm not really into "incentives" -- I find my kids are not inspired by promises of stuff, which makes me happy, actually, but enjoy reading for its own sake. I've always found something smarmy about bribing people to do something, and so I found Alfie Kohn's "Punished by Rewards" book to be fascinating.

 

That being said, I say, provide them with intriguing books to read that are on topics that interest them. Don't limit yourself to fiction! And there are some excellent magazines out there. Tie in their reading to their life -- go on exciting field trips. Maybe have a family summer reading program where they give you a book of their choice to read or something, and you discuss it together. I think it's good for them to be a part and not feel that the books are being foisted on them and they grit their teeth or fake it in order to get a prize.

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I'm not really into "incentives" -- I find my kids are not inspired by promises of stuff, which makes me happy, actually, but enjoy reading for its own sake. I've always found something smarmy about bribing people to do something, and so I found Alfie Kohn's "Punished by Rewards" book to be fascinating.

 

 

:iagree: You beat me to the mention of Punished by Rewards! LOL.

I think it's very counter intuitive but studies repeatedly show that incentives backfire.

 

I'm waiting for a copy of Predictably Irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions by Dan Ariely,

but I heard an interview with the author & one of the experiments they did was with bonuses for employees - so timely with the financial sector bonuses now. Anyway, the bigger the bonuses, the worse the performance of the employees (they went to India to do this experiment where they could actually afford to give fairly exorbitant bonuses....)

 

Btw, operant conditioning does work (hey I train dogs with it all the time!) but one thing we know from dog training is that a random reinforcement schedule really gives great responses. At the beginning you 'pay' (with a treat, praise, petting, a ball toss - whatever is 'valuable') every time you get the behaviour. After the bhvr is solid, start making the reward random & the behaviour becomes MUCH more reliable.... So bosses who want to reward would probably be best off giving rewards (donuts, hockey tickets, beer & pizza etc) at a random schedule....

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:iagree: You beat me to the mention of Punished by Rewards! LOL.

I think it's very counter intuitive but studies repeatedly show that incentives backfire.

 

I'm waiting for a copy of Predictably Irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions by Dan Ariely,

but I heard an interview with the author & one of the experiments they did was with bonuses for employees - so timely with the financial sector bonuses now. Anyway, the bigger the bonuses, the worse the performance of the employees (they went to India to do this experiment where they could actually afford to give fairly exorbitant bonuses....)

 

Btw, operant conditioning does work (hey I train dogs with it all the time!) but one thing we know from dog training is that a random reinforcement schedule really gives great responses. At the beginning you 'pay' (with a treat, praise, petting, a ball toss - whatever is 'valuable') every time you get the behaviour. After the bhvr is solid, start making the reward random & the behaviour becomes MUCH more reliable.... So bosses who want to reward would probably be best off giving rewards (donuts, hockey tickets, beer & pizza etc) at a random schedule....

 

Will you be my boss? And feel free to substitute Diet Dr. Pepper for the beer. :lol:

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I think it's very counter intuitive but studies repeatedly show that incentives backfire.

for some things, yeah....

 

my oldest hated writing so much that if he even had to write down a BOOK TITLE for the summer reading programs he wouldn't participate even tho he was reading TONS of books: he loved reading more than he loved writing.

 

I did hit upon something last year that sparked some interest:

 

I chose 5 [somewhat challenging- no fluff] books for each kid and wrote them down on slips of paper.

as they read the book and told me what it was about, i put the paper in a Starbuck's cup [or Lego Box :D --whatever works, lol].

then we'd take a day and go get a drink from Starbucks/wherever when they had collected all 5 slips.

Repeat :)

 

This year oldest is volunteering at the library, so i think he's already looking forward to the program as he hangs up posters and puts out flyers about it ;)

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My 9 year old daughter asked me what she would get for reading a lot of books - because in school they sometimes have incentives.

 

I told her once she completed 10 ASSIGNED books I will get her her very own library card. I told her I would see if Pizza Hut did the whole Reader thing still (when I was in high school my younger siblings earned a free personal pan pizza maybe a few times a year based on how many books they read). But, I told her that the best incentive is that she was learning, and getting to read really good books. And, I told her, if she keeps up with her assigned reading, I will more inclined to take her to the library more often, as she is quickly running out of books at home for her free reading.

 

She was really excited about the library card. I hope it lasts! I don't think the pizza thing is too big of a deal, really, but if they do have it and we can sign up for it, I am going to make sure all my 3 younger girls do too. I think that will make it a lot of fun for them.

 

I wouldn't offer money for any reading, or other school work though. I offer money for extra chores - but I am against paying my kids to learn. If that works for other parents, great, but I think it is not the best approach.

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I told her once she completed 10 ASSIGNED books I will get her her very own library card.

 

How nice! :) And it will be very nice for her to enjoy regular trips to the library.

 

BTW, since we were discussing Alfie Kohn, he suggested that, if you feel you must give a reward for reading, make it a reward of a book, that further encourages the habit you're interested in, instead of some unrelated other item.

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I'm not really into "incentives" -- I find my kids are not inspired by promises of stuff, which makes me happy, actually, but enjoy reading for its own sake. I've always found something smarmy about bribing people to do something, and so I found Alfie Kohn's "Punished by Rewards" book to be fascinating.

 

For the most part, I agree with you. If my dc were gritting their teeth to get through a book, this wouldn't work.

 

I have found, though, that once my dc get started on a book, they love it. Ds is reading Robinson Crusoe for school and thinks it's one of the best books he's read this year. But, if I had left the choice up to him, he would have picked a Star Wars novel - and probably not enjoyed it nearly as much.

 

What I would like to do this summer is get them over the hump. I want to give them incentive to start certain books, knowing that once they give them a fair shot, they will likely enjoy them very much.

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I told her once she completed 10 ASSIGNED books I will get her her very own library card.

 

That's a great idea. My dc all have their own library cards, but they love gift cards. A Barnes and Noble gift card would be fun.

 

I think the idea of having certain assigned books is better than my original idea. The problem I kept on visualizing is it turning into a race to finish pages. Having a certain number of books to finish would work better.

 

I wouldn't offer money for any reading, or other school work though. I offer money for extra chores - but I am against paying my kids to learn. If that works for other parents, great, but I think it is not the best approach.

 

Thanks for helping me clarify my thoughts on this. I'm not really seeing this as an incentive to read, because they do read. I'm just trying to encourage better choices for the summer.

 

You've given me lots to chew on. Thanks!

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