Reading Incentives

My youngest Emma use to be a reluctant reader, until I discovered some tricks that have made reading more enjoyable to her.

As many of you know, we are avid readers. My husband and I love to read and s did our oldest, Miriam. So, we were concerned when our youngest was more of a reluctant reader. We read to them all the time and they were always surrounded by books. We have so many books in our home, that we do not have enough room for all of them!

One trick I discovered completely by accident. I had picked up some books at a library sale, can't pass up a great deal on books. I usually pick out books with one or the other of the girls in mind but I tend to give them to them all together. Well, that day I happened to show my husband the books first and had told him why I chose each book and who I was thinking would enjoy it. So, he told our girls that mommy had picked out some books special for each of them, so when I got home Emma met me at the door bouncing up and down and asked what books I had gotten special for her. I gave her the books I had picked out thinking of her and she sat down and read them! So, giving them a special book especially for them might help.

Half the time during school I pick out what we will be reading/studying and the other half of them time I will let the girls choose. Well, what I pick isn't always what they are most excited about but when I would let them choose Emma would take forever and she would start whining about not knowing what to pick. Which would lead to me getting frustrated, just pick a book we have a ton! Then one day I chose a few books for her to choose from and asked her to choose from those, which she happily did and sat down to read no whining and no tears. Lesson learned, sometimes too many choices can be way too overwhelming for a beginning reader.

And the I came up wit the idea to chart the books we were reading and give them a reward when they reached a certain level. Sometimes it's a toy from the dollar store, a candy bar at the grocery store, picking a craft to do together, picking the movie for movie night, picking dessert, or anything else I come up with. As you can see it's usually inexpensive as well.


Here are the girls' reading charts. They can fill in the squares by coloring them or with a sticker. Because Mia is a more advanced reader she has to read a few more books than Emma to reach each level.

To solve the problem of having them reading the easiest books to fill up the most spaces faster I came up with a point system. Each book is given a certain number of points determined by me based on difficulty as well as their individual reading levels. Also they are allowed to read the same book again but it loses one point each time it is read, so if a book is worth 3 points the next time it is read it is only worth 2. We do have some books that are so ridiculously easy that they are worth 0 points! They love to see their charts filling up as well as getting their rewards.

Do you have any tips to helping a reluctant reader become an avid reader?

Workboxes!

We have jumped on the new homeschool bandwagon of Sue Patrick's Workboxes.

We have tweaked her system so it fits myself and the girls better. I know that in her book she says that it is best to follow her program and how she sets it up exactly. But what can I say I'm a rebel!

I love how it helps the girls learn how to work independently and to be self motivated. They also have a visual reminder of what they have done and what they have to do. So they know exactly when school will be done--when they get through the boxes!

Anyway, here are some pictures of how we do it!

There is a link at the bottom of the page for you to click on to buy your own copy of the book so you can get started with this fun new craze.

Here is our box system. We got this cart a few years ago at Costco, I think. She says to use 12 separate boxes per child, but I have found that the having one set of boxes they share works just as well for us, takes up less room, and was cheap because we didn't have to buy anything. I have two sets of numbers on each box, one for each girl.

They are so close in age that they pretty much do the exact same thing. And if I want them to different things for that box I write it on a card. Like if I want Mia to work on her Spanish on the computer with Rosetta Stone and I want Emma to read books I write on the card "Mia-Spanish. Emma-Read" And then the next box will have them switch.

I use the top of the cart to help keep things organized.

For things that are too big to fit in the box there is a large amount of space on top where I can put those needed oversized supplies.

I also have a 3 drawer container that helps keep things organized. The top drawer is where they put any work they have completed so I can look it over and decide what we need to still work on or if we can move on. My husband, Erik, wants to be involved with homeschooling but because of his work schedule he is not able to be home for most of it. So, to help keep him in the loop he grades all tests. So the middle drawer is where the girls put their tests and when Daddy comes home he grades their tests and then goes over it with them, even if they got everything correct. The bottom drawer contain supplies like pencils, erasers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, etc--anything they might need to complete their work that day.



Here is a close up of a few drawers and the numbers on the front. You number each drawer and also have a removable number on the front as well. Because i use the same drawer for both girls I have to sets of numbers in different colors on the front. I use that sticky tack stuff, I use it because that is what I had on hand.

These are their schedule sheets. Sue Patrick tells you to make it a strip but this works just as well for us. You can see how it looks without the numbers and also how it looks with some numbers put on. I used paper that I had on hand already and covered them with contact paper. She suggests that you laminate all the card, numbers, sheets, etc. But I already had contact paper on hand.

On our front door hangs their chore charts and the daily schedule.

Here is our basic schedule. Of course it is always open to slight changes when needed.

Emma's Chores

Mia's Chores. You will notice that they have the exact same chores but they each have their own chart to check off. This helps keep them accountable for what they have done.

So this is how we use the workbox system for us! Hope that helps someone visualize another way to use the system.