I’m not above bribing my kids, if the end result is one of net gain!
I prefer to call it a “negotiated contract”, actually. The boys are reading for apps, you see. Even free apps. One chapter book with summaries in a journal gets them an app for their ipad, vetted by me.
And guess what? It’s working!! Alex has finally moved on past Goosebumps, and has discovered a new, slightly more literate mystery series. And Simon announced to me this afternoon that “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is the best book he’s ever read Mommy! (Oh, just you wait, my sweet, little baby -- there is sooooo much good stuff out there!!!)
It’s exciting to see the boys consuming books like chocolate, and I’m reminded of my own Grade 4 year, when I realized the magic of reading; I became locked in another world, as I read EVERYWHERE, in the kitchen, on the toilet, at the piano, on my bed, in the car….
We just finished Roald Dahl’s BFG, and are about to move on to CS Lewis. But we’ve also started supplementing the bedtime read-aloud with morning “read-togethers” in Mommy’s bed; the boys come upstairs to hang out with me, and we take turns reading from “Chicken Soup”, followed by a Spanish Sticker book (in preparation for the upcoming Argentina trip).
I am doing my best to model good reading habits myself, too; the boys have seen me devour “Midwives” and “The Reader” this summer, and I’m just starting in on John Boyne’s “The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket”.
I prefer to call it a “negotiated contract”, actually. The boys are reading for apps, you see. Even free apps. One chapter book with summaries in a journal gets them an app for their ipad, vetted by me.
And guess what? It’s working!! Alex has finally moved on past Goosebumps, and has discovered a new, slightly more literate mystery series. And Simon announced to me this afternoon that “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is the best book he’s ever read Mommy! (Oh, just you wait, my sweet, little baby -- there is sooooo much good stuff out there!!!)
It’s exciting to see the boys consuming books like chocolate, and I’m reminded of my own Grade 4 year, when I realized the magic of reading; I became locked in another world, as I read EVERYWHERE, in the kitchen, on the toilet, at the piano, on my bed, in the car….
We just finished Roald Dahl’s BFG, and are about to move on to CS Lewis. But we’ve also started supplementing the bedtime read-aloud with morning “read-togethers” in Mommy’s bed; the boys come upstairs to hang out with me, and we take turns reading from “Chicken Soup”, followed by a Spanish Sticker book (in preparation for the upcoming Argentina trip).
I am doing my best to model good reading habits myself, too; the boys have seen me devour “Midwives” and “The Reader” this summer, and I’m just starting in on John Boyne’s “The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket”.
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