Rewarding Reading

As I was going through and organizing memorabilia from previous years I came across our eldest daughter’s First Grade “Stuck on Reading” log. Her awesome teacher had made a fun little book with a picture of a gum ball on it. For every 5 books her students read (and parent initialed) they would get 1 gum ball in class. Kids were frantic readers – some kids having as many gum balls in their mouth that they could handle. Pebbles was already a book lover so earning gum balls was easy – and she only liked the taste of the white ones she said.

I was inspired.  I asked over dinner one night for some fun ‘sweet reward’ catchy phrases and came up with things like:

Chomp into Chapters

Chocolate for Chapters

Reading for Rewards

Pages for Pez

Book of Pez

We picked the one BamBam liked best (Book of Pez.) Took a simple primary lined little book and covered it up with bright paper and made a label that was more ‘Pez’ in flavor. Wrote a personal note inside, numbered some lines.  Last weekend we went to the library and STOCKED UP on tonnnnnns of books. He couldn’t WAIT to start reading….. and chomping his little Pez candies.

Why Pez? They’re small, fun and flavorful. He can change up the dispensers, they don’t make a mess……….. perfect.

There was a Facebook post recently about rewards not being candy etc. I agree, not everything needs a reward. This was just a FUN memory that our daughter had and wanted her little brother to have the same joy that she had in this fun project. The bonus……. he gets writing practice – and doesn’t get his Pez until he writes each title of the book down.  This momma is very happy. 🙂

New this semester, I’m pre-planning per quarter on various books that line up with what the kids are studying in science, history – fiction and non-fiction as well as purely leisure reading. Made a little sign that I can change with a dry erase to remember when the earliest library due date is.