Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Works for Me Wednesday!!!


You've all heard me complaining about Jasmine not wanting anything to do with books this summer. It's been frustrating trying to keep her reading, so I realized that in order for me to motivate her, I would have to make it fun.

With it being summer and hot and so many things to be done outside, she would rather be on the trampoline, on the swings, in the pool or anything else, than in the house reading her books.

So, my WFMW tip is about getting your kids motivated to read.

The first thing that I do is use "Book Dollars". I made some out of construction paper, and I hand them out for chores or good deeds I see her do around the house, as well as reading her books without me begging. Once she has about 10 or 15, then we head to the bookstore and she gets to spend the equal amount in books. She LOVES being able to pick her own. Right now she's loving the Dumb Bunnies, I guess at her age she finds them hilarious.



Another thing we are going to do this week, is have a "Reading Picnic". We will gather some snacks and some books and then head out to the park, I think she will enjoy that.

I've also noticed that she will eagerly read a book that is about something she really enjoys or like, like dinosaurs. Any dinosaur book will have her happily grabbing for it.



We're also starting a reading corner, a part of the living room just for reading, and she will help decorate it. Going to use some big pillows, a blanket, a little basket with books and snacks (popcorn, crackers etc). Something that will make her WANT to be there reading. Yes it may be almost at the end of summer, but I figure at least this last month she can enjoy her books and not be turned off by them.

One last thing......I went to Scholastic online, and signed her up for the Summer Reading Buzz. They have a book of the week, a reading meter, a bumblebee booklist, a calendar to show you which books will be up each week so that you can buy them from scholastic or make sure you have them to read.

Each book she adds to her reading log, Scholastic will match each one with a donation to K.I.D.S. so she is happy to be helping other kids too.

It's been fun finding new ways to encourage her to read. Hope this helps one of you moms with your kids and their reading. Works for Me!!!!

For a list of other WFMW participants, go run on over to Shannon, and starting this week, everyone is adding a description of their tips to their names, so it will make it easier for you to browse those tips you are interested in reading :)

11 comments:

Overwhelmed! said...

I love your ideas to encourage your kids to read! Very nice work!

mom of 2 said...

My daughter is an avid reader, but my son who is just starting to learn to read isn't as of yet. Our local library does a summer reading club each year. For every 10 days that you read for 20 minutes each day you get prizes and get to enter your name in a drawing for bigger cool prizes. They are also giving a free ticket to the circus when the child has read 5 books. You should check your library (if you live close to one) and see what kinds of programs they offer.

I love the little book dollars...great idea!!

Laura said...

Hi Sandra, great ideas you have here. Reading is a passion in this house. Getting children to read is SO important isn't it. One thing I have no qualms about spending money on is books for the kids. Every week I go to thrift stores, garage sales and of course ebay. I rarely buy new. Once I find a series that they like (and of course they each like different books) I collect the whole series. As you can imagine my daughter has over 400 books in her collection. I made a library in her closet. It is so worth it to me though as she will read and reread them. Love the reading picnic idea!!! I can't imagine a better way to spend the day...well except organizing that is...he he.

amelia said...

Very fun and creative ideas! I'll have to tuck these away for when my girl is a little older. Thanks for stopping by my site today!

Jen said...

YOU HAD SOME REALLY GREAT IDEAS...MADISON HATES READING..I HAVE HER IN A BOOK CLUB THIS SUMMER ON MONDAYS..SHE HATES IT. I'LL TRY SOME OF YOUR IDEAS.
JEN

Looney Mom™ said...

Very cool idea. I can't get my litte guy to read either. It's like pulling teeth.

Susanne said...

Great idea! And when she gets to pick and buy her own book she'll more than likely read it! I'm off to make some of those dollars.

Gina Conroy said...

Barnes and Noble has a summer reading program. Read 8 books, get one FREE from their pre-selected books. The 8 don't have to be from B&N and you can fill out two forms for your 1-6th grader. I have 3 kids that age, so we'll be getting six new books this summer.

Another motivater is telling them they can read in their beds after the light goes out. My older boys have no trouble reading now and they used to hate to read.

Michelle said...

sounds like you have some great ideas for motivating her to read! I like the reading picnic - that way she is still outside and after reading she will be able to play as well. Good job :)

Unknown said...

Great ideas. Good for you sticking with it to encourage her to read. I'm doing my Thursday Thirteen tomorrow about tips for reading with young children.

Joy @ SAH Missionary said...

Ok, I love this idea! We are big readers here, and sometimes I throw a big blanker in the backyard (while several Indonesians stand at the fence and laugh at us) and read on the said blanket. I'm gonna go on over to Scholastic...since it's always summer here, we still have time, right??!!