Counting things that you do i.e. How many books you've read in a month

[Anonymous]

Have you done this? Is it a good motivator or has it been for your kid?
I was thinking of doing this as a goal setter but don't want to add pressure to my child.

[Anonymous]

Totally misses the point, because it emphasizes quantity over quality. If you start counting books, for example, DC goes for the shortest possible titles.

Let him set his own goals. Sit down with him and work up a list of books to read (emphasizing quality), then reward him for making time every day to read and for understanding what he's read.

Read the same books so you can talk about them together!

[Anonymous]

Great point, thanks

[Anonymous]

Actually I would disagree with 11:25, counting can make a child aware of what they can do, especially if you have a struggling reader. I have a child that was insistent that she does not want to read, did not read, but she does read graphic novels. We set up a good reads account where she basically realized that she did a lot of reading. Now yes we have some quality issues here and we are working on that but seeing all those book covers made an impression. I would also caution that not all books kids read should be high quality, it makes reading really boring because that is not what people are in the mood for all the time. A kid should have a varied diet of high quality and high interest books, reading is not a punishment but a lifetime experience. So yes set some goals on the variety side but don't make it all about eating vegetables.

[Anonymous]

What age? I would worry more about choosing easier books for an older child than for a beginning reader. A start chart with rewards (going out B&N for a new book and a cookie in the cafe after 20 books read) could be a great motivator.