Summer Reading Reward System for Kids

I may be in the minority here (I have a 3rd grader) but I really think O. of the tried and true ways to SQUELCH any love or enjoyment of reading is to force it.

What I do is allow my son to choose books about topics that truly interest him....and allow him to choose how much time he spends reading them.

Sorry...that's all I've got! :)

When my daughter was that age, they did a program where they had to read 60 minutes a week and if they did that for 2 months, they got a ticket to six flags. You could do something similar. Maybe a trip to the zoo or whatever may interest her.

My daughter turned into a reader after 3rd grade. I would encourage but not push reading in 1st grade. Make going to the library weekly a fun outing. Read to her every day. Encourage the love of reading. But tracking reading minutes or books read is what our school did, and it did NOTHING for my daughter's ability or love of reading, it was a chore that she disliked - no matter the reward.

My daughter's enjoyment of reading came from us reading to her daily, and eventually, her ability caught up with her interest and now she's in the highest reading group in her class and reads every day by her own choice.

External rewards do little or nothing to actually motivate children (or adults). What is needed is intrinsic (internal) motivation that comes from the enjoyment of the activity itself. Read the book "Drive" by Daniel Pink for an in-depth look at our missunderstandings of motivation.

Be realistic in how many books she can read in a week. So give her a goal to complete weekly. Put it on a calendar and she can get a sticker for each book read. Then come up with some kind of reward. Maybe if she meets her goal two weeks in a row you can take her to a special park, have a special picnic, manicure, special shopping trip. Something you know she'll enjoy. As for book series, ask the librarian. They are great at knowing that kind of thing.

ETA: If you have a Half-Price books near you they have a reading log you fill out and when you bring it back you get a $3 giftcard to spend. Also Barnes & Noble has a reading program too. I think you get a free book.

I think it's a matter of finding her passion and then having her read about it.
With my son we started with Dr Seuss and branched out to books about fire trucks, sharks, dinosaurs, wizards, dragons and by then he found his favorite subjects and WANTS to read about them.
These days we never find him without a book on hand just in case he has a few minutes to read.
Read with her.
Make it fun.
Show her it's something you enjoy and value.
Try her out on many subjects - ponies/horses (animals/kittens/puppies/etc), mysteries, Magic Tree House, Dr Seuss, etc until you find what she really likes.

My husband is dyslexic and reading has never been one of his favorite things :p. When he was in high school his parents told him that anything he was interested in doing, if he did the reading on it...they would do whatever they could financially to make it happen. He was very interested in woodcarving...he read all about it...they bought tools. He was very interested in metallurgy...he read all about it (seriously read...)...and they bought him a forge at an auction and he was able to make knives, tools, old fashioned keys...etc. To this day, although my husband is not the fastest reader, if he wants to learn something, he turns to books. Obviously, the interests would be different...but I wonder if something like that would be more effective? I would hesitate to do a whole lot of bribery because it can backfire. What kinds of things is she interested in? Another thing we did a lot of that I believe helped my daughter love reading...I read chapter books out loud at night and I can't tell you how many times my daughter would pick it up during her free time because she was dying to know what happened. When she was in Kindergarten and first grade, we read all the Wizard of Oz books by Frank Baum...many of the Chronicles of Narnia...several Newberry books. She is in 2nd grade right now...I started 'The Mysterious Benedict Society" out loud last night...and sure enough, it's in her bag this morning...she couldn't wait till tonight :) Good Luck!

My daughter is also completing the first grade. We have been reading books to her since she was a baby. Now that she is capable of reading, she reads to me at night and she finds this to be a treat in itself. I try to keep books for her everywhere; the car, around the house and grandma's house. I rotate the books to keep her intrigued each time she picks them up. At first I would give them to her, but now I just place them where I know she is bound to find it and gets excited to read. We have a log sheet in our refrigerator, and when she is done with a book she writes it in. She is always excited to do this. Once she completes 50 books, she gets to pick from the reward jar. In the reward jar she can go get a gift card to Toys R Us ($10), money to save in her piggy bank($10), or get to pick a favorite place to go; Museums, etc. She enjoys reading so much that sometimes she forgets about the rewards and I have to remind her. I hope this information helps you with your little one. Best, A.

Our library has a summer reading program. You could see if yours does as well. They have both youth and adult and there are rewards setup. The kids get tickets for reading for so much time I believe. When they reach 100 tickets, they get a bonus of 10 I think. At the end of the program, there is a special pool party for those that met at least half the goal and they can redeem their tickets for prizes. If your library does not have anythiing, you could do something along these lines. Find out what she would really like to do and use that as a reward. Maybe a trip to a waterpark or something llike that. For her age, you could set up a chart where she gets a star for each 20 minutes of reading she does or each age appropriate book. Then you could give her a coupon for every 5 stars(one a week if she reads 5 days) and then at the end of summer she can do soething big. Give her a goal to really look forward to.

BTW, my son was not a reader until about 3rd or 4th grade. He would only read if he had to. Now, he finds books that he is really interested in and usually reads 3 or 4 a week.

If you teach her to read for a reward, that is why she will read. And eventually, there is no reward for reading a book, or 5 books. You just can't keep escalating the bribes. If you make it fun and exciting, she will learn to read for the love of reading. Perhaps you haven't found the thing she wants to read ABOUT. My son was blah on the library until he realized there is a NON FICTION section. Now, he can't wait to go and he can't wait to read the books about animals.

This doesn't answer your question but I also have one child who doesn't just love to read like I certainly do. But one series she does love is Ivy and Bean if you haven't come across those yet. She's so hard to please with books so it seems to be key to find one she really likes. Then she'll happily read. So I might keep trying different books vs a reward system. I'm glad to see people say it's not good to bribe to read bc I get tempted too but ultimately decide I want to have them read or study for intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards. And if your daughter is doing excellently already, maybe don't worry about it. I plan to keep the mandatory 20 min of reading a day during the summer but not push too much. I like to think all the imaginary play my daughter does enjoy is also beneficial. (She's finishing 2nd grade). So long as she's not watching TV or playing video games instead of reading, I figure or hope her love of reading may increase and I don't want to push so hard I turn her off.

Definitely check out the summer reading programs at the public library. Also, take her to the library and speak with the children's librarian. She will be able to suggest books according to her interests. Maybe she would be more into reading a book of jokes or a cookbook, historical fiction, or a series of books like baby sitters club or American girl. Don't limit her to just a series of books. Let her read magazines or newspapers if she would prefer.

Edited: You can also choose books of the movies she like to watch or the movies she wants to see. When you read the book, you get to rent the movie!

I like Bethyskids idea.
But also, you might find that if you take her to the library and let her choose what SHE wants to read or is interested in, that you won't need to use any kind of system.
My daughter IS one of those that LOVES to read. My son, on the other hand, is not and never has been. They BOTH love going to the library. And they both always want to check out books.
At your daughter's age, let her check out stacks of Dr. Seuss if that is what she likes. She'll read them. Then take her back and let her return them and get other stuff. Let HER choose, and she will not only enjoy it, but she will expand what she likes and love the process of going to the library.

Really... take her as often as she wants to go.. and you might find it is more than you expect. Or pick a day: Every Thursday at 10 am we're going to the library. She can select however many books (depending on your library's limits, lol) and then she must return them the next Thursday. THERE is the incentive to read them... they will go back to the library in a week. :)
On Tuesday/Wednesday, remind her that Thursday morning is library day, and if she didn't get to finish any of her books, that now is a good time to do so... since they will be returned on Thursday.
:)

I was totally thinking of the BookIt program and Pizza Hut when you mentioned the "Rewards."
You had to read so many hours to recieve a gift certificate for a pizza.
You could simply substitute for another kind of gift care. I would give $2 an hour of reading and then it is up to her how often, how much and how frequently she wants to read, but maybe a mandatory 30 minutes (that is a long time for a 1st grader!) per day.
my son likes to read before bed and does on his own, so I haven't had to reward, but it wasn't until the end of 2nd grade that he really found his reading groove - just to say that some of her interest may be based less on reading and more on skills?
Good luck! There are such great ideas in this thread already!

My kids have participated in the summer reading program and enjoyed the filling out the chart part as well as the rewards (mostly reduced price coupons for local restaurants or activities), and I think those programs can help build the reading skills that come with practice as well as encouraging kids to look around the library for books. However, those programs weren't what turned our son into an enthusiastic reader, it was finding a series of books which grabbed his interest. He was a really late bloomer that way--it wasn't until the summer of second grade when I happened to bring home a book in the Secrets of Droon series, and it hit him at the right time. Suddenly this kid who wouldn't read more than a sentence or two out loud to me and only wanted me to read to him was reading a whole book by himself in four hours. So I probably agree with the others that if you want your child to love reading, you'll need to help her find books about topics or a character which grab her. It's possible that reading just hasn't 'clicked' for her yet. Someone suggested that the library staff could be a great resource--they can direct her towards good books about whatever interests her, and then once she is in the stacks, she may find all sorts of other books. I don't think a reward system seems necessary. If you have established limits on how much screen time she gets in a day (or a week) and she won't be outside or at camp or at play dates all day, there inevitably will be some times when she won't have anything to do except pick up a book.

I think series are a good hook for kids--the predictability of a certain scenario, certain characters, certain ways the story will end. You also might look into the graphic novel section of the library, if they have them. They're like cartoon magazines, except in book form; they range from superheros and Star Wars to Nancy Drew. While they have much less text than regular books and probably don't build reading skills in the same way, they do build the habit of turning to books for entertainment and other views of the world. I wasn't happy that our son only wanted to get graphic novels out of the library in 1st and 2nd grade, however I figured that at least he was holding a book instead of a Gameboy, and looking back on it, I think the graphic novels helped reinforce the habit of reading books for pleasure. Anyway, enjoy the summer with her!

Check with your library. Ours has a fun summer reading program. Each time they read 20 minutes, it gets written down. You turn in your card after 14 days of reading and get awarded prizes. The card also enters you in to a drawing. Last year we got tickets to minor league baseball games, tote bags, free bowling. It was fun and easy.

Many libraries already have a summer rewards program. Why don't you check with your local library about it first? I'm sure you could find a neat ready-made program for her age.
As an aside, I personally hate the rewards schools give on number of books. I mean, you can breeze through a Cat in the Hat book in minutes, but Treasure Island is gonna take a good week or two. I'd so much rather my child be rated by minutes read instead of number of books read, because I'd much rather my child go through a real story or classic with me instead of just any little thing to rack up numbers. (Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Dr Seuss, but you know what I mean??)
On a more "involved" note, my mom would take me on field trips that coincided with whatever I'd been reading and taking interest in. Or we'd do some role play kind of games with whatever I was into. The story, and how it worked my imagination, were part of the rewards. I read a story called The Wish Giver and mom took me to a fair and we put coins in the Zoltar thing there and tried to work up a wish that was "properly worded" (a thing with the story). Or when I read some books about pirates (Where the Pirates Are, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, etc), we went to the nearest beach and had a pirate/deserted isle themed weekend. We went to a boarding stables and volunteered to do little chores when I was reading Black Beauty and the Black Stallion series. We went to a sweet little town by a real train, that had a neat shopping street with amazing clocks, a wonderful store that sold rocks and minerals, we ate at a neat little cafe, made a day of it and then rode the train back, after I got interested in The Boxcar Children series. That kind of thing, and it built a lifetime of memories.

As others have said, local libraries usually have a reading program. Barnes & Noble stores usually have a summer reading program. It usually starts in late May or early June. The stores have a form for you to record the books your child reads. When the form is filled up (usually 8 or 10 books), your child gets to pick out a book for free. They usually have a list of books to choose from for the free book.

Does your local library have a reading program set up? Ours does every summer for all ages. I think they help you keep track of the number of books you read over the course of the summer, and at the end of the summer there is a big "carnival" type day, where they do a raffle drawing, but instead of paying for raffle tickets, your name gets put in dependant upon the number of books read.

We pay my youngest neice in the 2nd grade $5 per book completed.

We pay the older neice (teen) $10 per book completed (cuz they're longer)

Any book for either, but nobody gets money for a book too far below their level.

The pay-to-read idea is based on the theory that the fun and excitement of reading will be discovered by the reading itself. But we want to get them reading so that they can discover that joy.

BTW - we've been doing this for about 3 years and they both now love to read. We keep it up b/c of financial circumstances in their family.

Our local library has a summer reading program with a colorful map/chart that your child can complete over the summer. For different age groups there are a set number of books to read. You fill in the bubbles as you go and once you reach the end you get a certificate and a pretty cool prize! See if your library offers something like that :)

I would ask the library if they have plans to start a summer reading program . maybe you can help get one together. Ours gives out passes to the local waterpark at the end of it. They also give out Chili's free kids meals , Outback,mcdonalds,passes to minigolf ,etc .weekly. Maybe you can go to these restaurants ,businesses and solicite them for donation for a program. They are always willing to donate stuff for kids. Happy reading =0)