rewarding 7 yr old for reading books

[dsneybride]

Ok, so my dd7 is a excellent reader. Up till recently I couldnt get her to read a chapter book. My sil bought her some books (Fairy books and Judy Moody). I finally convinced her to try one and she likes it. We are starting out slow, she is reading a couple of chapters a day. I told her we would work out a system. For every few books she reads she will get a treat, like a trip to the Build-A-Bear store. Then I'm thinking this will get expensive! Then I thought maybe $2 per book. What do you think is a fair reward?

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

I don't reward for reading, it is just something I expect the kids to do. I don't give my kids allowances either. I expect the to do their chores as a part of life. I don't get paid to clean and neither should they.

Making that jump to chapter books is pretty exciting.
Maybe just an ice cream cone or something small. I wouldn't do anything too big because otherwise she might begin to expect a special treat for every little thing she does. I have gotten comments recently from my kids...if I do this what do I get? I said the satisfaction of knowing you did it.

 

[Perditamarie]

consider:

a trip to the library where she can have her own library card

a new book....very reasonable at the Goodwill or via Scholastic book order

 

[shelbys mommy]

My DS7 loves to read. He is at a 3rd grade reading level. When he finishes one book I ask him about it to make sure he really read it (which he answers all my questions). His reward, another book of his choice. One series he really liked was Junie B. Jones

 

[MSSANDRA]

Never rewarded for reading either but have heard of having them use a dollar bill as a book mark and getting to keep it after they finish the book.

 

[dsneybride]

It does sound kinda silly now that I put it into words! Thanks for all your advise! I like the dollar book mark thing!!

 

[Disney2NJ]

I loved to read as a child and can still remember getting to go to the book store (once and awhile) to pick out one brand new book. I would take me quite a bit of time to scan the shelves and debate my choice. While Scholastic Book club is a fantastic source for cheaper books, you are ordering through a flyer. We always went to the library as well but that couldn't beat the "new book" feel! OH...and getting to write my name in the book...big WOW!

 

[Liberty Belle]

If your daughter is a good reader and if she enjoys reading, I think reading should be it's own reward. Maybe you could tell her you'll always make sure she has a new book to read (with trips to the bookstore and library).

 

[Leajess99]

Ok, so my dd7 is a excellent reader. Up till recently I couldnt get her to read a chapter book. My sil bought her some books (Fairy books and Judy Moody). I finally convinced her to try one and she likes it. We are starting out slow, she is reading a couple of chapters a day. I told her we would work out a system. For every few books she reads she will get a treat, like a trip to the Build-A-Bear store. Then I'm thinking this will get expensive! Then I thought maybe $2 per book. What do you think is a fair reward?

Personally (and I am not knocking you for what you do), I don't reward my kids for reading. Then again, I actually have to ground my 11 year old from reading. I learned to let them pick out their book and that is their reward. My 11 year old reads at such a high level but she reads what she is interested in. My almost 17 year old loved Harry Potter but my 11 year old hates it. She likes the Warriors series, Eragon, some James Patterson, etc and nothing girly. My 7 year old has had to play catch up on her reading due to a severe speech delay but she is finding books she loves and reading them. She is now above reading level as well but it took a lot more for her.

If you really want to reward her than maybe once a month let her buy a book to keep. You can always see if you have a half price book store if you think it may become expensive. My kids love buying books (our library sucks on selection and book upkeep) and they will go back and reread them later.

 

[staley7580]

We let my son stay up a little past his bed time if he is reading.. Maybe half an hour, an hour?? He reads every night before bed. He is reading the Harry Potter books right now. He got his first for Christmas, and is into his second. His 8th birthday is this weekend, and my mom got him the whole series! I totally cried when I saw how much he loved them! It is s series both my husband and I love.. to see my baby love it too?? Makes my heart happy! LOL! Oh, and we let him watch the movie after he read the book.

 

[Pooki]

We don't really reward for reading either. Both of my kids are supposed to read daily for their homework (and has been like that since kindergarten), but we do that anyways. Reading is on their chore charts, and in order to get their chores complete for the day (thus earning their allowance) they have to read, even during summer and weekends. Not that its really an issue with them, my kids love to read also! I also will let my kids stay up a little past their bedtime to continue reading if they are reading late - they really seem to appreciate that.

We live overseas and have a terrible selection of books on base to choose from, so I let them scour over the Scholastic orders or on Amazon sometimes and let them pick out a few, which they are very excited about. Normally I will just take them to the thrift store and let them look over the selection they have and they have fun finding random books they probably wouldn't look for in the first place.

Oh, and this isn't necessarily a "reward" but you could play it as such. We have been getting Zoobooks for the past 2 or 3 years, and my kids LOVE getting it in the mail! They are amazing magazines to both read and admire pictures, and it comes in the mail especially for them

 

[karliebug]

Just as an aside, I bet your daughter would love the Katie Kazoo books. How about when she is done with a few books you sell them on ebay and let her use the money to buy new ones.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

The only reward for reading at my house is new books. They have to read what they have if they want more. My kids love new books so that works. I won't "pay" them to read.

At school they have the book it pizza program and that helps encourage the kids to read.

 

[RangerPooh]

Instead of money I would consider setting a goal for th enumber of books that she would like to read in x amount of weeks (similar to the Book-It program). Then for each book read place a sticker on a chart so that she can see her progress towards that goal. Once she makes her goal she can be rewarded with a trip to the book store for a new book, or a trip to the ice cream shop, etc.

If you do feel a need to do a money incentive work it as a way to incorporate math into her at home learning. These are just ideas but start small and show her that money really adds up. A penny for every page read or .50$ per book, or the $1 bookmark (when I fly I use a few dollars as cash as my bookmark so that I have it on hand if I need it).

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I don't reward for reading, it is just something I expect the kids to do. I don't give my kids allowances either. I expect the to do their chores as a part of life. I don't get paid to clean and neither should they.

I agree with this. Maybe when she finishes the book both of you can go out for a hot chocolate and talk about the book. (You have to read the book too!)

 

[DebMcDonald]

Never rewarded for reading either but have heard of having them use a dollar bill as a book mark and getting to keep it after they finish the book.

This is a really cute idea!

I also don't reward for reading, but then again two of my three LOVE to read and it's an issue at night getting them to turn out their lights and stop reading, the littlest yet isn't there. But for some that doesn't love to read a little encourgement never hurt. How about a trip to the library to pick out more book or Saturday Family night where she/he picks out the movie, things that you might already be doing, but change it up a little. Even as simple as she/he picks dinner of their choice one night.

 

[tracyz]

I agree with this. Maybe when she finishes the book both of you can go out for a hot chocolate and talk about the book. (You have to read the book too!)

I love this idea! One of the things my DD7 likes best is to read books together, whether we're actually sitting together and trading pages or just reading the same book and talking about it.

 

[labdogs42]

I like the dollar bill idea or something like a sticker chart that she can fill up and earn money for new books.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

We have a DS7 that loves to read. He'll read two chapter books a day (like 110 pages each). So, just a word of caution: if your child really gets into reading, she may put you in the poor house!

*no, we don't reward our children for reading. However, our school participates in the Pizza Hut Book-It program (read x amount of books, get a free personal pan pizza).

Also, DH reads longer "classics" with our children. They just finished the Wizard of Oz last week, then we watched the movie to see all the differences in the two. The kids all loved it. Now they are reading Alice in Wonderland together.

 

[HLDisney]

FWIW, not wanting to read chapter books may just be an age thing. When my DD was 6 1/2, she was ready for chapter books but she just didn't want to read them because they didn't have pictures. I guess it's hard to go from books that have lots of colorful pictures to books with only words on them (and an occasional black and white drawing) It took quite a few months and lots of encouragement from her teacher and myself but once she made the transition, she took off and now she's a 2nd grader reading at a 4th-5th grade level.

So while rewards are fine, if your DD is a good reader, she may not necessarily need the rewards. Just keep an eye on what she's interested in and keep her supplied with those books. For example, my DD was never that into the Fairy books but she loves all sorts of mysteries so we've been going through lots of those series like Young Cam Jansen, A to Z Mysteries, etc. And while she didn't like the Magic Tree House books when she was in 1st grade, she loves them now (but unfortunately, she's beyond that reading level now so she doesn't get to choose from them at school)

Hele