Teaching tool: Summer reading goals & rewards

The other day Brady got a bit frustrated with a book and said, "I hate reading books!" But it passed quickly and he finished reading the book to me.

I think the fact that we have a bunch of goals keeps him motivated beyond his frustration. I'm so happy he's such a goal-oriented kid.

These are our reading goals for the summer:

1) 350 pages for his school library's program.

2) 30 books for the city library's program.

3) The chance for one of four $25 prizes from the state's number-of-minutes library program.

4) A trip to Chuck-E-Cheese if he reaches the 350 page goal (which we are already 2/3 of the way toward achieving).

5) The weekly Reading Store from Mom. He absolutely loves being able to "buy" a special activity and treats that I won't normally supply for him like candy and pop. In fact the other day he said, "Have I read all 3 books today yet?" He wanted to make sure he did.

6) Summer school for reading. I think he wants to perform well at this too.

He's getting quicker and more confident at reading and that is the best reward of all :)