As I’m sitting here trying to be as quiet as a mouse, Gator is reading silently while doing all kinds of weird acrobatics on the couch. What is with kids and being upside down? Gator is such a reluctant reader. She’s great at reading, but she hates it and acts like it’s a punishment.
When I was her age I would go to the library and pick out more books than could be carried home. I would finish the summer reading program the week that it started. I would read all day long, but Gator feels like reading is a chore and it’s a bummer.
So we need some motivation. Motivation in the form of pizza nights works pretty darn well. Not only does she earn a pizza, she gets to pick the movie we watch with pizza. Since winter is almost over we’re wrapping up the Book It! Program through Pizza Hut (Yep, the program rewards homeschoolers too.) This year I’m going to continue it all year long even after Book It! is over and Gator can just pick whatever toppings to put on our family’s pizza. This works out well because that means we’ll be enjoying pineapple pizza monthly. I’ve taught her well.
So last month I created a cute little pizza slice chart, with little slices she can color in every time she completes her daily allotment of reading (30 minutes.) I didn’t know how she would color in the slices, but it turns out she gets super precise each time, gets out her colored pencils and colors in the crust and cheese separately. It turned out adorable.
So she got a little lazy with some of the toppings, but hey, seven-year-olds lead busy lives and reading is the last thing she has to do everyday before she gets some screen time.
If you need a little more motivation for your reluctant reader, you can use this link to download this pizza rewards chart or click on the image below. I know it’s effective, because Gator requested I make a new one right after she finished the first one, and we filled up the chart before the end of the month, which is something that rarely happened before the cute little chart.
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