"It is likely I will die
next to a pile of things I was meaning to read."
-Lemony Snicket
SC is quite the reader these days, so attempting to come up with a summer challenge that will actually be a challenge for her hasn't been easy. Most parents and organizations that have challenges do it to simply get kids reading, which really isn't a problem here. However, we do want to continually encourage and reward her for the reader that she is. After some thought and discussion, AC and I finally settled on a simple "cash for pages" method, because SC has been very interested these days in picking out and buying things on her own.
However, the challenge part comes into play with the final page goal, and there is a huge reward if she makes it. The challenge for SC this summer will be to read 10,000 pages. At a price of $.01 per page, that will earn her a total of $100 for the summer. However, if she can get to that $100 mark, then her prize will be doubled. Finally, AC decided that any book she writes a four sentence summary/review of (because that IS an area that she needs some extra practice), the earnings will automatically double as well. So she has the opportunity to earn $300 all for herself this summer, if she is willing to put in the effort.
However, the challenge part comes into play with the final page goal, and there is a huge reward if she makes it. The challenge for SC this summer will be to read 10,000 pages. At a price of $.01 per page, that will earn her a total of $100 for the summer. However, if she can get to that $100 mark, then her prize will be doubled. Finally, AC decided that any book she writes a four sentence summary/review of (because that IS an area that she needs some extra practice), the earnings will automatically double as well. So she has the opportunity to earn $300 all for herself this summer, if she is willing to put in the effort.
The challenge is running May 1 - August 15, which will give her some break time before her new school starts. The rules we have come up with are that any first-time read counts, including comics and graphic novels, but only novels and chapter books will count as re-reads, and each book will only count once, mostly because it is too difficult to verify if she actually read 100% of a book on the fourth or fifth time through.
So far she has just made it to the 10% mark of the challenge, though she has not written any summaries. We told her that instead of waiting until the end of summer for any pay-outs, we would give her the prize along the way, after each $10/1,000 pages.
If she makes it to 10,000 pages by August 15, I have no idea how we will make next summer more of a challenge, or if this is one that we can do year after year. As much as I read, 10,000 pages in just a few months would definitely be tough!
So far she has just made it to the 10% mark of the challenge, though she has not written any summaries. We told her that instead of waiting until the end of summer for any pay-outs, we would give her the prize along the way, after each $10/1,000 pages.
If she makes it to 10,000 pages by August 15, I have no idea how we will make next summer more of a challenge, or if this is one that we can do year after year. As much as I read, 10,000 pages in just a few months would definitely be tough!
