I was an avid, early reader as a child, and I expected my daughter to be the same. Instead, she found reading very difficult initially, and it was hard to get her to read at night without a battle. One day I decided to stop arguing and try a more positive approach. I realized that my daughter would probably be a great reader someday, but learning to read is hard work at first. I needed to make reading fun for her, even during this difficult time.

I made a chart that was 10 squares across by 10 squares high with a slightly wider 11th column at the far right. Each square was big enough to put a small sticker in it, and the far right column was big enough to write a few words. In each row of the 11th column I wrote a small reward idea. For example, I wrote “ice cream for dessert,” “choose a playground,” and “trip to the library.”  I tried to keep them simple, cheap and not too focused on unhealthy foods. I made the chart with a ruler and pen, but a computer spreadsheet would work, too. I called the chart “1,000 Pages!” and had it up on the wall one morning when my daughter woke up.

I told her that she would get a sticker for the chart each time she read 10 pages. When she had 10 stickers (100 pages), she would get the reward at the end of the column. When she completed the whole chart, she would get a bracelet ($4) she’d admired in a store. She was very excited and wanted to get started right away. She was reading beginner chapter books, like Magic Treehouse, at this time, but it would work at any level. Each night she was eager to read and get her stickers. I won’t say there were no hard nights, but it really was an amazing change.  One bonus was the math she learned also. She was constantly counting her completed pages (counting by 10s) and figuring out how many more she had to go.

When she completed the whole chart, she felt a great sense of accomplishment at having read 1,000 pages.  A few weeks later, we started a new chart. By the time she completed the second chart, her reading had improved and she was enjoying it a lot more.  Now I don’t bribe her to read, but I think this idea really helped us get over the hurdle of learning to read easily and fluently.