Reading

Parker recently informed us he doesn't like to read. He finds it boring. I think he finds it hard and he doesn't like to do things that are hard for him, which I understand completely.

He also recently announced (he likes to make announcements) that he only likes to go in pools, go on rides, and play angry birds. And really, he would just be happy to play angry birds all day long. That's it.

Putting these things together, I told him he could play 10 minutes of angry birds for every chapter he read of a real chapter book. He liked this idea. It was concrete. Easy to measure. And pretty easy to accomplish. It also gives him some kind of control over the situation. We've only been doing it two days and he's read 2 books. He's reading the Magic Tree House books which are a little too educational for me, but he likes them, mostly because they are numbered. I also told him that if he read to his sisters he would earn 15 minutes per chapter instead of 10.

Although I'm guessing this is a bad way to get your kid to read, he does seem to be actually enjoying the reading too. He reading one about dinosaurs right now and he says things like, "Mommy, what does a-n-a-t-0-s-a-u-r-u-s-e-s spell?"

This morning he read to Miranda. They were both happy about that.