Starting in second grade it became all about the AR points and no more reading logs. And there was a bit of competition to it. My son had hit high AR points for not only his grade but also the entire school when he was in second grade. He skipped third grade and had high points again in fourth grade. I had been saying all along reading shouldn't be a competition and they dropped posting the high points in fifth grade because why bother....he was going to win again. And they went out and got all sorts of prizes last year for the high ar point kids for each grade but instead of giving him the best prize (a tablet) they put all the names in a hat and pulled for the prizes....even though no one was close to his points. But this isn't what education should do. Readers already read and enjoy reading. Prizes and competition don't help them get better....and poor readers I feel are just discouraged because they can't beat a kid like mine.
