Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Okay, I have to let this out...

We're running into that problem, too. GS9 is supposed to log what books he is reading as well as time, and have me sign the log. He's having difficulty logging his reading accurately, and getting it signed off. He reads on the bus going to school, he reads on the bus coming home, he reads in class waiting on the rest of the class, he reads anything with words at any opportunity. In 3 weeks, he met his AR point goal for the quarter. I'm just praying that his AR log is not going to count in his grade for reading because once he finished his goal, his log is very spotty; but that doesn't mean he hasn't been reading.

I wrote in another post about AR - it is only based on vocabulary not content or depth of topic. That is why it is increasingly difficult for GT students to find books on their "required" level once they get past 6.0. There are also many books, as you are finding, that say 5.0 that are not books that 5th graders should be reading.

If my 10 year old son did a daily reading log, it would be filled with lots of history and science related Wikipedia articles and video game magazine articles and an occasional book like Ripley's Believe it or Not and magazines like National Geographic, because that is what he prefers to read on his own. I think the time he spends reading on his own probably adds up to several hours a day, so I never felt the need to keep track of it.

We read books about economics and government together because he likes to discuss those subjects. He even asks me to read the economics book on weekends when we are not doing any homeschooling, so I know he is enjoying learning about this subject.

He does not enjoy reading most of the books his public schooled friends are reading and even though his friends kept telling him how good the Harry Potter books were and numerous other books, he refused to read them. He would not change his reading habits for a reward or a bribe as he calls it, but he thinks most people would. When he listened to the debates, he said he thought most people would vote for the candidate offering the best bribe.

Heh. Loved those encyclopedias!! They never let me check them out of the library, so I skipped lunch a lot just to go read.

Just heard on the radio that the d.c. schools are paying kids to do right in school. I will have to dig around for an article on this.

Don't want to hijack the thread, but here's a middle of the road / pro-pay article. http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/...ids-are-being-paid-to-attend-school.html

I think the incentives of a little pizza or an ice cream party at school are pretty minor and I wouldn't think could do much harm. This pay thing might be different...but I would say d.c. is definitely on the desperate to try anything list. I sincerely wish them success.

These things seem innocuous unless you have a kid with fatal food allergies. It's no fun to be the one left out of the ice cream party. I think that when rewards are used at school, they should be something that all the students can enjoy.

Chicago is paying kids for good grades as well... I think it's an awful idea. :-/

When I was in high school a local arcade gave free tokens for A's and B's. But that was just a promotional gimmick. It had nothing to do with the school.

I'd have loved the pay for grades idea when I was in school, since I got good grades anyway. But they wouldn't have changed anything about school for me...except my bank account!

For the record, I hate the idea! :p