Summer Reading: Elementary (ish) Edition

Little Buddy has been reading for 15 minutes EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. This is noteworthy because A.) He is hostile towards books (it seriously gives me chest pains), and B.) Well, he would rather be "spanked" than read.  Case in point...yesterday at the pool

Me: 5 more minutes
LB: Awww mom.  What happens if I don't get out in 5 minutes?
Me: A Big Ol' Spankin' (don't judge, it's all I could come up with)
LB: Oh, that's OK then
Me: With a wooden spoon
LB: Still OK
Me: I'll make you read extra
LB:

Yup, no response because he was already out of the pool drying off.  Ok, so I wasn't really going to spank him...he's 9, come on, and yes, I know that reading as a punishment is bad...I get it...but it worked.  Regardless, he is consistently doing his 15 minutes a day (and not a second more), and it's all because of his amaz-o 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. T.  Seriously.  She's a miracle worker.

At the end of the school year she sent home a reading passport for each of her students.  It looks like this...

It has 10 different states on it with a little fact about each state.  The passport has blanks for the date, the number of minutes reading, and a parent signature.  She left it up to the parents to determine the amount of time spent reading for each state, and the prize that would go along with each passport locale.  She even sent home a list of suggested prizes for the parents, but knowing that earning a bottle of water after reading through Minnesota (the land of 10,000 lakes) wouldn't motivate Little Bud, we came up with our own list.

So far Bud has:
Made his own Popsicles (Minnesota also has a lot of ice)

Homemade grape pops: Boil grapes with water and honey, mash them through a strainer, freeze for 24 hours

Earned $3.00 in gold coins (Nevada has 3 of the biggest gold mines in the U.S....who knew?!)
Gone mini-golfing (Augusta, GA - home of the Master's)

Little Buddy and my brother Alex at Putter's Creek

And in honor of Garret's Popcorn in Chicago, IL, bought popcorn from Popcorn Paradise - in dill pickle, bacon cheddar, and cookies and cream flavors.

Currently Little Buddy is 30 reading minutes away from a basketball t-shirt celebrating Florida, home of the Orlando Magic basketball team, and the rest...well who knows how far we'll get, but he's gunning for 8 more hours of reading which will earn him a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.  Bribery? Yes.  Worth it? Definitely!

I was super inspired by Mrs. T's awesome passport, so I decided to try a little reading-bribery of my own this coming year... Here's a Reading Bingo card that I made for my Freshies.

I will have my freshmen for 24 weeks this upcoming year, so I figure 9 books is completely feasible.  This will be optional, but seriously, who wouldn't want to have an off-campus lunch party. with me. I'll let you know how it goes.

Blessings!
Mrs. V