Reading and rivalry
First off, thanks to everyone who commented on my last entry. I now have a list of books longer than my arm which I can try on Link. I’m sorry I can’t respond to all the comments individually, there were so many wonderful suggestions. Unfortunately I’m swamped just now with incoming book orders and customer support emails, oh and all that housework that I really should be doing. So one thank you is going to have to suffice for everyone. Thank you! Now I need to make a trip to the library and then I can toss books in front of Link and see which ones stick. ( It’s like the spaghetti test. You throw the spaghetti against the wall and if it sticks it is done. I’ve never actually gotten this test to work on spaghetti, but I’m optimistic about literacy.) I also decided to add an incentive plan to the project. (It’s like adding olive oil to the spaghetti. Sort of.) I told Link that if he could read a 100+ page book that had no pictures, then I would buy the family a pizza dinner. This prospect was greeted with excitement. The long term plan was for me to gradually increase the required page count necessary to earn pizza.
The plan was lovely, but then Link was telling Kiki about the plan. She grinned at him mischievously and said
“I have the perfect book for you!” Kiki then grabbed Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World and thumped it down in front of Link. The Eye of the World is over 800 pages long with very small print. It landed in front of Link like a brick. Kiki had recently been required to read over 1000 pages for a class assignment. I’d given her Eye of the World because I figured she could knock off most of those pages in one go. She loved it. She loved it so much that she spent her lawn mowing money to buy the next book in the series. She was joking when she handed it to Link, but she was serious when she said what a good book it was.
Link’s eyes got wide. Then he looked at me. I laughed and said
“Link, if you read all of that book. I won’t just buy you pizza, I’ll buy you a video game.”
Link’s eyes lit up. “Really?!” he said.
I looked at him and at the book. 800 pages of complex vocabulary and characters. If Link can wade his way through that, he will have earned a video game. I may regret those words, since I’m trying to get the kids to cut back on video game time, but I decided not to take them back.
“Yes really.” I answered.
Link snatched the book and ran off to read. So far he likes it. The prologue is in medias res and includes a madman, sword fighting, and big magic. We’ll see how he does when he gets to the more expository passages. So now I’m left to wonder if I’ve set him up to fail, or if I’ve caused more trouble for myself because Link will get bogged down in a story that is too difficult for him. That could make him more convinced that reading is hard. But there is the chance, the hope, that he too will fall in love with Robert Jordan’s story. If only I can get him to love a story enough to read it, the battle is over. The chance is slim, but it is there. We’ll see. I’m still going to make that trip to the library. I can get him to take breaks from reading for video game to read something easier for pizza.
Hopefully soon I will not have to bribe him to read text-only books. Hopefully he will break through his belief that reading is work. Then reading will become its own reward.