When we lived in Iowa two summers ago, P-man did their summer reading program and instead of tracking the number of books he read, we marked down each day that he read a minimum of 20 minutes. For every 10 days he got an eraser, or pencil, or small plastic toy that is in the bottom of a toy bin at our house. He loved it. Then if we read something like 20 days, he got a gift certificate for ice cream or a hamburger from one of the fast food joints. If you read 40 days you got to pick out a book, and you got an entry in a drawing to win an iPad. That's right, an iPad. We did not win, but I found it fairly impressive for the library to be giving one of those away.
Now that we are in Minnesota I have to say I am a little disappointed in the summer reading program. When we went down to the library we found out that you don't keep track of your reading at all. Instead, after your child reads a book they either draw a picture about it (for the younger readers) or write a review (geared towards the older readers) on the special form they have. Then you bring your form in to the library and the bottom part goes in to a drawing for a book. You can also be entered in a drawing for tickets to the Renaissance Fair by putting your entry in a different box.
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| The forms from our library, still empty |
I am disappointed in this format for a couple reasons. First of all, my son hates to draw. He is a builder. Legos are his thing. Give him a crayon and he will draw a couple lines and then ask you to draw something for him. He is only 4 and while he already rocks at reading, he just doesn't express interest in writing, or wanting to write, yet. That's totally cool, he is young and it will come. So we have these forms lying around the house that are untouched because he doesn't want to draw a picture of any of the 40+ books we have read this summer and he certainly can't write a review of one either.
The other thing that I find totally lame is that, should P-man finally decide to fill one of the forms out, his slip is an entry into a drawing. He may win a book for each slip he puts in, or he may win nothing at all. How absolutely heart breaking would it be if he filled out dozens of forms, brought them all in, put them in the box for the drawing, and then won nothing. The very friendly librarian who explained the program to us said that they had "tons" of books to give away (although they didn't have them displayed or listed anywhere either), but still, it is a drawing, not a guaranteed book. Where are the pencils and erasers, the little trinkets that kids in this age group love?
Summer reading programs are supposed to excite my little reader. He is supposed to get home and want to start reading right away so he can work towards his goal. He is supposed to ask me repeatedly when we can go back to the library to pick up his prize. That just isn't happening this year. I know that the library uses a combination of grant money and donations for their summer program, and that part of that money goes towards the entertainment they have (there will be a future, positive blog post on that subject). I don't know if the funds were really tight this year, if they don't reach out to area businesses for prize donations, or if they just really like the format they have. Regardless, it makes me a little sad, and a little reminiscent for the reading programs of my past.
I'm sorry your experience with the summer reading program run by your library wasn't positive. Not all Minnesota libraries run the same program, and I agree that especially for younger kids, everyone getting a prize is important. Have you talked with the person about maybe having your son create a lego sculpture or build something from the story, you take a picture and that is his response to the story, making him eligible for the drawing.
ReplyDeleteI know that I work hard with my patrons to try and have the summer reading program work for their kids. If it is a really large library they may not be able to do that, but a smaller library may be willing to work with you to create something that motivates your son to keep reading.
I agree that small, instant rewards are much more exciting for kids, especially at that age, than pie-in-the-sky maybe someday rewards. You'll probably just have to do your own. I remember one summer I cut pictures of different toys or items like an Ice cream cones or other rewards, and made a little catalog for our kids. (this was before one could do all this on the computer) The cost per item was x number of pages read. One of our sons decided to go for broke and earned himself a two-man tent that he used on camping trips for many years. But for the little ones, there were plenty of small things they could "buy" with their page points. It was fun. We lived too far from a library to really participate much in their library reading program.
ReplyDeleteI understand that your library is trying to encourage the kids to think about what they read by putting their thoughts into either pictures or words, but to me, that seems like it takes the focus away from reading and puts up roadblocks between a child and the joy of reading. For some kids, reading itself is hard enough work - to then have to do more work on top of it takes the fun right out of it. And some kids just aren't writers or artists. It's too bad there aren't other choices for reporting what your son reads.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, I have also found that many kids respond negatively when the only prize for summer reading is an entry into a raffle rather than a guaranteed reward. I think if there are going to be prizes, there needs to be a prize for every child, no matter how small or silly it might seem to adults.
You might be right that funding is tight this year, and it is possible (even likely) that your local librarian has little control over how this program is handled this year. But my advice would be to let her know what's not working for you. One of the reasons we were able to make changes in my library's summer reading program this year was that my fellow children's librarians and I could provide parent feedback to the administration, explaining where last year's program let them down. Sometimes public feedback is the only thing library administrators listen to, so your comments are valuable!
And I love Lois's idea above about creating your own summer reading rewards. Such a great back-up plan!
Sounds like a a great program for you to volunteer for to help improve!
ReplyDeleteI want to echo the sentiments above regarding speaking with the librarians. Your feedback is important. I am making a pretty educated guess that the librarian doesn't have a budget for small prizes and that's why there's a drawing.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of having your son build something with Legos and then attaching a picture you've taken (or drawn yourself). The request for a review or picture sounds to me like a great way to promote all types of literacy and give kids a chance to experience the stories they already read in a different way, but I truly doubt the librarian won't take the raffle entry if it doesn't include a picture. He/she is just looking for another way to engage children.
Please remember that many libraries are constantly fighting for resources, so working with the library both during summer reading and as a community advocate is really important.
Thank you for all the wonderful input everyone. Our library is part of a county system and all the libraries in our county our doing this program. I do think that most of their budget is going in to paying for the entertainment, which is fantastic and I have no problems with. I have been rewarding P-man's reading this summer with more books on our own. I was curious to see what everyone thought about this format. I found out from a friend on Facebook that a library in a neighboring community is doing their program the way I remember from my childhood, so it is very interesting to see how different things can be between the different library systems. My dad worked in the children's room at our library when I was growing up and I spent many hours volunteering for the summer reading program when I was younger, perhaps it is time I get back in to it! Thanks again for reading!
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