kitchen table math, the sequel: better not to tell you now

Saturday, June 28, 2008

I just asked Mattel's online Magic 8 Ball whether C. will finish his summer reading.

Bonus link: The Magic 8-Ball.

Liz Ditz said...: Uhhm. This isn't hard, just requires some parental involvement and persistence. This has worked for three kids.

1. Take the total # of pages required to be read by the start of school.
2. Take the total # of days left in summer vacation.
3. Multiply the total # of days by [0.75 for a compliant kid] or [0.50 for a less compliant kid]
4. Divide #1 by #2
5. Make a chart showing desired progress vs. actual progress
6. Require kid to note actual progress
7. Declare "reading catch-up days" when desired vs. actual lags some unit behind.
8. Reward above-average progress
9. In the case of children who are expected to read more than 2 books, reward completion of each book
10. It is very helpful if one or both parents read the books at the same time as the kid, and invest in discussing plot points, character development, response to the books, etc.
11. Novels with difficult textural features (dialect instead of standard spelling, complex narrative structures) may require extra parental imput, such as listening to the book in recorded format, story-board mapping, etc.; June 28, 2008 at 9:55 PM

kitchen table math, the sequel