50 Book Challenge

Lucas finished first grade below grade level in reading. Not only was he behind, but by last school year, he had decided that he hated reading and that he couldn't read.

For someone who literally can't remember a time when I didn't love, love, love reading, this has been a real struggle for me as a parent.

He got special attention and time with the reading intervention specialist at school and we took him to weekly tutoring with a neighbor who is pretty amazing at what she does. And he made great strides, but still, professed his hate for reading and that he'd never be able to do it.

We knew we needed to make sure he read over the summer. He'd made great progress the last few months of school and I knew it would be so easy for him to loose all that momentum. June was incredibly busy and by the end of the month, he'd only read a handful of books. So in July I decided to set a summer challenge for Lucas: to read 50 books before school started.

We have a giant mirror in our dining room and I used teacher bulletin board letters to write "Lucas 50 Book Challenge" across the top of the mirror. Each book = a paper ring to give him a visual of success.

There were some tears, lots of frustrations, lots of cajoling and some yelling, from all of us. But, all that was forgotten when Lucas read his 50th book yesterday and we all savored his triumph and success. Abel and I are so incredibly proud of Lucas and -- even better -- he's really proud of himself.

He might still profess that he hates reading, but now we have tangible evidence to show him when he tells us that he can't read. Because all know that after reading 50 books, he definitely can read!


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!