As has become apparent to any blog reader, I am very passionate in my belief that parents can teach their children to read very effectively when they have the appropriate tools. It is also apparent from my web site and blog that I believe I have amazing tools to share with parents.
But I may have been giving bad advice for many years. I feel great remorse about that.
Ironically, the reason I’ve come to this conclusion is all the reading research I’ve read. The most recent paper I read is Corrigendum: Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Expert. NOTE: This paper is available in the Phonogram University library.
The paper’s section on motivation adjusted my view on how to motivate children to read. My advice to parents has always been to identify something their child truly desires and offer to fulfill that desire once they have read a specified number of books or read for a specified number minutes. This advice stems from my son’s experience of reading 100 picture books to earn a PlayStation gaming console. I chose this approach because this goal transformed him into a highly motivated little boy who worked diligently to earn the PlayStation. In the process, he became a very proficient reader.
Even as I write this, I feel that method pulling at me. I picture so many instances of Hayden reading. He was never a voracious reader, but he always read easily in school, which made life much easier. Upon reflection, there were a few series he read voraciously, including the Lemony Snicket books. It made me so mad when I bought him one of those books and he was done the next day.
Back to the research paper, though. The paper stresses intrinsic motivation vs. the extrinsic motivation I’ve detailed above. I understand from my teaching years that intrinsic motivation is preferred. In fact, I was a big adherent of intrinsic motivation as a new first-grade teacher. It resulted in much frustration.
I hate to interrupt and tell another story, but I think it is important. During a parent/teacher conference early in my teaching career I was talking to a parent about motivation and my belief that children should just be motivated to learn. I made school fun and engaging and thought that should be enough, with no need for rewards. She pointed out that if there were rewards and children learned the desired concepts, it was a positive result. That really struck me and stuck with me for years. Hence the PlayStation for Hayden and the suggestion to parents.
Back again to the paper and intrinsic motivation. The key word from the paper is “availability.” I’ve always preached that parents should read to their children and have plenty of books available. Also, it is important for children to see others reading, especially their parents.
But the paper talked about availability and gave an example from a restaurant. It stated that moving a salad bar closer to diners by ten inches made them more likely to select food from there. Is salad bar food cheaper than other selections? The author then went on to describe how having plenty of books readily available increases the chances of a book being selected vs. other choices children can make. Books readily available everywhere possible, like in the car and all over the house. Now that I understand a little more about why we should make books available I think it should be the primary motivation strategy and will be my recommendation going forward.
One other point the author stresses. Ensure that your child is a good reader. Good readers are much more motivated to read. I don’t need research on that one, it just intuitively makes sense. If you do something well, you are much more likely to do it than if you do it poorly. I am very on board with that. So, parents, teach your child to read using phonograms!
This was a very enlightening paper and has brought me back to my early years of teaching and intrinsic motivation. I’m not as naïve as I was back then, though. Intrinsic motivation is preferred, no doubt. But if it isn’t working, I’ll still go with and recommend extrinsic motivation.
In the end, it is important for children to become at least competent readers, and we must do anything necessary to motivate them. Even if you must drop $250 on a gaming console!
