Decent grades come easy to LilZoot, but he has to work for the good grades. Every year in the past he brings home As and Bs with the occasional C.
Well, this year is a whole other story. He has yet to bring home a Wednesday Folder (the folder that has the week’s assignments/grades/notices) with ONLY As and Bs. Every week there has been at least one C, and sometimes, even a D. Granted - they are all due to careless mistakes or going too fast (a quality I fear he inherited from his mother). So, a few weeks ago I told him he was grounded from TV (outside of family TV time) and from his friends until he brought home a Wednesday folder with only As and Bs.
He’s fairly confident this Wednesday will do the trick. He’s taken his time, he’s double checked his work, and he feels good about his grades.
The only problem?
I don’t want him to be un-grounded!
He’s been reading like a madman the last two weeks! He always reads at school, and stays way ahead in his Accelerated Reader program, but he rarely reads at home. These past two weeks? He’s been reading non-stop because there’s little else to do. (of course, he’s not finishing many of the books because he keeps starting new ones, but that’s another entry for another day) He’s even given me a few books to read that he thinks I’ll like. So, I need your help.
I need a good reason to ground him again if he brings home all As and Bs on Wednesday. Maybe because he didn’t make his bed? (Eventhough I never ask him too). Or maybe I should ground him because he didnt wash my car? (Didnt ask him to do that either…but he should have done it anyway!). Help me out - - - why should I ground him?
Just kidding.
But I would like any creative suggestions as to how to encourage this reading withOUT having to ground him again…
although i don’t have kids (damn it), kids do follow examples. have that family reading hour. but i’d also include a night where you read outloud together. like a new harry potter book or something else that you are all interested in… that will also teach him that you finish a book, even if you start another one.
My sister-in-law has a 12 year old boy. Whenever he wants a new video game or something along those lines, she will go out and get it for him, under one condition: She also buys him a new book along with it and he has to read it and write a short summary about the book before he is allowed to play with the new game. At first I thought this sounded a little strange, MAKING the kid read. But, it is doing great! And he is loving the books that he is reading!!
Maybe set up some sort of reward system for time spent reading at home… a special movie or game rental, a special treat or dinner/lunch out. I don’t know don’t listen to me my kids aren’t even old enough to ground yet…
I come from a family of big readers and we used to have family reading time. This takes some committment from you and Mr. Zoot too though. Just set aside one hour blocks of time throughout the week that you all sit and read. And make it an every week thing. Just pick a day that works with still getting to watch the Amazing Race.
I used to love when my kids were grounded too! (twisted, I know) I have ONE reader and ONE non-reader. I read nonstop. I have no clue other than to “limit” his tv time, maybe making him pick out his favorite shows only. OR ground him because he didn’t polish the slver..that works too.
LilZ seems like a smart kid. Do you think pointing out to him that more reading = good grades = happier folks all around might encourage him to read more? Obviously I am not a parent so my suggestion might be utterly ludicrous, but maybe if you tell him what you think you can negotiate some kind of balance between your wanting him to read and his wanting to watch tv.
As for not finishing books he reads - is it because he figures out the ending and gets bored with it?
When you look at the grades tell him how proud you are of him and how good it made you feel to see him reading at home and making such an effort. Ask him if maybe he wouldn’t like to voluntarily give up 30 minutes of tv to read since it worked so well.
Zoot, I agree with the Family Reading Hour. Or, why can you sit Lil’ Zoot down and discuss with him how to give him privileges like watching TV and whatnot without having to ground him every time he gets unsatisfactory grades? Tell him you would prefer that reading be done a little bit every day, and that TV/Computer/Video Games be reserved for not every day? Or perhaps he can do those things every day as long as he reads two chapters of whatever book he’s on at the moment? I’m just guessing, but I bet he’ll appreciate your faith in him to start making his own decisions… and the chance to do something good and something he likes without being grounded.
you know what? I have no clue as to what to tell you. Because:
1. I am not a parent yet, so I am stupid in the groundation department.
2. When I was growing up, I actually got GROUNDED from books (I never watched T.V. anyway). I got in trouble for reading at the table. And my parents always complained that I read too fast because they were spending a fortune buying me new books!
However, I am sure that you are doing a great job with LilZ! Maybe you could ground him for not finishing the books he started… and be sure to remind him of the little children in Africa who would LOVE to have all those books that he never finishes–
HA.
(i apologize for not reading the previous comments so i may be repeating…)
do you think that maybe he’ll realize that the better grades were a result of slowing down and checking things and doing some extra reading? that might be all he needs to keep the trend going. it might take a couple tries but i’m sure the results outweigh the stigma of getting grounded, so let him off this week and see if the grades stay up. then back to being grounded and better grades… let him see the cause and effect of it all.
(i now return to the screaming 2 year old and Thomas the freakin’ train)
Girls. C
hicks dig guys who read.
Point out to him that SuzyQ only started to really like him when he spent more time reading.
It added to his personality and confidence. The old, non-reading LilZ would have been dumped in a heartbeat. He was a loser that had the vocabulary of a sloth and couldn’t think for himself.
The new reading-LilZ is cool, enthusiastic, smart, clever, and oh-so-spiffy. SuzyQ (and similar chickies) like that. Alot.
If he doesn’t agree, tell him he’s grounded again for talking back.
I second Jon’s idea. That’s great. Also, just tell him how happy it makes you…he seems like a loving kid who’d like his mommy to be happy…yeah, I know, it’s totally blackmail.
You could just require a certain amount of reading a night (an hour a school night or something). And if he misses one night he has to make it up by the end of the week or then he really is grounded, when the reading DOUBLES. Which means, five hours of reading a week as a general requirement, 10 hours when he’s grounded.
I think it’s fair.