[scottiegazelle]

I registered for Book-It last year at some point, and am trying to decide now whether or not to actually participate. It doesn't help that I've been reading Alfie Kohn over the last few weeks. (I went ahead and registered because I hadn't made a decision at that point; apparently I have yet to come to a decision, .)
My kids are already heavy readers, and one of the things I like about BI is that you can set your own goals. I discussed with my oldest (7) what sort of goals we would like to set for her reading, and if we would even want to set goals. We talked about setting a nonfiction-reading goal, since her favorite books to read are, of course, fiction. We did NOT discuss the idea of rewarding her for those goals with pizza.
(Kohn, of course, frequently cites data on how rewards and "bribes" reduce the intrinsic joy of whatever you are rewarding; in this case, how a child who reads to get pizza begins reading to knock books off the checklist rather than the joy that comes from reading/exploring.)
On the one hand, there is the homeschooling mom who wants her kids to love reading and do so for its own purpose - which they do now.
On the other hand, there is the frugal, SAHM of four kids on a tight budget who would love to go out for pizza and get a portion of it for free.
Is it possible to have my kids set the goals to work for, achieve them, and then go out for pizza without particularly linking the two of them? (and does that take away from the basic nature of the Book-It program?) Am I deluding myself about this?
If I am understanding Kohn correctly, it is not so much the setting of goals that destroys the intrinsic rewards but the act of the external rewards. Is it possible, then, to walk the line? Or should I just give it up and go out for pizza once a month for the heck of it?
Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

[deedee1231]

Okay... I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I think you may be reading too much into this Book-It thing. I ordered the Book-It stuff for my homeschoolers also, and did so for no other reason than the free pizza. I mean, our kids (yours and mine) are homeschooled so they probably read a lot more than the public schooled children who are participating in this. I know mine do, at any rate. They are going to read more than enough to earn the pizza regardless of whether or not they participate in the program, so it is more of an added bonus than transfer of joy from reading to pizza, right?

You know, we homeschoolers have to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us, my friends children constantly get "goodies" from school. The other day a good friend of mine told me her children got half off tickets to Barnum and Baileys circus. They get all sorts of coupons and freebies and field trips to cool places that the school pays for or they get the tickets at deep discounts. We get to spend quite a bit on cirriculum and buy our own museum and circus tickets at full price. I am not saying I think anyone else should pay for those things, I am just saying that if there is a program like book it that is going to give my kids some free pizza for reading some books that they are going to read anyway, I don't feel bad about participating.

[twinzplus3]

Good grief. . .take the kids out for pizza.

Personally, I define 'bribe' as rewarding bad behavior or coercing good/desirable behavior. Taking your kids out for pizza once a month in this case is doing neither. It's just saying, "Job well done."

Personally, I like my kids to see that sometimes when we work hard we are rewarded.

[JamesAaron]

Scottie, I think that it is okay to go out for pizza every once in a while for the heck of it as long as you don't make it a habit. You sound like someone I once knew in high school...she worried too much.

[scottiegazelle]

Thanks for the feedback.
I think the thing that worries me is our experience with the summer reading program at the library. The lib had lots of toys and trinkets, and I noticed that my kids became "book reading factories" - it was all about how much they read rather than what they read. That leads me to believe strongly in the studies that say essentially the same things - rewards of any sort tend to cause us to focus more on the rewards than on the act itself. Since my primary reason for homeschooling is that I want my kids to be "lifelong learners" - a goal that I know falls on many lists somewhere, just happens to hit mine at the top - this is why I am contemplating it. (Plus, like I said, I just finished two of Kohn's books back-to-back.)
I think what I'll probably wind up doing is helping the kids set their own goals, and then we will wind up going out for pizza once a month or so anyway. Then I can take advantage of the freebie, as the first poster noted, but try to keep it seperate from the reading.
Thanks for the feedback!
SG

[ahermitt]

Fill out the forms according to what the kids are reading without getting the kid s involved if you are feeling iffy about it. Free pizza is free pizza!