We pay our kids to read books
I was not someone who enjoyed reading as a kid. I basically didn’t enjoy reading until I was about 40. I tried but it was always such a chore. Now that I am here considering, and even trying to write my own book, the doors seem to have swung open and I’ve been reading like crazy and loving it! I think a large part of that is getting rid of social media! Another part of it is joining a feminine rage book club with good friends, it’s nice having friends who pick good books! Still another part is just more interested in learning things I don’t know. In any case I have already read 13 books this year which works out to a couple books a week (not including the ones Miles and I read together for his schooling).
Books are important
Does anyone else remember going to the cliff notes section of Hastings? I finished every book report I ever had from those cliff notes and I did fine in school, great actually. I proved that you definitely don’t HAVE to read to pass school but, gosh, you get so much more from the actual books!
Regular reading, in any format, is the only metric that consistently corresponds to how successful a person will be in life. It really doesn’t matter if it’s comic books, audio books, group reading or individual reading, it all counts. It gives empathy, perspective and emotional acceptance, all very important things!
When we learned this we made reading a part of all of our kids’ routine.
They go to bed at 8 but can basically stay up as late as they want reading in their beds. We equip them with a lamp and smaller book lights if they stay up late enough that the lamp has to go off. We also made our books a focus of some of our conversations because kids don’t just learn from what we say, they learn from what we do. The kids see both James and I enjoying reading and having open discussions about our books (we read very different genres). They also love to get involved by telling us, sometimes in excruciating detail, about their books. Even when it goes on, and on, and on, we try to listen intently. It’s clear that it matters to them and so we encourage sharing (I hope that dialogue continues into their teens and they talk to us about life and what matters then, too!). We make sure they always have some options, incase they aren’t feeling a big heavy read. They have some graphic novels and quick picks.
At this point, they don’t throw too much of a fit going to bed because the are both sucked into the Percy Jackson saga. Hazel balances Percy with Warrior Cats just to keep things spicy. Miles has DogMan on rotation as well but loves animal books like Pax and the Wolf Called Wander series, too.
Non-Fiction
The goal was to spark joy in reading, I think fictions books have successfully done that! Level two is getting them to learn factual things from reading. Non-fiction here we come! (there are SO many abstract concepts to be learned from fiction, and plenty of fact, too, but we keep that for fun and they tend to gravitate to fiction even with the option of earning money for non-fiction)
The kids don’t do chores or get an allowance. This is not to say they don’t help out, they do, a lot. It’s just part of life, not something special. They run a market stand in the summer for spending money and are very financially motivated. Now that they have their reading skills well at hand, they have jumped into this option I have always taunted them with: reading to earn money. It’s about the only thing I will pay them for.
The rules
I get to pick the book – I pick books that I think they are at a point to learn something from. They are encouraged to bring forward options and ask if it’s a money earning book. If I can see a lesson they might learn, I likely won’t say no.
I set a price – They are allowed to barter but I’m pretty tough to haggle with so they have to get good at haggling to shift my mind.
They have to read it and give me a report on what they learned.
The reports
At these ages the reports aren’t intense, but neither is the pay. $5 is about the top of Miles’ scale and Hazel might be up to $10 now. They can get the book in any format, Hazel prefers reading the actual book and Miles likes audio books because he can wiggle around still. I generally have a few points I want them to learn or at least consider. Often I pick books I disagree with somewhat, too, so that we can talk about the different perspectives and encourage that critical thinking. You can find a cut sheet of ‘book club questions’ for just about any book out there. I’ll usually find that for the book as well and we will just discuss the things. Hazel has a basic, three paragraph essay component that is not hard, just a way to flex her skills.
That’s the report format for now. It will progress to match their skills needed as they grow. The reports are not about technical skills. I don’t super care if they follow proper essay formats if the information being conveyed is on point. Paying them to read books is a great way to be able to bring other important perspectives to their education. It’s a way that they can earn some extra pocket change and cut me some slack while still learning under someone else’s teaching style. They learn more about voice and narration and how that plays into the written word. The books tend to not be as fun as their chosen novels so they aren’t always gung-ho about them. Paying them to read non-fiction is a way to get them to choose it, sometimes. And non-fiction is an important way to learn!
Our Book List
I am always collecting books to add to our ‘pay-to-read’ list. I would really appreciate hearing what books you might think are foundational to your life and if you think they should find their way to our list as well? (I particularly would love some good biographies!) This is our current list, many of which are still way too old for my kids, but maybe perfect for yours:
Anxious Generation: The Great Rewiring of Childhood
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Shop Class as Soulcraft
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Sales Dogs
The Four Agreements
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
These aren’t necessarily one time reads, either. Miles just got done reading The Anxious Generation. He made $5 and learned so much. I have SEEN him intentionally putting down his devices more often. I have seen him actively choosing the more uncomfortable path, which is engagement in the real world, more often. He keyed in on several of the parts I was hoping he would catch when I put that option in front of him. When he is 12, 14, 17, he is bound to glean other lessons that didn’t hit right now. It’s going to remain on the pay-to-read shelf and he can still make money from it again. Not back to back, but with space between. There is no hard rule on when it is an option again, either I will bring it up or he will, and we’ll barter the deal. I do believe that one will getting extra milage though from that kid (it’s an important read on how technology isn’t always/often helping kids!)
My goal
My hope is not to overcomplicate this for anyone, myself included. We don’t pay much at all to our kids so this is one of the only ways we’ll give up our hard earned cash to them. They don’t HAVE to do it ever, but hopefully that incentive shares with them that we think learning is important for them, too. There are just some things we are not as good at explaining so encouraging them to find expert sources is worth it to me. I share it here because it’s one of the few parenting strategies I have, maybe it’s helpful to others, too.
Please, let me your favorite book we should add to the Pay-To-Read Pile! !