With kids finishing the year on computers through distance-learning, we were struggling to find ways of balancing screen time needed for school work with additional time spent for fun and entertainment. The hours staring at a screen were growing each day so to keep Grant engaged in reading those old fashioned books he used to enjoy, I challenged Grant to exceed his class goal of 20 Accelerated Reader points and 300,000 words. If he could reach 50 AR points and 1,000,000 words before his score reset in July, he would earn some cold hard cash and we would celebrate all weekend with activities he chose (within reason).
He started out strong, reading nonstop for hours at a time. He even spent weekend mornings, typically reserved for Roblox or Mark Rober videos, burning through chapters in books from the library. When libraries shut due to restrictions, Grandma was one step ahead, mailing a new series of adventure fiction books for Grant to keep making progress. The reading began to retreat though and it looked as if Grant burned himself out on reading until local libraries opened with a pick up service. With new genres available, Grant loaded up and spent three days reading more than 200,000 words to finally exceed his million word goal by a few thousand and his AR goal by just under 10 points!
Grant, the 8-year-old millionaire!
