We all want our kids to be “good” readers, right? My guess is, whether or not you consider yourself to be an avid reader, you probably still want your children to be able to read well. So how do we make that happen? How do we turn our early or even struggling young readers into good, independent readers? 

There are countless reading programs out there that all claim they have better ways of teaching reading. And some of them probably work great! You teach phonics and decoding, and that’s a perfect way to get started teaching reading. But I have found that at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what program you use or how much it cost. What our children need in order to learn to read with fluency, is practice. Lots of practice! And practice itself will develop into good reading habits that will last a lifetime. 

The challenge with this is that it requires time from us to invest in practicing with our children. We need to sit with them and practice daily to reach this reading goal. This can be hard to do with so many other pressing things requiring our attention. And let’s be honest, younger students at these early reading levels aren’t exactly reading riveting, great books that pull us in. So while we don’t want to appear bored at our child’s reading (since that can have the opposite effect we’re looking for), finding the motivation to sit down with them everyday isn’t always easy. 

So I’ve created a 100-day reading challenge with a reward system. Positive reinforcement is an excellent way to motivate yourself and your young reader! Each day that your child reads out loud to you, mark it down on the reading log. It doesn’t have to be long! Say, up to 10 minutes a day. After every 10 days, you reach the star on the chart and you get a reward. This is a great way to track your child’s reading progress. It has nothing to do with grade level, but is a fun way for young readers to keep track of their reading. When I use this reading log template with my children, we typically invest in 10 minutes of reading time each day, or one simple leveled reader. It’s a commitment, but it’s doable. Do this for 100 days, and you will certainly see an improvement in your child’s reading ability!

There are many different versions of reading log templates and book trackers out there. Some keep track of the page numbers read, others keep a record of the books you read. Your local library may even have its own weekly reading logs for older kids. This one is less specific and entirely customizable. For 100 days you invest in reading with your child. Let him or her read out loud to you for 10 minutes a day, or read one of their early readers, or one chapter from a book. And every 10 days, issue a reward. The reward is totally up to you and whatever suits your family! It could be that your child gets to skip a chore, or gets to stay up late one night, gets to pick the next movie for family movie night, or even chooses dinner one night that week. Or you can reward the both of you and go out on an ice cream date, or have a special time out just the two of you! It can be the same reward every 10 days, or you can change it up! 

This reading log is for your own personal use and is customizable for older or younger children. Use it to keep track of minutes, or keep track of the books you read, or the number of chapters you complete. It’s totally up to you and your individual student! The important thing is that you keep reading with your child. If you miss a day, no big deal, just pick up where you left off. But the improvement in your child’s reading skills WILL COME when you stick to this for the 100 days. There is no deadline, but maybe you make it a goal for yourself to complete it by the end of 2023 or another date that fits your family schedule. This is designed to be a useful tool to enhance the reading experience for your family, not a ball and chain that weighs you down for the entire year.  

You can involve other family members, as well. Your child doesn’t have to read to just you. They can read to a sibling or a grandparent, or an aunt or uncle!  The good news about this reading log is that it’s designed to be used to fit your family’s lifestyle and will hopefully instill a love of reading in your child. You can both bond over books over the course of the 100 days, and as you watch their literacy development soar, you will also be creating lasting memories between the two of you.

In my homeschooling family, I teach the phonics and decoding as a part of our reading curriculum. But I am convinced that the magic occurs when my husband spends each morning reading with the child who is learning and needs the practice at the given time. This regular routine of daily practice definitely helps take that child’s reading skills to the next level. Not only that, but it is a bonding time between father and child. I can think of few other parent/child experiences as significant as bonding over books and helping a child achieve something as monumental as progressing in reading. 

So if you’re looking to take your child’s reading skills to the next level, or just looking for an easy way to keep track of reading regularly with your children, I highly encourage you to download this free reading log to use in your homeschool. And if you don’t homeschool, it’s still an extremely useful tool in helping your child achieve his or her reading goals, and the perfect way to start instilling a lifelong love of reading in them! I can’t wait for you to see your child’s reading progress!