On Sunday afternoon, my family enjoyed lunch together. It was at this point that I learned that my two youngest nieces would be coming to spend the weekend with my parents. Sitting next to me, the older of the two girls was reading one of my favorite books -- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. The other child had begun reading C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe but had hit a snag and needed some motivation.There are a few things you must understand about me. I highly value education and firmly believe that it is the secret to success. A reflective, educated person discovers that a greater number of opportunities are available to them throughout their life. The key to education - regardless of the field of study - is literacy. In order to improve one's literacy and critical thinking skills, one must regularly read items of various styles and voices.
Because I hold literacy in such high regard, I am willing to do anything necessary to get the children in my life to read. By creating a book-friendly environment from a young age and helping them to find works that they personally enjoy, we set them up for becoming lifelong learners through reading. I have already traveled this path once with my oldest niece who is nearing the end of her undergraduate education. What is her major? English literature with an emphasis in secondary education! This uncle is so proud!
That brings me back to my current plans. Sitting at the table with my nieces, I made a deal with them. If they complete their books by Friday of this week, they will receive a trip to Incredible Pizza this weekend. The incentive has been set; now I'm in the process of encouraging them to reach their goal to collect their reward. By using the social networking site FaceBook, I am able to offer encouragement to them in a fun way while also providing additional enticements.
I'll let you decide: am I bribing the girls or providing them with an incentive? It's going to cost me a trip to Incredible Pizza, but the price is a worthy investment in their educational development. Additionally, I'm forming memories with the girls and spending quality time with them in their environment. What better way to re-enforce my unconditional love for them while boosting their budding self-esteem?
As a kid, I remember being frustrated with The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. It started off great, but then somewhere in the middle I'd get completely confused and disinterested. I think there were too many characters to keep track of.
ReplyDeleteI've never gone back to read it as an adult, so I might be totally off base. I'd start by hooking the girl up with a different book.
Anyhow, I think you have a craving for Incredible Pizza and are passing it off as a bribe/incentive. I'm just sayin'! :)
Andrew, thanks for posting! I'm guilty as charged....I'm always looking for an excuse to be a big kid.
ReplyDeleteYour complaint about LWW is not completely off base. I talked to Sara earlier today and she told me she had gotten through the "boring" stuff and was now into the exciting stuff where Aslan shows up.