Doling out "Gold Stars"

I subscribe to the Teaching Authors blog, which as a children's writer, I love.  They always have interesting insights and great writing exercises.  Today's post was titled "Gold Stars" by Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford.  
 Teaching Authors--6 Children's Authors Who Also Teach Writing: Gold Stars 


Gold Stars focuses on summer reading programs for children, and specifically about whether we should reward children for reading when we are attempting to get them to love reading for its own sake.  On the other hand, Jeanne Marie points out - who doesn't love to get recognized for their hard work?  Adults work for the reward of their pay checks!  


My feelings are this: why not offer rewards?  We all like a pat on the back.  Kids especially love to know with physical, tangible proof that they are doing a good job.  What's the worst case scenario?  That they only read in order to receive a reward - and there after don't?  Well,  these kids most likely would never read a thing if they didn't have to - so now, at least they've been exposed to the world of literature.  Maybe, just maybe they will learn to like it.  If not, nothing lost - they still spent the summer reading.  


More importantly, life is short!  Let's look for reasons to celebrate, to have fun, to give out special treats.  Kids are only kids for a short time.  Dole out those stickers, those ice cream cones, those award certificates!  If there is an opportunity to make children feel special - take it!  While it may not be the most significant award of their little lives, it still may bring  smiles to their faces.  And what could be more important than that?


Don't get me wrong.  I'm not the sort of parent who rewards her kids for making their bed or setting the table.  My kids do LOTS of chores, with no reward.  They are part of our family and they need to contribute.  Period.  But summer reading falls into a different category.  Along with a beautiful report card.  There are so many expectations on our children.  When they go that extra mile, work really hard for a duration of time, do more than is expected of them, I say "Let's celebrate!"  I don't hand out money for every A, but I do say "You get to pick the restaurant, we're going out for a special meal because you did such a great job!" 


It makes me think of the book, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  Rubin devotes a year to finding little ways to become happier.  One of her conclusions is that making other people happy, makes one happier.  Some of her goals are to smile more, to be generous, "to be a treasure house of happy memories" (I love that one!).  My fondness for this book stems from these completely simple, every day strategies, which lead to becoming more mindful of one's own happiness.


So if handing out gold stars for every book a child reads makes that child feel good - if it makes her smile, if it adds to her happiness for even just a moment - then we've done our job!  In the end, it will make all of us happier!