Reading goals for students can enhance your child’s learning experience and give them a love for knowledge. Chances are, your child’s teacher already has solid reading goals in place, but you can set goals for your child at home, too. Here are a few tried and true ways to help your child meet their goals and select new ones.
1. Age-Specific Reading Goals
Determining the correct goals is a large part of your student’s success. If you choose too easy of a goal, they won’t challenge themselves. If the goals you choose are too rigid, the child will become discouraged. It’s best to break goals into age groups, and involve your student in goal-setting conversations.
Elementary: Minutes per Day Goals
Elementary students are still finding their niche and often need encouragement to stay reading. A worthy goal for this age group is to read for a certain amount of time each day. Many schools already do this, but you can do your part by providing your child with a large variety of books. LightSail has over 14,000 titles, both fiction, and non-fiction, linked to a reading tracker that automatically logs those minutes for your child. Don’t forget, audiobooks count, too!
Middle School: New Topics Goal
It’s easy for middle schoolers to get into a rut. This could mean a reluctance to explore new topics, or they may be reading material that’s beneath their grade level. Make it a goal for your middle-schooler to read about something new each week. You can use LightSail’s platform to recommend or assign a few possibilities to your student, and they’ll earn badges for reading new topics with our Gamification feature. We even have our Power Challenge that helps you to determine their independent reading level!
High School: Classics per Year
This age group needs to challenge themselves before heading to college. A high-schooler’s reading goal could involve reading a certain number of classics in a year. LightSail has many classics, including Les Miserables, The War of the Worlds, and Anna Karenina. These books are both intriguing and challenging.
2. Encouraging Your Child to Keep Their Reading Goals
Over time, your child’s motivation may wane. This is where you come in! Encourage your child to stay the course by setting goals and rewards that are specific to their level and personality. You can do this by:
- Creating a reward system (stickers, a small toy, candy, later bedtime, etc.)
- See their progress in real-time, as you can with LightSail’s Reading Goal tracker
- Reading with them
- Sending them an encouraging message (Check out LightSail’s chat feature!)
Whether you’re trying to get your child to read more, or challenging them to comprehend at a higher level, LightSail has the resources to help them succeed. With over 100k resources that cover everything from cooking to bugs, your child is sure to find something that ignites their love of learning.
Posted on 10.Oct.21 in Reading at Home Tips
