My new favorite website

Reading with Jillian is like blowing a ping pong ball up a hill. You can only get so far with one breath but once you take a break for the next it rolls right back down again. Seriously. It's painful. I KNOW I should let her go at her own pace in my brain but I also know she's capable of more than she gives herself credit for. I've come to realize (again) that she's asking for (and I'm handing out like lollipops in a parade) too much confirmation to her BEFORE she's done something. So instead of sitting and doing her math lesson she has to read the directions, ask me to read the directions and then tell me the right answer so I can confirm that it's right before she marks the paper. Because of her over-confidence in so many other areas, this is surprising to me. Nonetheless, I realized what's going on and in an effort to boost her reading beyond "The Foot Book" that we've been reading for months and months (ok, it's not quite that bad, she has read more than one book), I've decided to try www.bookadventure.org which is a Sylvan sponsored website that I knew of months ago but never utilized. Last night she had some real interest in reading a chapter book for the first time ever so I felt directed to keep blowing uphill. :) We spent lots of time on this website this morning. What I love about it is that she chooses a book that they have listed on the quiz section, reads it, takes the quiz and if she gets an 80 or better she earns that many points. This way her reading comprehension is going up and I know she's actually reading it, not just skimming for show. Then there is a prize section where she can choose prizes from the company like a candy bar, e-books, magazine subscription, temp tattoo, book mark, etc or she can choose prizes that a parent picks out for them. I have an ID and Jillian has an ID and hers is linked to mine so I can see her progress and I have to approve all prizes before she receives them. I can't say enough good about this website so far! For prizes I put in there for her to choose: 200 points: Ice cream or parfait from McDonald's; 500 points: A new book; 500 points: A day with no chores; 2000 points: A new Webkinz or Webkinz outfit of your choice; 5000 points: An extra night of camping (*note: Jillian and I have a weekend to ourselves camping every summer, generally just one overnight). Ok, so maybe the 5000 points for camping is a bit ambitious...she'd have to get a 100 on 50 quizzes. But hey, maybe it'll get her to start saving instead of spending!!!