While some educators and parents like the organizational look of a time-centered chart, many consider the concept too burdensome and oppressive for children.
Classroom
Why You Should Stop Using Reading Logs
While some educators and parents like the organizational look of a time-centered chart, many consider the concept too burdensome and oppressive for children.
Consider why you should stop using reading logs, and see if it helps increase positive attitudes about reading in general.
Education resources
Reading impact
When kids read for pleasure and are not forced to keep track of their time spent, it becomes a more enjoyable and relaxing experience. Developing this habit helps lead to a vibrant reading lifestyle through the years into adulthood. The child associates reading with pleasure and enthusiastically take part. It’s also been shown as a benefit to improve academic success and employment outcomes, as well as community involvement. The good impact seems to reach many areas.
Self-directed readers are good for themselves and the world
Kids who become self-directed, voracious readers seem more intuitive and empathetic. They understand the big issues in society in clearer ways and can brainstorm through their challenges, too.
Most children who say they love to read agree that fiction and non-fiction have helped them figure out some life problems and how to communicate with people. They see the world in a different way than non-readers. Many take great interest in current events and develop good conversational skills. Parents and teachers appreciate these skilled readers’ thoughtfulness, good listening habits, and open-minded learning approach.
Encouragement or punishment?
While recreational reading may seem to decrease in modern times due to the invasion of screens and all-encompassing educational, testing, and extracurricular activities, its benefits still prove powerful. Reading logs were once thought to be an effective tool to motivate and inspire more reading; however, it may just be one more stressful to-do item for many kids.
Many reading logs are assigned by teachers and include areas for book titles, pages, chapters, and time logs. Some educators include “30 minutes minimum reading time per night.” Parents are often required to sign off on the logs to prove authenticity before turning them into the teacher. This concept seems quite strict and even forced for some. There is an implied punishment if one does not meet the nightly requirements and has signatures on their form.
Forced or natural independent readers?
The goal should be to encourage kids to become voluntary recreational readers. When they are confident, independent readers, the benefits last throughout their life, and they flourish. Reading is a skill that is honed the more it is done, and exposure to various genres and writing styles is remarkable for a developing brain. The brain wheel spins and gains momentum in dynamic ways.
A mandatory reading log may be a stick in the spokes of that wheel. When reading is done to avoid punishment, reach an assigned goal, or even access rewards, it removes the pure joy of the activity altogether. Even if it lingers in the background while a reader immerses himself or herself within a story, its required part casts a dark shadow.
Reading motivation: joy or chore?
The intrinsic motivation to take part in any activity should come from within. When the motivation is forced from an outside element, such as a reading log, it can undermine well-being and enjoyment. It can also whittle away the overall affection for the activity (reading) and the mind’s creativity. When reading becomes a chore, it is not embraced. This is true for anything, really, and for people of all ages.
Studies on reading log value
The Journal of Research in Education published a study that found reading logs can have a negative value for students in terms of interest in and attitudes about reading. Mandatory versus voluntary reading showed quite drastic differences in students’ interest levels.
Scholastic has also long studied the value of books and reading in various circumstances and ways. They have seen that kids love to read about what interests them and what “helps them make sense of their world” — perhaps relatable characters help them feel not-so-alone with specific issues or concerns. When children can do this at their own pace, on their schedule, the effects are more likely to be well-processed and absorbed to help them.
“When reading is portrayed as something one has to be forced to do, students may conclude that it is not the kind of activity they want to engage in when given free time,” explain the creators of the Journal of Research in Education study.
How to inspire readers instead of using logs
Consider these actionable ways to motivate your children or students to take part in daily reading without the use of time logs:
- Weekly reading partner chats: pair them up with someone to discuss what they’ve read, what they like or dislike about the characters, and plot twists.
- Reading journal: ask them to write notes about their favorite parts or questions that came up as they read.
- Feeling chart: record the feelings that arose after reading certain sections of the book (sadness, fear, joy, confusion, surprise).
- Book review: have kids write their book reviews, like the pros, after finishing a book. Post them for others to see.
Insisting or forcing kids to read may get in that valuable reading time each day or evening, but overall it can have a detrimental effect. It is certainly not the same as voluntary reading.
Individuals have exceptional lifelong benefits when they have chosen the “when, where, what, and how long” to read for themselves. It boosts self-confidence and many other helpful life qualities.
