A reading log a child will actually fill in
The school reading log is where reading goes to become homework.
Twenty-book reading log
Twenty numbered rows with stars to colour in, designed to be finished rather than to run forever.
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Minutes are the wrong unit
Logging minutes turns reading into time served, and a child who is watching the clock is not reading. Log books, or nights, or just a box ticked. The unit you choose is the thing the child optimises for — choose one you would be happy for them to chase.
Make the filling-in a reward, not a tax
A star to colour in beats a line to write on, especially for a child who finds writing effortful. If the log itself demands handwriting, you have attached a chore to the thing you were trying to make appealing.
Finite beats endless
Twenty numbered rows that can be completed works far better than a rolling chart that never ends. A child can see the end, and finishing it is the moment worth having.
Questions people ask
Should audiobooks count?
For a log you are running at home, we would count them. If it is the school's log, that is the school's call.
What if they reread the same book twenty times?
Count it every time. Rereading is how fluency is built, and refusing to count it teaches that the log matters more than the reading.
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