Reading Punch Card Printable

We have tried everything under the sun to encourage reading in our house and something has finally clicked! As my husband says, 'the thing about incentives is that they work!' He's so right, especially when it comes to our kids, reading and a prize incentive program.

I didn't want to keep this to myself, so I've share my reading punch card printable through a free template below that I'd love for you to use with your little readers. I've created 5 colorful versions of the punch card that I thought would be cute for back to school and year round.

I keep a mason jar of these and a hole punch near the kids school work station so they can both store and grab a new card when complete. I like to date the ones that have been completed so we know how quickly we're using them. It's also fun to reflect on how much they've read and learned!

How Much to Read

Many teachers in early elementary school grades recommend 20 minutes of reading per day. That's beyond what they're doing in class or in home school programs. As a parent, I've found the Common Core website to be helpful in guiding our supplemental teaching that we do at home.

You can find more about Common Core Literacy Standards for Kindergarten through 12th grade here.

Each of the reading punch cards below has 10 X's that are worth 20 minutes each. That amounts to 10 days or a week and a half of consistent reading. We encourage our readers to get in extra time on the weekend when we read to them, which we also count on the punch card.

Sir, Prize!

We leave it to the kids to come to us to mark off there time each day and we let them be responsible for keeping their punch card in a safe place. When they have reached their goal of 200 minutes, we let them redeem their punch card for a prize.

We agree to a prize in the $2-$3 range as well as 15 minutes of screen time. With that budget, the kids can enjoy a cupcake or little treat from Satsuma. You'll have fun deciding what your prize program will include.

I'd love to hear what your kids like for prizes! Tell me on Twitter and I'll share with other parents like us.