Reluctant Readers: Inspiring Your Child to Read

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Reluctant Readers:

Inspiring Your Child to Read

It’s sometimes difficult to engage your children in the activity of reading for pleasure. After all, the competition is fierce! There are video games, endless amounts of television shows, DVDs and videos.

So why read???

The greatest possession children have is their unlimited imaginations. The presence of a vast amount of media in their “visual world” limits the development of their own creative visions. Reading promotes creating their own ‘visions,’ not to mention developing their vocabulary, and increasing their ability to write. (All of these areas are now considered ‘weak’ spots in our children’s education.)

Ways to inspire reading:

Make books a part of their everyday world early on. Begin reading to them at a very early age—yes, babyhood... picture books, wordbooks, clothe books, block books.

Model reading. If they never see you read, why would they be interested in it?

Pre-school: Preschoolers love books, that are repetitive, (e.g. Dr. Suess), they love the sing-song of rhyming books. They love silly books, they love quiet comforting books. Really, they just love books! Set a time to read... your time with just them, is a great way to end the day. Although there are many ‘one minute’ stories, children are aware when things are rushed and the adult just wants to ‘get it over with’.

School age: OK, so here they are in the primary grades when it is important for them to read as much as possible, and they don’t want to read or be read to.

A trip to your local library introduces them to a new world. Remember getting your own library card?? Exciting right? (not to mention free). Allow them to select only one or two books and be sure that you read them to them or listen while they read. Many libraries have motivational programs in place to boost your child’s interest in reading. Librarians are trained to help your child use the library and choose books that they will enjoy.
A trip to the book store... allow them to choose their own reading material (within reason).
School orders for books (Scholastic and Troll Books)... again allow them to choose something they want.
Book Fairs- a great opportunity to choose a book with friends. Reading the same book as one of your friends is a great motivator. If they choose a book beyond their reading level, get it and read it to them, but also be sure they choose something they can read.
Let them make a chart to record the number of pages they have read each day. When they complete a certain number, have surprise certificates for them (a trip to the ice cream store, an hour of playing catch with you, a trip to the park etc.)

Before you know it, they’ll be begging you for books! Continue to read with them and to them to reinforce the importance of reading.

Some books are motivators in themselves.

If you notice that your child enjoys a certain author, surprise them with another book by the same author.
Series books, such as The Magic Tree House books keep your reader reading. These books combine facts and fantasy and are very popular with 7-9 year olds.
Grade 4 and up love the Lemony Snicket books - A Series of Unfortunate Events or the Redwall Series by Brian Jaques.

Still reluctant or worse resistant???? Zero in on interest areas. Does your child love baseball, gymnastics, or music?? Get book on these subjects. If nothing else, they’ll definitely read the captions under the pictures.

If your child is reading below grade level, there are many books available that have adapted the vocabulary so that the subject matter is interesting, but the reader is not frustrated by the difficulty.

Books that come with auditory tapes allow the reader to follow along and break down fears about not being able to read fluently enough to enjoy the story.

For grades 5 and up, use the media to help you out! Recently the “Lord of the Rings” became a must see movie. Give your older child the series (from The Hobbit on) to show them the true Tolkien magic!!

Loving to read does not just automatically happen. In partnership with the classroom where students learn the skills, parents can lead their children to that magical place of the written word where the author and the reader create a world that belongs only to them.

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