How do you get children who really don’t like to read to read? I would love to incorporate a whole lot more reading of good literture into our studies in addition to the "have-to-reads", but both of my children would rather clean the bathroom than actually read a book. I’ve tried finding books that I knew they would enjoy, like Call of the Wild for my son and Hitty Her First 100 Years (which is one of my favorite books) for my daughter. My son really enjoyed Call of the Wild and started to read White Fang but gave up on that, and my daughter did not get past the first section.
We do incorporate unabridged audios of the classics into our life so I know they will at least know the story lines, but I wonder if that is the same as reading them?
I would love to hear how others deal with kids who just don’t like to read.
I have tried many things over the past three years to get my daughter who is 10 to read more. For a while she was very much in to Bella Sara Horse trading cards so for every chapter book she finished I would give her a pack. That lasted for a little while. I have included it as part of her schoolwork that she has to finish before leaving the table for the day. Right now what is working the best is being involved with the summer reading program at our local library. She has read more this summer then every. She just seems to do well with some type of a reward system. I think when we start back to school I will have a treasure chest in place for reading and some of her school work and see how that goes. If she just takes the time to actually wind down and start reading the book usually she gets in to it but will still only read the alotted time and no more. Good luck in your reading endeavors.
Diane
I also have problems with picking up a book to read. What I enjoy are books about things I enjoy doing…fishing, gardening, hot to fix things, etc…
When I do get the urge to read, I enjoy books that are short and fast to read. I also enjoyed "science books"…I would suggest starting with very small/short stories and working up to the longer ones.
Books with a lot of pictures and exibits may also help.
I have no suggestions, but wanted to see what others wrote. Maybe I'll do an entry like this too, see what others have to say. 🙂
JoAnn
Ya' know Ginny, I think some people just do not enjoy reading, and unfortunately there is not much you can do about it. My husband is like that. Living in our house, with all of us being voracious readers, he feels a bit guilty about it, but reading just puts him to sleep most of the time.
However, here's a couple of suggestions anyway….
Both of my kids have enjoyed the Children's Illustrated Classics. I realize these are not the "real things", but I feel like you do about the audios…at least they are familiar with the stories. Annaleigh has gone onto read a few of the real books now because of her memories of the abridged versions she read a few years back. Another thing is I pretty much, within reason, let them read whatever they want for their free time. They have great books to read for school, so if they want to read a Star Wars graphic novel or Harry Potter on their own, I let them. I figure it's better than TV or video games. I draw the line at things that have inappropriate content or too mature subject matter.
Hope this helps…and good luck!
http://www.thepiratemom.com
Hi! I recently wrote a blog article on this when I was asked the same question by someone. Maybe DEAR or reading it with them.
Blessings,
Laurie