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How do you turn your child into a prolific reader?

38 replies

CDMforever · 08/06/2009 20:22

Just been reading a thread about parents trying to find new reading material for their children who get through books like there's no tomorrow. Sounds wonderful! DS1 is 11 and not an avid reader at all of fiction. He is an able reader just doesn't really interest him, unless its non-fiction. DS2 and DD are both very young and both show an interest in picture books yet so did DS1 at their age. So how can I nurture this early interest to produce enthusiastic school-aged readers? A friend said DS1 is still young and may still become a bookworm like his parents.

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nickytwotimes · 08/06/2009 20:24

I think being a prolific reader yourself is the main thing.

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CDMforever · 08/06/2009 20:27

That I am nickytwotimes. I suppose its that thing of projecting what you like and are interested in onto your children. DH has similar habit but his relates to DS winning Wimbledon.

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Itsjustafleshwound · 08/06/2009 20:27

I think the thing to do is to find the books that will keep them busy and interested ...

Having your head in a book is not the be all and end all ...

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cocolepew · 08/06/2009 20:28

I think you either are or you aren't TBH. I would buy or borrow books that interest them.

When DD1 started school her teacher said that it was obvious that she was read to a lot (she was because she had speech and language delay). She loved it.

DD2, on the other hand, never liked to be read to she prefered to 'read' it to herself making up words .

DD1 is a avid reader (like I am), DD2 will read at bedtime for a while, but she's only 7 and DD1 is 11.

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Doodle2U · 08/06/2009 20:28

Hitting on the right story did it for me. Step-mother gave me mallory Towers and that was it - I was lost to my book fetish forever.

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nickytwotimes · 08/06/2009 20:32

CDM, I think your desire is slightly more achieveable than your dh's.

Fwiw, both DH and I are from booktastic homes and are always reading. SOmehow htough, BIL missed this gene and has only ever read one book his whole life. So, encourage away, but he'll either love it or not on his own terms.

Easy for me to say as Mum of a 3 yr old.

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CDMforever · 08/06/2009 20:33

Itsjustafleshwound, it isn't the be all and end all you're right.
cocolepew, have just bought DS1 Skullduggery Pleasant, hope he likes it. DS2 is 2.8 and DD is 19mths and both love the likes of How to Catch Star and the Hungry Caterpillar.
Sometimes imagine DD immersed in The Secret Garden or the Railway Children.......just before she skips off to her ballet/horse riding lesson. I think I might have too much time on my hands!

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cocolepew · 08/06/2009 20:36

TBH even though I hate them, it was the Harry Potter books that did it for DD, from about the age of 9.

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Nighbynight · 08/06/2009 20:38

Diary of a Wimpy Kid got ds1 reading. There are 4 books in the series, they are funny and aimed at 11 year olds.

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Itsjustafleshwound · 08/06/2009 20:39

I hope that didn't sound dismissive - wasn't meaning to be so ...

I think once you find the spark and books they will enjoy, it will snowball ...

At the moment we are stuck in a Princess Poppy and Peppa Pig loop - be careful what you wish for !!

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Tortington · 08/06/2009 20:40

dd (16) has read three paperbacks ( of nil literary value - just pulp vampire fiction) in 2 days.

cos we haven't got a telly

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CDMforever · 08/06/2009 20:40

I can't bear them either (but love the films)Can't remember which book got me hooked. Unoriginal but it may have been Roald Dahl, the Chocolate Factory. I loved my copy so much as a child that I firmly believed it smelt of chocolate!

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Overmydeadbody · 08/06/2009 20:42

I don't think you can make your child into a prolific reader.

Some chinldre like reading. Some children don't.

I think as long as you give them every oportunity to get enjoyment out of books, and read to them and read a lot yourself you will encourage them more, but some children don't like reading despite all of this, just like some children don't like paying with train sets or drawing or football or whatever.

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ByTheSea · 08/06/2009 20:45

I tend to agree with Overmydeadbody. Of our four children, two are prolific readers and two aren't. Both DH and I are and our house is full of books.

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CDMforever · 08/06/2009 20:45

fleshwound, you didn't sound dismissive at all. I'm just echoing my thoughts - sometimes I get a bit obsessed with reading and my children reading. DH thinks I spend far too much on books and complained last xmas that the chn got too many books and not enough "doing" toys. He's not into reading AT ALL. Opposite attract.....

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CDMforever · 08/06/2009 20:47

Very wise words Overmydeadbody, just maybe didn't want to hear them!

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Overmydeadbody · 08/06/2009 20:49

Sorry

You carry on dreaming, no harm in that! Just don't make them feel guilty or like you're disappointed if they don't get the same thril lout of reading as you do. It won't mean they are necessarily any worse off.

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Overmydeadbody · 08/06/2009 20:50

this coming from someone who has read 47 books in the last six months

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CDMforever · 08/06/2009 20:53

Wow, 47! How on earth do you find the time? You must be a "skimmer". Apparently most readers fall into 2 categories: those who skim read, therefore get through books very quickly. And those who when reading, read the words out loud in their heads. I definitely fall into the latter, so struggle to get my book group read finished every month!

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Wallace · 08/06/2009 20:58

Your ds1 sounds like my ds1:

"not an avid reader at all of fiction. He is an able reader just doesn't really interest him, unless its non-fiction"

It used to bother me, but now I have just accepted it as part of who he is. Especially since my dd suddenly clicked with reading and spends ages with her head in a book (she is 7).

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Overmydeadbody · 08/06/2009 21:26

CDM I'm not s skim reade, just a speed reader, don't read the words aloud in my head, just 'see' the sentance if that makes sense.

That and the fact that I have a lot of time on my hands I read the most when I had no internet or tv unsurprisingly.

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lucysmum · 08/06/2009 21:38

Let them read what they want - eg Enid Blyton in my DDs case
Don't make them finish things
Let them read 'easy' books if they feel like it
Don't expect them to like what you like
Take them to bookshops, bookfairs, the library to browse
Talk about books, what they are reading, what you are reading
Get lists from teachers of recommended stuff - may well include stuff you have not heard of that they will love
Find out what their friends are reading - peer pressure technique
Put them to bed early ! My DD aged nearly 9 goes when her little sisters go so may be as early as 7 but can then read for as long as she likes

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fidelma · 08/06/2009 21:52

Yes I agree with you lucysmum
Let them read what they want fiction or non fiction
Read some of it with them an odd chapter here and there keeps them going
Put them to bed early
And I agree that when you find out what does it for them they are off.My girls are very different in their reading choices.DD1 aged 9 loves Michael murpurgo and has rattled through them and then the Hobbit.DD2 aged 7 needs lots of help and encouragement and easy books but I suspect that she will love Malory Towers soon.DDS1 the Bear Hunt!! age 3

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Wallace · 09/06/2009 06:46

A recent hit with my ds is a Star Wars book in comic form (do we call it a graphic novel?)

I'm also planning to get him some proper star wars books.

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seeker · 09/06/2009 07:19

A slightly subversive thought - does it actually matter that much?

I read hugely as a child - but largely because there wasn't anything else to do. There was very little TV to watch, no DVDs or videos and not even much radio that I wanted to listen to. My children (8 and 13) both enjoy reading, but they have so many other ways to access entertainment and information as well - a lot of it of very high quality. I would rather my 13 year old was watching Friends, or Time Team or Master Chef (bizarrely these two are family favourites!) or chatting to her friends on MSM or, frankly, doing practically ANYTHING rather than reading a well known series of formulaic Vampire based pap.

Of course in an ideal world she would be reading Jane Austen.......!

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