How to get my 8 year old ds to read

[delilabell]

My 8 year old ds is more than capable of reading but he won't.
He prefers to have us read to him. I've tried splitting the reading him a page me a page but he won't do it. but because of this is getting into trouble at school for not reading three tunes a week.
I love books and reading. So does my 4 year old dd.
Any ideas of books suitable for him or any tactics.
Just so I've out everything down ds has fasd which shows in adhd type tenancies. Very difficult to get him still. He also takes makaton in for bed so reading at bedtime is difficult

Don't force her. That's the biggest turn off. Get a book of a film. Watch the film and keep mentioning how the book as lots more in it that get cut out in the film. Just leave the beach in in her bedroom

I find my son does much better with fact books, fiction doesn't do much for him.

Books like...1000 amazing facts, stuff like that are good. You can take turns reading the facts.

Or just appeal to his interests! My son reads books about football and his teacher is happy as long as he's reading.

Him sorry!!

Have you tried more cartoon-y style books like Captain Underpants?

Excellent thiught about fact books. I forgot he loved his Guinness book of records.
I tried that with Harry Potter but he ignored me 🙄 might try another one as its a good idea

Have you tried Mr Gum? I'd also get some audio books. In fact, the Mr Gum audiobooks read by the author are hilarious.

He doesn't like captain underpants. I showed him diary of a wimpy kid "oh that looks easy to read" he said. Never read again!

Humour can be a good hook? Monster & Chips and Stick Dog series were very good for my child at that age as they are (like captain underpants) almost a collection of comedy sketches written around the characters rather than a long story arc.

Is there anything he loves - sport, music, gaming, animals etc. Doesn’t matter what it is but you can get age appropriate fact books about anything.

My DGD loves fact books more than fiction at the moment. She loves books about extreme weather and phenomenon like volcanoes and earthquakes; books about the human body, aircraft, lego, tv series, different jobs such as firefighter, doctor, vet. Also books about under the sea - all the amazing fish, coral and how species have adapted to living deep down.

Dorling Kindersley have really interesting and tempting books.

I wouldn’t worry about what he reads as long as he enjoys reading. These sort of books are great for dipping into. DGD will pick a page or two for us to look at at bedtime about whatever takes her fancy at the time.

Have you tried comic type books, like Asterix? I hate reading them, but it's what got DS reading. Or books with text which rhymes?

Mr gum is very good and.

Tricky at the moment, but at any other time I'd say spend a couple of hours a week at the library, as a family, and you sit and read your own book there so he has no choice but to pick and read his own if he doesn't want to just sit staring at the walls!

It’s just a matter of finding what they like reading. Since we’ve found Diary of a Wimpy kid and Tom Gates my 9 year old son has read loads but before that he was less interested. His school expects 20 minutes 5 times a week so not reading was not an option. I disagree with the idea of not forcing him. I would ensure he reads regularly and keep going until you find something he likes. Also read to him. My son liked the famous 5 books and I read them to him before he could read them himself. I don’t think reading is optional though, it’s an essential part of their education. When my son was more reluctant, he was allowed to read in bed before going to sleep, and if he didn’t want to he could just go to sleep. He always went for the extending his bedtime option.

He sounds a lot like my son tbh. He's 8 too and has been a good but reluctant reader. The fact books (Ripley's believe it or not are good too) really helped.

Wimpy Kid etc all got ignored.

And just this week he's asked to start reading Harry Potter. I think if you can meet their interest their confidence builds, then they'll be off and flying.

Oh and don't do what I was doing and only trying to get him to read at bedtime. He was too tired and cranky!

My DS wasn't interested in reading at all until he discovered a set of books he loved. He read all of the How To Train Your Dragon books in a matter of months and has now moved on to the Alex Rider books.

As an avid reader I was worried for a while but he seems to have caught the bug. I had to tell him to finish his chapter and turn the light off at 10.30 a few nights ago!

I think it's just a case of finding a series he will love. Good luck!

Have you ruled out any medical (eyesight) issues or special needs (dyslexia does not make reading fun!)?

What does the teacher say about his ability to read and comprehend?

With my DD2, graphic novels were for a while around that age the only thing she would choose to read: Giant Days, Lumberjanes, all sorts. Audiobooks too, listening while drawing.

As she was home educated, I did enforce one chapter of a book I chose that we would discuss (plus fact reading in other areas). It took a while to find books she'd like - Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series was the first one where she wanted to go beyond the first book in a novel series.

She'd had her eyes tested prior to that with no issues coming up, it wasn't until she was 10-11 (and a new optician) that it was picked up that she's quite long sighted & so reading tires her eyes quickly. We were told at the time that this can be harder to pick up in younger kids, but it might be worth a check (my eyes are similar & mine wasn't picked up until adulthood).

My ds was happier to read books if he'd seen the film. Worth a try.

Perhaps fiction isn't his thing just yet. Don't force it. any kind of reading matter will do. I've heard that books about dinosaurs go down well with boys.

My "reluctant reader" liked Ripley's, joke books, books of facts, (school might not approve) but Bart Simpson Comic books, Kids magazines like Nat Geo.He then moved onto manga - Naruto. Anything that was non fiction and not densely packed or too long, so bitty things. He also managed "thin" books like Roald Dahl's The magic finger and the Twits.

I tried to do reading mostly at the weekend when he wasn't too overtired by coping with school. I also used to do sentence by him, one by me rather than a whole page.

Is the teacher aware of his issues? What do they recommend?

My son really loved Pokemon at that age and wanting to read the cards iswhat pushed him to want to learn to read (he’s severely dyslexic).

You could try a newspaper for kids.
First News is good because it covers the main news in a kid friendly way, so as well as reading practice it also teaches them what is going on in the world (it is always age appropriate). They also have competitions, puzzles and sports news.
Maybe he would be more likely to read it as it has lots of short articles and it can be picked up/put down - rather than feeling like he has to plough through a whole book. Little and often could be a good strategy to start with.
I used to buy myself a daily newspaper and deliberately make a point of sitting down and reading it to encourage DS to do the same.
You can subscribe online and often they have free trial offers. Or I know WHSmiths stock it and also some big supermarkets.
It’s aimed at ages 8-13 I think.

Dogman series is good - cartoon style if that interests him. Won't help reading skills but for me it's all about getting them to enjoy books.

PP have given good suggestions for the types of books you might try.
Give him a question that he has to find the answer to, e.g. which is the tallest building in the world?

Would he read to his younger sister? Or a grandparent over Zoom?

If he has ADHD-type tendencies then he may need exercise first in order to be able to concentrate enough to read.

What is he like at school? Do his teachers have concerns? You have an FASD diagnosis for him, and have identified ADHD tendencies, but does he also have a specific learning difficulty like Dyslexia or working memory difficulties that make reading harder for him?

Lastly, has he had his eyesight checked recently?

Cross-post with pp mentioning eyesight.