Kids and reading

[Tirednhopeful]

Anyone have a kid who can read well but won’t? My seven year old just seems so uninterested even though they’re a great reader. I don’t get it! Will it change??

Highly likely this will change. Been there and it’s really frustrating but we found that the more we tried/pushed - the worse it was. So we just took it slower and tried things like comics or we would read to them. Now a few years later they’ve found some books they love and read independently.

Can’t speak for everyone though. But if they CAN read then that’s great.

Yes! Mine was like this and he loves Minecraft so got him a series of Minecraft books and that opened the reading flood gates.

have you tried starting with something like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Bunny V Monkey? Then move onto the likes of Katherine Rundell books, The Wild Robot etc.

Also go to a lovely independent book shop or Waterstones and let me choose what stands out to them.

DS is 10 now and has just finished the HP series, he likes listening to audio books as he reads which I think encourages him too, try borrow box if you have a library card.

Good luck, it’ll come!

I think it’s finding things they want to read that makes the difference. I read my 7 year the first Harry Potter book a month ago and she has re-read it on her own twice because she loved it so much.

My youngest hated reading until she started read the Beano. That was her gateway drug. Now she reads all of the time.

Our 7yo was like this but it’s all of a sudden changed in the last month. He’s now obsessed with reading! We found the Investigators books were a good gateway into reading. Now he’s reading more complex chapter books on his own, (Roald Dahl, Dick King Smith etc.) as well as reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with me, and the Hobbit with DH.

What are they interested in?

Ds had no interest in a lot of fiction (I remember the cute speaking animal schol reading book that was thrown across the room in disgust!) but would read books about WWII as long as the facts were right.
His review of the Rainbow Fairy book that dd2 persuaded him he had to read on the basis he'd "love" it was one of my favourite reviews. "When Jack Frost appeared, it was almost interesting!"
I did manage to get him into Beast Quest, which are a bit harder, but still with the mind numbing every book is basically the same, for a while, but he wasn't keen on reading them to himself.

What I did with him was I started reading to him at night. I'd lie down in bed with him and read a chapter from a (children's) book I'd enjoyed. He'd often start by wriggling and not appear to listen, but then he'd get into it and be begging for another chapter. I chose books above his reading age, so at 7yo it was books for 10-12yos, which he found more interesting.
Once he'd started wanting to know more, I'd get him to read a page. So if he wanted me to read on, he had to read a page.
Then I'd find that he'd read a few chapters overnight etc.

I started with "Cue for Treason" which was historic enough to get his interest up.
Then we moved through Enid Blyton, Noel Streatfield, Malcolm Saville, Monica Edwards, Violet Needham, Antonia Forest, Arthur Ransome, Anthony Horowitz etc

Fairly quickly I found he liked adventure stories, ideally historic (some of the above were written in 30s/40s/50s rather than being written as historic) and so that's what I looked for when choosing a book.

Yes. DS was exactly like this. We tried everything - bribery, rewards, even paying him to read. He’s now 13 and still won’t read for pleasure but has maxed out the reading age at school (16.5 I think) so somehow he has become a decent reader. I would still love him to read more (or at all) but just have to leave him to it now or I risk pushing him away by keeping on at him

Yes, my 6 year old is like this. He’s the strongest reader in his class based on the book levels and can easily read most things but we have to fight to get him to do any reading at all. I think he hasn’t realised it’s something that he can do for fun vs being a ‘task’ like spellings and feels like now he knows how to do it, he doesn’t need to bother with it any more.

reassuring, thank you! What age was yours when it changed?

Thank you! Have tried a real range of stuff to be honest. What age was yours when they hanged?

we had the briefest of things over half term where they started reading the odd Usborne book (you know they do those series of classic books for younger readers)? Was so delightful! But now it’s back to normal where a book will never be picked up ever!

Well the funny thing is we’ve always read at night and they love being read TO! It’s just picking up books themselves they won’t do. At all. It’s strange because I assumed when their reading got good they’d pick up books because they love stories but no…

My eldest hates reading with a passion, she can read but chooses not to, I’ve tried all different genres, magazine blah blah but she just can’t be bothered! She just passed her primary reading SATS in the summer so she clearly manages to get by.

I think not policing what they are reading can help and letting them choose their own books. DD1 is 8 and started choosing comics which I personally think are trash (Cat Kid etc) BUT she likes them and she is reading them and that's all that matters. What are they into? There's a whole series of Pokémon books for example if they're into that, or Minecraft or Rainbow Fairies or Beast Quest if they like monsters etc.

Do you take them to the library? I think them choosing a book does make them a bit more motivated to pick it up and read.

DD2 is 6 and a strong reader, top reading set etc but like your DC doesn't willingly pick up a book. We have brought in "quiet hour" before bed where both DDs can choose to read, or do some drawing or puzzles or another quiet activity. I read at this time too and DD2 is slowly starting to pick up a book now she's seeing her older sister and I reading.

It's a hard one because I don't want to force the issue and for them to view it as a chore but it really is a fantastic habit to get into and really does unlock so many other things. So we go for a gentle encouragement approach and modelling us reading for pleasure ourselves. And if DD2 chooses drawing instead of reading for her quiet time that's ok too because it's still creative and calm and away from screens.

I’d try a lot of different types of books when you are reading to himbut like @GameOfJonessays, don’t force the issue.

Comics, non fiction, trashy books - whatever the equivalent of the rainbow fairies in nowadays, silly books like the Treehouse series, classics like the Faraway Tree, books about animals, short stories exciting cliff hanger types.

Also, make sure he sees you reading. You can’t sell reading and then never do it yourself.

Our youngster could read well, still can, did all the reading expected of him, it was a battle to get him to do much more, but he liked comics. So he read Alex Rider in graphic novel form.

Then we watched the first x3 Harry Potter movies, and whilst I let them read what they liked I made one rule they could watch the other HP movies until they had read the books.

That was the catalyst, so he read the first three, then the forth, he was then allowed to watch the forth movie - and so on until the end.

To be honest he still reads more as a necessity, he got Brave New World as a graphic novel. But he’s in top English (year 10 just started GCSEs) has a reading age much higher then his actual or expected age, his comprehension and interpretation are fine.

Do you read @Tirednhopeful?
Or their dad? (Particularly if you have a male child)

Seeing adults around them read for pleasure is hugely influential. Saying “hey sweetheart read this book” whilst mummy plays games on her phone is difficult battle to win.

Taking them to a bookshop and letting them choose, you can say you can have any book you like and if they pick something easy we used to say ok fine but you need another that is a bit more challengingly.

Wimpy Kid books were enjoyed here
I think this is more male sense of humour but Philip Reeve Goblin set had eldest laughing
Skandar is currently very popular
Calvin and Hobbes books (they were mine) have been destroyed through enjoyment - not many words but superb humour and ideas
Horrible Histories/geography/science are good fun

I read a LOT and always have, and have always read a ton to both of them. Their older sibling reads loads as well!

what age was yours when they read Harry Potter? (We also have this rule about the hp movies - we read the first four hp books to DS2 but maybe could encourage them to read themselves next time!)

Love the idea of quiet time before bedtime! That way probably the older one and I will probably choose books, and then at least even if the younger one chooses reading ahead has the unpressured option of books every night… good idea

It was the "you need to read this paragraph/page/chapter" that helped. So I'd read most at first, then ask them just to read a paragraph. Then increase it. I also used to ask them if they wanted to read a chapter to themselves or go to sleep. As their reading improved they started reading a chapter... and sometimes more. Occasionally finished the book! It took some time though.

Thanks! What age was he when it finally took off?

Probably 9ish. He was quite seriously ill aged 8yo though so he gained a love of stories at that point, although he wasn't up to reading himself while he was ill.

Sorry to hear that, hope he’s all better now x

Yea both my DDs really. Eldest is now 14 and doing really well so far in English and has read her set books no problem, she just hardly ever reads for pleasure.
Youngest can also read well, does read a bit more but still wouldn’t read without a bit of prompting.
She’s more likely to read a factual book or magazine than a novel, which I think is fine.
DH and me read a lot so it’s not like they don’t see reading as something normal to do!

Instigate a new bedtime rule at weekends or during the holidays... "I can't send you to bed if you're reading". No child ever wants to go to bed, so they will have to sit up reading, or they risk being sent to bed 😁

Let them see you reading for fun. Go to bookshops, libraries and book festivals.

In extreme cases, you might have to go old-school and take away all screens and battery-operated things, so that they are just left with "old fashioned" toys, books, art things and possibly musical instruments, if you're that way inclined! (My poor niece had this whenever she came to stay with me!)

Already do this actually - they’re allowed to stay up to read, but never do!