To tell DS's form tutor he's been "silent reading" the same book for over a year.

[sillyoldmemento]

DS has just started year 8. At least once a week in form time, they do "silent reading" so they're supposed to always have a book in their bag. Not having a book can result in a sanction.

DS has had the same book in his bag since the start of year 7 - he says he just stares at the page during silent reading. I've asked him why, and he says the book isn't very interesting - but he won't swap it for another because if it's interesting he will want to read it at bedtime too, then he might forget to put it back in his bed in the morning and get into trouble for not having a book. I've suggested he could read two interesting books at the same time, but he says he will get them mixed up in his mind.
You'd be right in thinking these are poor excuses ... the more fundamental problem is that he's a reluctant reader. He reads a little in bed each night, but only if I sit with him - he will either read aloud to me, or sometimes to himself while I'm there, but only books with very short chapters, and only one chapter a night. I try to buy him lots of interesting books, but he hasn't developed a "love" of reading - I can only think of a couple of books he's ever really got into and that was a few years ago.
But ... I do think that if I told his form tutor of the problem, she might have a word in his ear that would at least stop him from thinking he can get away with not reading in class. Of course he will be very cross with me if I do. WWYD?

Why don’t you deal with this yourself? Take this book off him, make him pick a different one from the school library?

Maybe try getting him to leave the boring book in his bag - so no risk of school being cross for him not having a book to read and trying to remember to take a more interesting book too?

I think it's only worth talking to the form tutor if you anticipate they're going to help him find interesting things to read rather than be cross with him for taking steps to work around his worries about forgetting things. He's not really doing himself any harm with this, he's just stuck reading a boring book/staring at the pages.

Could a compromise be something that he'd be interested to read AND re-read? I used to re-read books a lot at that age.

My mum used to be a teacher and she would let the kids read magazines (football/gaming etc) - as she was her focus was literacy she felt it was better for them to read something they're interested in. If there is no assignment related to the book he is reading he should be able to choose something else. There are loads of excellent books these days for someone of this age.

My dd is a similar age. She also doesn’t like reading but will read child friendly poetry. Maybe try giving your ds a book like this. Poems are self contained so it won’t matter if he only reads the book weekly.

What are his interests?
He can benefit from the love of reading from other resources other than actual books.

As PP said, reading anything is fine.

I wouldn't talk to the tutor about this, it's really something you and he need to find a solution to at home.

Get a small book for the bag so he doesn't get a sanction.

Then change the other book for something he will actually read.

Read the interesting book on Kindle at home, keep a hard copy of the interesting book in school bag?

Get 2 copies of a book he likes, one in his bag and one for home.

You have to admit, that's quite enterprising.

Sadly it is also reinforcing the boredom of reading for him.

I've said YABU because, whilst I am an avid reader, DSIS was not. She was the only reluctant reader in a family of total bookworms. She felt left out and bullied... when she was 11 I bought her a box set of Roald Dahl. At 15 a selection of Agatha Christie, the shorter stories. She loved both. Oddly her degree is in English!

Sorry, I meant that you should maybe find a way of getting him more interested. Short tales, een illustrated books, comics etc. Maybe he could be encouraged to speak to his form tutor himself?

Get him some graphic novels. They really helped my reluctant reader.

Sounds like my relationship with The Hobbit. Why I can't accept that I hate it I don't know, but having got through the Lord Of The Rings (including appendices on Hobbit family trees as I was in need of an English language bookshop) I am determined that I won't be beaten by the Hobbit no matter how many years it takes

Get him something, anything he finds interesting. I have a dyslexic reader with reading stress. He needs small, varied chunks of text. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants type. Magazines. Non-fiction.

If you think the form tutor will be gently encouraging, it may be worth mentionning.

Staring at the same page of a dull book achieves nothing.

The Kindle idea obviously only helps address the poor excuses and not the fundamental problem! Do you think you could explain the problem to the form tutor and ask if she could find a subtle way around it - maybe engage him in conversation about what he is reading or something? I probably wouldn't grass him up if I thought he'd get a bollocking though! I have one avid reader and one reluctant reader. It's hard work finding something to engage the reluctant one. He loves comics though (quite a bit younger than your DS) so would the magazine idea be an option?

If all he's doing is staring at the book in school, why does it matter to him what book he has in his bag? I would still have a chat with his form teacher, as I'm rather surprised that he hasn't noticed this.

I thought this was a good solution:
Read the interesting book on Kindle at home, keep a hard copy of the interesting book in school bag?

Keep trying different books until you find one he likes.

I second all the suggestions of getting him comic books and magazines about anything that interests him and also in him reading a different book that he enjoys and keeping it at home. It pretty much doesn’t matter what he reads right now as long as he is reading.

Do you think he'd be happy to have a word with the library staff at the school?

Our school library has everything from the comic books like Batman vs Superman to Shakespeare and everything in between. So would something like a graphic novel or 'comic' book suit him?

Our school library has Pokemon/Manga books and 'quick reads' too which are not only popular with the kids who aren't avid readers but also with those who are. My son loves them as he has had enough of studying by the time he gets home and just wants a bit of a fun book to read.

If he's wiling to explain to the library staff what he likes they should be able to point him in the right direction. Our school library is aware of the not so avid readers so will encourage them to read anything then gradually help them choose harder books as they feel happier

Yeah, they're pretty poor excuses. He's also old enough to remember to bring them to school. Have him bring a couple of books. Something he is interested in or some type of adventure or mystery

How does he manage to pass if he isn't reading very much? Does he have writing assignments? Research papers?

The more he reads, the easier it will get.

What sorts of things is he interested in? Mine's the same age and hated reading, much to my despair, until I stumbled upon Chris Ryan's series for teens. He's finished one series (Special Forces Cadets) since August and is absolutely galloping through the other (Alpha Force). I'm buying a new one every four days or so at the moment and panicking slightly about what I'll do when he's read them all.

I have read to DDs since they were babies, shared my love of books and even took them to the Hay Festival.

Neither are avid readers (or not yet anyway, at 14 and 10) and just read what they have to for school really. In fact in Y8 one time, on the teacher discovering that she didn't have a book with her for free reading, made her go to the library and borrow one. She then had to sign up to borrow books at the school library as she had barely been in there.

They are both doing well academically though and are good writers, with a good vocabulary, so in a way I'm not bothered. I was a good reader at a young age, but once I reached double figures I barely wanted to sit still long enough to read and would much rather watch TV, so I do empathise. I started reading books for pleasure really after I left school.

For the book in bag, agree with pp’s that you could keep some random book in there and get him try to remember the interesting book. I wouldn’t involve the form teacher, as getting him into trouble for not being keen will be counter productive.

As for the more general question... Perhaps try to find something that is fun and not too challenging? Horrible histories... Murderous maths... Tom Gates... How to train a dragon... These books might seem a bit young, but the key is to get him enjoying books and finding them relaxing. The motivation to tackle ‘advanced’ books will come with time. My 11yo boy is an avid reader, and recently read all the wimpy kid books, just for fun and as escapism from the pressures of year 7.

I would just insist he puts a different book in his bag and at least tried to read it properly. Why not put a factual book in there for silent reading and maybe keep a different book by his bed.

OP, it doesn't say a lot about the silent reading time that your DS' teachers haven't noticed in 14 months that he's reading the same book every week. I'd raise this "how do you know they're not reading the same book every time?" once you've got DS a different book to go at. What a pointless exercise.

the more fundamental problem is that he's a reluctant reader.
hasn't developed a "love" of reading
If he doesn't find books interesting or doesn't have a love for reading so what? As long has he has a good level of reading and comprehension skills, reading for fun is not everyone's cup of tea. If he has to do reading in his form class then I would suggest finding a different type of thing (i.e. if he's only reading fiction, get non-fiction he his interested in).
I loved reading as a child and in the last year of primary school my teacher had to bring me more advanced books as I'd read everything the school had in the library. Couldn't stand it in secondary school though, found it boring and even now struggle with non-fiction books. Autobiographies or non-fiction books are ok depending on the author / subject matter, but I don't read a lot at all. DP on the other hand hated reading due to his dyslexia. Until he found a book about a subject matter that inthralled him. He's read more books than me this year by FAR! So he might just discover he enjoys it as an adult.

Sorry though, I do think a 12/13 year old being made to read aloud is a bit weird though. It's something I did as a 6 year old and as a teenager I would find it very infantilising, so probably reinforcing his dislike.

I did this in school

If it was good book I'd read the book at home and then forget it. Then I'd be in trouble next week because I didn't have a book.

This pissed me off because it felt like I was being punished for reading at home. People who didn't read at home always had the book in their bag because they never bloody read it. You can't really get anywhere in a book in a 10 minute session in class.

So I just kept the same book in my bag, and stared at it

Tbh I think it doesn't really matter if hes reading the same book over and over again in class, no one enjoys reading in class. What does matter is hes not reading at home, I think at his age it's a case of finding things he's into. I agree with the Chris Ryan series above, that's really good for boys his age.

I would keep the boring book in his bag, then try and get him into books at home. If he's enjoying the book at home he can bring it as well, but if he forgets it as long as he reads it at home no big deal.

TBF to the form teacher, IME the enforced reading tutor time can be a bit of a nightmare. I've had tutor groups where at least 3/4 are poor and/or reluctant readers. In a 20 minute session once a week with 30 of them, I was not going to solve this problem. The main thing was keeping good enough order that the ones who did want to read could in fact read.

The school had cut costs by getting rid of its library so I brought in books myself for them to "borrow" - a mixture of teen things, factual things, very picture oriented things. But some REALLY hated reading so much already that even a book shaped thing pretty much sent them into meltdown. It was difficult!

So... it sounds like your DS is staring quietly at his book, which for his teacher might be a goal in itself. I would suggest he took in something that wasn't a story book, more factual to dip in and out of? But certainly if that teacher was me, I would have felt a bit tearful at the suggestion that I should be monitoring exactly what they read as well as keeping them quiet enough to read!