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?

I’m not suggesting he drags an encyclopaedia into school every day, but my 11yo though not mad about fiction, will pore for hours over knowledge books - Guinness Book of Records and Ridley’s Believe It or Not form the backbone of Christmas presents in our house. Books about birds, cars, superheroes, etc. etc. are all enjoyed, as are graphic novels and things like Batman and Spider-Man comics.

Though the 5 or 6 keen readers were lovely, and I did like talking to them about what they were reading and what they were planning to read next. In the way that the engineers of this reading idea probably thought the whole class would work. Just they forgot what the school was like...

Ds1 has been “reading” The Hitchhiker’s Guide for 3 years now. It’s a nice small book and apparently you can start reading it on any page and it makes just as much sense.

This has made me smile- thinking about my own Yr 8 boy I suppose. I have some sympathy- it sounds like they don't really have enough time to get properly into the story and then they're moving onto the next lesson.
I like the idea of keeping a very lightweight, slim paperback in the school bag for emergencies- then reading a book he really enjoys at home and trying to remember to pack it in the school bag each night. Keep school bag by bedside???
Or a non fiction book for school than he can dip in and out of?
Also, my son has just discovered Robert ?Muchamore's Cherub series. He has read 17 three hundred page books over summer and is now rereading them. They are probably aimed at young teenagers- slightly older than him-- a tiny bit of bad language, drugs trade etc- but that is definitely part of the appeal. Just a suggestion for something that might enthuse your DC.

Can't he have two interesting books-one at home & one for school?

Leave book A in his bag forever so he always has something to stare at if he forgets book B which can be an interesting, readable, book that he's chosen as his current reading material.

I think having 2 copies of the same book is a good idea. The options are:

1. The book in his school bag and read it on kindle at home
2. Buy another copy of the book
3. Borrow another copy from the library

Oh bless. DS had the same problem.

I've just bought him an ok book to keep in his school bag (Boy 87, short chapters) and chip away at it over the year.

He's ploughing through Cherub books at home but daren't take them to school in case he forgets one day and gets a sanction.

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.
ShinyGratina

OP, please get your DS assessed for dyslexia or a disorder in processing written text.

Your DS sounds like mine, a 'reluctant reader'.

He loved non-fiction - tanks of WW2 were very much his thing.
And instruction manuals.

He read only two books willingly during his entire childhood - Goodnight Mr Tom and a book about the Shackleton expedition to the South Pole.

As a teen, he read all of The Lord of the Rings series after seeing the movies.

Performance in school was so-so. Once in university he started getting As. The difference was lectures that he could record, as opposed to the more text-focused approach in school. Plus, his degree was in a science subject.

It was only when he started piling up the As in university that I suspected he may have been experiencing some sort of difficulty, possibly a language processing disorder like dyslexia. But he was a good speller and his written output was good (though always brief). Eventually he stumbled across what was probably the cause of his frustration with English Lit, confirmed with the aid of a researcher in whose lab he was assisting - aphantasia.
www.bbc.com/news/health-47830256

It's hard to find novels appealing when you can't conjure up any mental image at all of what you are reading. As novels become more complex - moving on from Captain Underpants - with imagery and descriptions contributing to your sense of how the plot is developing, reading becomes very hard work if your mind's eye isn't functioning.

Are you absolutely sure he's not dyslexic and struggling with reading ... perhaps the letters are jumping around and it is tiring for him to read a lot at a time.

You would be amazed at the number of children have 'hidden' their dyslexia in this manner, not realising that what they're seeing isn't 'normal'...

Agree with PPs, forget school time, get it sorted at home. It doesn't matter how awful or unsuitable the books he wants to read are, just get him into the habit of enjoying reading. Even someone like Jeremy Clarkson, or sports biographies anything.

My DS preferred non-fiction books for a long time before he got into novels and better stuff.

I also have no idea why you want to tell his teAcher and are commenting he will be mad at you.

You're the parent. Step in and deal with it. A new book, and make sure he puts it in his bag. End of.

May I wade in here? (but haven't RTFT, so apologies if I'm repeating anyone else!)

The 9-1 GCSE English exams do assume that students are 'reading widely' - Depending on which board you are doing, the extracts for the fiction paper vary (e.g. an extract from a 19th century novel for Edexcel and a 20th or 21st century novel for AQA) and for the non-fiction paper (again, non-fiction extracts across 2 of the 3 centuries, depending on the exam board). And the non-fiction texts can be anything from a newspaper article about climate change to a historical document about workhouses from Victorian times!

And of course, all the Literature exams are now closed book, so the students need to know their set texts and poems very well indeed to perform well in the Lit exams. (Previous syllabus was doable at a push with reading the study guides!)

So all students from Year 7 onwards need to be reading often, and in Year 10/11 almost daily. It doesn't need to be for long - I recommend 15 minutes to my students - and it can be anything (as I think others have said).

OP, if I post the list of ideas I give all my new GCSE students, might that help your son? And anyone else with a reluctant reader either just starting in Year 10, or now in Year 11?

Here goes!

Suggestions which may to help develop more active reading habits, and widen experience, include:

 Read a daily newspaper (hard copy, or online), or a particular
section of it that interests you

 Read a magazine which relates to a subject, sport or hobby you
enjoy

 Pick a 19th century novel from the school library (read the first 5
or 6 pages, then put it back)

 Read another poem written by any one of the poets featured in
your anthology

 Do some online reading/research about your favourite celebrity
or sports personality

 Re-read your set texts - just a chapter/scene/poem a day from
each text in turn

 Research the life of someone (contemporary or from history)
who is known for an extraordinary achievement.

 Re-read a favourite book – or read a book someone else has
recommended to you

 Read an unfamiliar text by a writer whose work you previously
enjoyed

If it's any consolation to anyone, when I do the tutor/student questionnaire with my new students (I tutor privately) I have a section which asks them about their current reading habits, and every single student I've ever had has circled the final option of "Only when I need to/when I'm asked to by school"!

With the previous exam syllabuses you could get away without reading anything much but this has all changed now.

I'd get him to change the book.
Some thing with short stories or even a joke book. Harry Potter might be a good one to try, easy to follow and get into.

I'm dyslexic and totally see where he's coming from. I forget stuff all the time my phone is a favourite to be left behind.

Interesting comments on the Hobbit I've owned it for 20 years and cannot get beyond the first chapter. Loved the film's but that book is hard to follow.

Why not have two books? A book he actually wants to read and a small "backup" book that stays in the bag in case he forgets the proper one? It isn't rocket science.

Get him to change the book. This is something you should take on, rather than looking to school to lead it for you - especially since it sounds like you'd be waiting a long time for that to happen. Lots of good suggestions here.

I don't think it's possible to force someone to become a "book type."

I do think that it would be reasonable for a parent to insist, forcibly, that he put a different book in his bag. No debate--remove that book from your bag and choose another one from the shelf. Otherwise he is simply being a bit, well, deceitful and not participating in the class in the proper manner. It's no different to cheating in a maths test, or pretending to do a chemistry experiment while quietly playing with a phone or games console under the desk.

He can decide for himself, ultimately, if he wants to become someone who really loves books. But in the meantime, it is his job to participate in the class in the proper manner and that means having a different book on a regular basis.