AIBU to bribe my kids to read

[Theblackdogagain]

I have twin boys age 13 who won't read, I've tried buying them books they want, taking away electronics but nothing works. I've now said if they read 3 books or graphic novels by 1st Sept they can have vbucks for fortnight. The books have to be a suitable length (so not comics) and quality (a bit more advanced then wimpy kid)
Aibu? Reading is so important and I'm running out of ideas.

I think Flipperty has hit the nail on the head there. Rewarding them for the time spent reading, not necessarily the number of books is probably better.

Once you’ve got the habit sorted then maybe you could challenge them to expand their repertoire with different types of texts (fiction & non-fiction).

The problem with just hoping they will find the type of text that engages them is that they have to be reading a lot to actually do it. And if they aren’t reading at all it won’t happen.

Take off the pressure to keep reading a book they don't enjoy. Frees up much more time to find the book they do enjoy.

Sinple
First reading. Then gaming time

No reading? No gaming

There are heaps of books out there about gaming they might love it!!

We’re a family of avid readers but my youngest son was just not that interested. He’d see the many bookcases around the house filled with books, the piles on everyone’s bedside cabinets and stuffed in bags and car pockets when we went out and just didn’t follow suit.

So I began to read with him again when he was about 11-12 years old, even though he was past the bedtime story stage. I’d lie next to him in bed and start a book and read to him the first few chapters and then hand it over to him to finish. He read a few books this way. I’d also read many books myself and then hand them over to him as recommendations and ask him every now and then what part he’s reached and then discuss the previous plot lines with him casually as we sat in the kitchen or pottered about the house together.
Then one day he found a series of books that he loved and read them all eagerly. It was the Skullduggery set of books and he’d read and reread them and read the whole set of about 13+ books. I personally couldn’t get into them but I read the first few so I could discuss them with him and then left him to it.

We do visit the library often but I buy lots of books too so they can get the feel of a crisp new book and also so they can read them leisurely. It also means they often reread them and pay attention to different aspects of the story afterwards-stuff like character development, language, how things are introduced into the plot etc. I also take them to Waterstones occasionally and make it a treat with a coffee shop visit, a book purchase and a little treat. Quality shared time revolving around books.

We have other house rules that inadvertently encourage reading, eg no one is allowed to take phones up to their bedrooms after 10pm (to encourage a good nights sleep) and we don’t have games consoles either. They did have one for a bit but decided themselves to sell it on eBay as it took up too much space and since then, no one’s asked for one.

I feel these habits have encouraged reading and helped to grow a habit even for the DS who wasn’t keen on reading.

But would they get anything out of this forced reading? I remember having Treasure Island as our class English book at primary school and I hated it. I still remember sitting at the dining table staring at the words, none of it going in, not remembering what had already happened and it was a miserable experience. I gave up reading it at all about halfway through and instead of summarising the chapters we read in my reading book, I summarised a random paragraph. It was homework so I did it, but absolutely no-one benefited from it. And I was otherwise a good reader, just that one book did not work for me.

If you change the word ‘bribe’ to ‘reward’ then it might seem less bothersome. A £1 per 5 chapters/pages/books or whatever you think is appropriate, might provide some motivation. We all like rewards.

Thank you for writing this - will apply it to my reluctant DS 🙂

@Remembertotakeabreak You’re most welcome! Glad to be of help 😀

Do they watch those sort of movies or are you just trying to find "interesting" books? Is dystopian scifi their thing?

The recommendation for the lego books is a good one, ninjano comics, pokemon magazine, football annual etc

Very very bad idea

I understand not putting them off reading but I want to lift their reading ages from approx age 11 to age 12/13 so at least they are age appropriate. I'm asking them the read the maze runner and hunger games, not Anne of green gables :-)

But while these books are age appropriate, they are aimed at a reading age much higher than 11. Your DCs would be better with books they can actually access which may be books aimed at younger children.

How were their reading ages assessed? Do you know what they are struggling with? It might be best to speak to the school about this. In the meantime flippity has come up
with some good suggestions.

Does you school use any apps like bedrock? Ds is in year 7 and his school have recently introduced it and it’s great for expanding vocabulary (and ensuring they understand the words). It is designed to be done in short blocks, it actually won’t let you do more than half an hour a day.

@KatherineofGaunt Jane Eyre is quite heavy for an 8year old.

I find reading one or two chapters with my child gets him in to the book so he wants to carry on reading himself. Often he’ll read if bed because he wants to find out what happens. Worth a try.

Yes, I was going to suggest this - read to them at bedtime, stop at an exciting cliffhanger (and tell them ON NO ACCOUNT to read on . . .)

That might make it hard for them to sleep. Perhaps better to have a good story with a proper conclusion so they can get that satisfying feeling and go to sleep on that.