Can reading be bad for kids?

[Lshppll]

Would like to guage other people's views. When we are at home, the only thing that my eight year old does is read (and screens but thats limited to one hour per weekend day). Doesn't do any puzzles, crafting, lego or anything else.

He is an only child and essentially the only way he knows how to entertain himself by himself is to pick up a book. Now I love reading but am a bit worried that he isn't really developing any other skills or interests.

Am also concerned that he's got into a pattern of passive entertainment i.e. screens ( but he barely has access to those) or books. He does so lots of activities out of the house and as I said he is an only child so no peers to play with at home.

What do others think? Should we try and limit his reading? Can it ever be too much of a good thing?

Just adding to my last post, I have a sister. I often went t to my room to read to escape her because she was SO LOUD!

I live 200 miles away from her now and every time I see her it hits me again how loud she is 😂

As long as he is getting physical activity there is nothing wrong with just reading books at home. I think it was around 8 that mine became less interested in toys, one was in to crafts so still did a lot of drawing but the other one didn't do much other than play outside, read and screens. There is a lot that can be gained from reading.

Not sure how you came to that
conclusion? I don’t think that’s what most posters are saying. Most people are just saying you should leave your child to it.

FWIW I was an avid reader as a child and also had two older siblings who were big readers too. My close friend has 4 kids, three of them are close in age and they read widely too.

I run creative writing workshops for adults and kids and used to work fulltime in schools and definitely not everyone who a voracious reader is or was an only child. And all kinds of kids didn’t read at all outside of school
irrespective of whether they had siblings or not.

I was the youngest of 5 but read obsessively, constantly had my head in a book at home. Its just such a pleasant thing to lose yourself in a different world.

He's doing activities out of the house, he's getting exercise and outside time, and he's not getting too much screen time. Honestly sounds perfect. Could he have a friend round to play sometimes so he can do something at home other than reading? (though I recall going to a birthday party once and the birthday girl got bored of playing with us and just sat on the sofa and read a book while the rest of us played!)

Not read the whole thread but your son sounds very busy with other activities too.
I was constantly immersed in books whenever possible as a child and I think reading, and enjoying reading, is akin to a superpower! The only downside for me is that I am chronically short-sighted.

Same here. I wouldn't be worried.

Sounds like me as a child in the 70s

My two dcs, dc1 in particular, read a lot at that age.
They were also doing loads outside of home.
And neither of them were really ‘playing’ like you describe. Or playing much with each other (Theyre close in age too so that wasn’t the issue).

I think children just develop different interests. Some love reading, others love building/creating with Lego, others love art and crafts. Or dancing or music or …..

As they grow up, you’re likely see your dc interest change. Both DCs read until they were early teens. Then stopped. In part because they couldn’t find anything else they wanted to read. No young adult books that they enjoyed. And adults books were still not ‘in their league’ iyswim.

Theyre young adult now. At Uni. They’re still not reading lol (but obviously do a lot with Uni work). But they’ve kept hobbies/sports/other interests.

All that to say. Don’t worry. Just support his interests. Try and widen his horizons when you can (eg trying a new activity). He’ll be fine :):)

Could you have days out round things he is reading?
So if he's into Famous Five see if you can find an island or ruined castle of similar.

Could you have days out round things he is reading?
So if he's into Famous Five see if you can find an island or ruined castle of similar

OP’s son may well love this suggestion but she stated the issue ((which is a non-issue Imo) is that while they’re at home he ‘just’ reads. She would apparently want him doing things like Lego, crafting and puzzles too.

The issue isn’t that he doesn’t go out and do things already because he is engaged in various clubs and activities. It’s what he does when he’s at home that the OP cites as an issue.

As I said upthread, all kids are different but personally I’d not have been keen on linking outside activities to books. Not on a regular basis anyway. Reading was a very organic pleasurable low key activity for me. I’d go down the library regularly, max out my library card borrowing allowance, read the books and return to the library for more and repeat.

My sporting/group/friend activities were things I done separately.

anyway I think that’s enough MN for me today - I’m off to spend the rest of the afternoon reading a book (seriously 😂)

I read loads at your son's age and never liked board games, didn't draw etc.
My sibling hardly read at all though. Neither of us was or is creative but we've both done well, kept fit and active, always had good friends, though I still tend to enjoy solitary pursuits.

Really, your son sounds fine.

I was the same. I would escape into a good book every chance I got.

I think you’re overthinking this Op. As a child my main hobby was reading at home. I didn’t draw much or craft or play Lego. I still love to read as much as I can, but I also walk, love travelling and trying new restaurants. There is nothing at all wrong with reading. It is a positive. There is nothing negative about it.
There is much publicity about getting boys more interested in reading, but you are thinking the opposite. You must be crazy!
Thank your lucky stars that you have a boy who reads rather than games. I would much prefer a son like yours than a son like my nephew who spends all his time on his computer and can’t communicate properly. Reading gives you a love of communication, language, imagination. The list is endless.

Thanks everyone. To clarify my kid would probably game all the time but I've put down the rule that he can game or watch screens for one hour on a weekend day. So it's not like he prefers reading to gaming...but I have massively restricted it.

Definitely far far better that he spends hours reading than hours gaming! Well done for putting in limits and sticking to them (I know how hard it is to stick to them!)

Take him to a library!

I was an avid reader, 99% fiction, with a sibling my age. It's done great things for my brain and language development. I definitely needed it to decompress from school.

Reading isn't passive - it fuels the imagination. Imagination isn't just expressed through drawing. Has he tried writing stories himself? Or learning another language? (Duolingo first, then kindle books - you could join in and compete against each other in Duo).

Do try gardening with him, I'm also a keen gardener and it's quite an interesting way to build your own world (especially if worldbuilding is the kind of gaming he enjoys). Picking interesting plants, imagining what they'll look like when bigger, choosing colours and height, zoning/places to hide etc. Lots to read about, too.

I now write for a living, mostly about nature and how people interact with it.

I was (and am) a prolific reader my dds read a lot. The things you want your child to develop are
physical skills
fine motor
imagination
knowledge
social skills
emotional regulation

Most of those are supported in reading, as long as he’s getting exercise, doing his school work, has social opportunities I’d say he will be ok. I certainly wouldn’t try to restrict it.

My DS was similar. Grew out of “playing” very early and spent age 6-9 with his head in a book. He’s expanded out now to coding & screen based productive stuff (as well as the switch!) but generally still loves his books.

Reading is fine. If the books are appropriate for his age and he is reading in good light and not getting headaches etc.

Help him discover series that he enjoys. You read them also.

You could casually play with him for an hour every weekend day too - build lego, play board games, cards, play the keyboard or play Karaoke, teach him to knit a scarf, a beanie and other craft and cook with him.

This was me, I think I’m a decent human being. For the love of god be glad he’s happy with his nose in a book. I did other stuff too if I had to but I loved reading. Not liking crafting is hardly an issue. It been proven that reading fiction allows you an insight into how others live and is great for developing empathy so just leave him be.

Reading isn’t passive (neither is gaming, actually).

Your child is absolutely fine. Leave him be.

Incredible post

Yes. This is very true. Your mind fires when you read.

You’re overthinking this.

It isn’t just only kids who read a lot. It’s literally just personal preference. All children are different, because, just like adults, they’re human beings with their own likes and dislikes. I’m not an only child, and my main leisure pursuit as a kid was reading. Obviously I played with toys when I was little, but by the time I was your son’s age I wasn’t playing with Lego etc at all. I spent almost all my time reading or watching films. I did a bit of drawing and sometimes writing, but that was almost always inspired by my reading. And while I was drawing I was - invariably - listening to audiobooks.

Some kids are into Lego and crafting and so on, others aren’t. It’s not a personality defect to have a preferred hobby, either as a child or an adult. We don’t expect adults to do hobbies they don’t enjoy, so why would we expect a child to? They spend all day at school doing things they have no choice about, so don’t try to make them do things they don’t like at home too.