Why are some children enthusiastic about reading?

[Roisin]

... and what about the others?

I am passionate about books, literature, and reading, so is my dh, and so are my boys (5 and 7). But so few children are. What can we do to encourage the others?

Our school is fantastic, and does lots of work on targeted authors, etc.; has fantastic library resources, reading schemes, access to materials etc. And still the children I come across are not "getting it" IMO.

I listen to readers in school for 3.5 hrs each week. I currently listen to the same class of children I did last year; they are now in yr 4. Very, very few of these 30 children will regularly pick up a book and read voluntarily, even when it's a favourite author, a book they've chosen, and a plot they are apparently gripped by.

Are these sort of observations standard in primary schools? Do you think there is anything that can be done outside of the home, to change this?

Please share your positive stories of things that may help!

I guess some children just don't like it. I am a passionate reader, DH is not. Out of our three children, ds (aged 5) loves books and always has, dd1 (3) really could take them or leave them and would NEVER pick one up voluntarily and already dd2 (20 mths) is showing the same enthusiasm as ds i.e. quite often I'll come across her leafing through a book very seriously, chatting away to herself. They've all had exactly the same exposure (plenty of books in their rooms, easily accessible, stories every day etc.) but dd1 is just not interested.

A very longwinded way of saying...I don't know!

I agree with stickynote, roisin. DS2 is just not interested in reading for fun. Makes me sad and I hope he will come round to it but nothing we say or do makes any difference. (He was a very good reader very early, but as soon as he stopped having to bring a reading book home - in about Y4 - he pretty much stopped doing it.)

DD1 and DS1 are both keen readers, DD2 isn't that bothered either. It must be in the genes!

our reception teacher ( and deupty )is very up on education theroy
apprently the main differnce that perents can effect to make a kid a keen reader is to go to a library - much mroe important than havign books or the dreaded leap pads at home
its the library - funny eh?

dd 3.5yrs loves books she will recite the words as she has heard the same story so many times and collection of books and if you try and jump the page arhhhh. I love reading dh took 3 trs to read one book, bless

The library...oh dear

Ds1 always seems to run wild in the library - no idea why, as he almost civilised everywhere else. Haven't even been since ds2 became mobile... the idea of both of them running in different directions [shudder]

My oldest ds loves books reads while walking to school, before school, during school etc. Infact I often tell him to put the book down and have a break. He will read anything

I think it is because he sees me read, he has always had a bed time story, visits to the library and I havae brought books for him even ones I don't like e.g. captain underpants.
My youngest son is only 7 months so I could not say if the same thing will work for him

God yes, there's something about the library which seems to drive my children wild. They want to run around, take all the books out of the shelves and re-classify them wrongly, and generally cause havoc and mortification. I dread it!

Another one who dreads the library trip. But you've made me think, perhaps that's why my ds 3 (age 3) doesn't seem that interested in books, whereas my dd (8) and ds1 & 2 (7 & 5) all love books: the older three come to the library with me but I haven't plucked up the courage to take ds3 yet.

My DD1 (9yo) is a real "bookworm" - will read before school and after. Her teacher is fab and picks out books he thinks that she will like from his collection. Each class had £60 to spend on books (from a Book Fayre) the other week - her teacher has already given DD1 2 to read from his new set.

The school has a very well-stocked library in which all children are welcome to vist between 8.15am and 8.40am. Each class then gets an allocated time during the day.

I usually take my kids to the library once a fortnight. They love it and would spend hours in there.

However, DS1 does like to read but he needs to be encouraged a bit. DD2 (Reception) has always loved books from day 1 and will "make up" stories from books. Now she's starting to read properly, she's enjoying it more.

With regards to DH and I - I am the real "bookworm", DH doesn't like reading (unless he's on holiday!).

My Dd1 is 7 and loves reading, always has. At the mo she regularly walks round the house with her book and wil eat her brekkie whilst reading.

Dd2 isn't really interested much at all, and neither is Ds.

I think the best encouragement is to see parents reading at home - and for boys to see dad or a male role model reading. I work for a literacy charity and when you talk to children in school about books the reluctant readers often say 'mum/dad doesn't read' - they also tell you other things that mum/dad do or don't do......... but I won't go into that

just to add to the "its in their nature theory" DS1 (11) is an absolute bookworm, will be reading about 4 books at once and when involved in one will read at any opportunity. DS2(7) is a fluent reader but could take or leave books really, sometimes he will find a book to grip him and read it all the way through, more often he reads bits from books at night only. DD (5) is very keen on books, will read anything she can (limited of course), but when she finds a book she can read, she will read it over and over to herself and her dolls (current favorite is "a fish out of water"-I know it well!)
BUT having said that, I think making time for them to read is useful, ie a time when nothing better is on offer (like when we were young and didnt have tv/playstation etc). Even DS1 would rather watch tv/play on computer etc. The boys are in bed at 8pm, they are officially allowed to read till 9 (but I turn a bit of a blind eye with ds1) but only reading is allowed, and only books not warhammer magazines etc. I do allow reading at the table-if not eating as a family,but no tv.We did have a month of no tv a few years ago and I think that was when DS1 got really switched on to reading.

I am a big reader as is Dh although I read more than him. It has been known that when I have new books the housework goes to pot as I just want to read my books.

Dd1 is 7 and loves to read or to be read to. dd2 is only 6 months old so doesn't read yet but loves to chew on them

I haven't actually taken dd1 to the library all that often. She has been obviously and loves it when we go but it's easier for me to pick books for her when I'm by myself.

My mum liked to read and my dad likes to read but my brother can take or leave a book. If it's something that he's really interested in he'll read it but that's about the only time and that doesn't happen very often.

Dh and I are both passionate about books, we have a house full of books , spend a lot of money on books, visit libraries lots, and generally prefer a book to TV, or most things really!

BUT the catchment area of our school includes some very deprived areas, with children coming with none of those advantages. Many of them are (by yr 4) competent readers, and educated readers - they can talk about authors and plots and so on. But I just wondered about why they haven't got that spark, that passion?

What else can be done to balance the gap for those children who don't have so much support at home? Where are the teachers tonight - Popsycal? Yorkiegirl?

Thanks for all your posts - it's very interesting, particularly those who've posted about different perspectives from different children - Janh and Stickynote.

We do bear out the library theory though, Coddy: the boys have been to the library pretty much weekly since birth!

Scaltygirl: I just volunteered to help in school. I love it! I feel it's something I can do where I can make a little bit of a difference.

sueW-check your library fines list as here there are no charges for kids books being late back-otherwise I would be in Debtors prison by now!

We have fantastic library services here. We can access the County Library database online from home, reserve books from anywhere in the County - free for children, and 65p for adults. Then we get a note through the post when they're ready to collect

DS1 is outraged if a newly published book he's just seen in Ottakars is not ready for him to pick up at the library and read (for free) within about 10 days!

No fines for kids here either, and you can renew your books online from home too.

My dd1 reads at every oportunity, my Dad always used to visit each week frequently with books from the cheapie shop and he sat and read them to her. We always read to her at night. By the age of 3 she was reading, he knew this because he deliberately would make mistakes which she corrected him on, he did it with new books so we knew it wasn't memory. Now at6 she has a reading age of 10 and in my opinion the school has nothing to do with it.

But she will read anything and therefore when she goes to a library she will pick books more appropriate to my 3 year old. She does this with the school library but when she does this with the local library I make sure I get better books as well. She always reads my choice 2 or 3 times, I don't think she reads her choice more than once.

So I think reading is the parent input quite a lot. We spend a fortune on books we know she will love (and read to bits). I find the library stressful because she can differentiate between the books because she loves all written words!

I grew up surrounded by books (literally - not one room wasn't overflowing with them!). I lived a minute away from the library and used to go first thing in the morning, get five books out and have read them all by the next morning (same day sometimes). I'm hoping DS will love reading too - we certainly have enough books for him to get his teeth into (but he only has two teeth at the moment, so it may be a little while before he's doing much but trying to chew the pages!).

I don't really know why I loved reading so much. I can remember knowing how to read, but not how to write and that was very frustrating to me. When I was three, I used to fill whole pages with little misshapen 'o's!!

I think the main thing you can do is to show your children you enjoy reading yourself and read all kinds of things to your children too. One of my fondest memories is of my mum reading Watership Down to me when I was about six. I loved stories like The Treasure Seekers, Little Women, The Secret Garden, The Little Princess. Oh, I have to go and find some of these books again - I LOVE good old-fashioned children's stories!