reading Yr 6

[tomtommum]

help ! my 10 (almost 11) year old DS who is in year 6 has decided he hates reading. Our house is submerged with books, I have read to him almost daily since he was born, he absolutely loves me reading to him, and equally loves listening to audio books while we are in the car, while he is building lego, when he goes to bed, but he says he hates reading.

His reading age is above his own age, so it is not that he struggles to read.

I'm hoping someone might have an inspirational way to encourage him. I have tried all different types of books (thriller, action, historical, etc but to no avail).

I'd say just shrug it off for now, give him a month or so in the hope that is just a phase and then re-visit. Often kids push against the 'expected' at this age, especially if they know it gets to you!

Alternatively get him reading other stuff, football match reports, gig/film reviews etc depending on his interests! X

thanks, Squiffie, he certainly knows what gets to me ! Last night I told him he could stay up as late as he liked if he was reading.... so he read some Silver Fin and reluctantly admitted it was "quite good" ! So I am just going to be patient....

Does it have to be books?

Years ago when DS1 was just starting to read, we were told it that it doesn't matter what children read so long as they are reading something so I try to be relaxed about it. It could be comics, magazines (DS1 is/was into cars in yr 6 and started reading Top Gear and Autoexpress), computer games manual, Wikipedia, or match reports or reviews as Squiffie say. DS2 is in yr5 now and has a chart of different type of text they should try reading over the course of the year which includes fiction and non- fiction as well as newspaper, poetry, magazines etc. on that basis I wouldn't worry too much about novels for a while.

I wonder if, at the moment, reading books feels like work because you are keen for him to read and school are making him read too and if he can still have stories via audio books or having you read to him, then he will prefer that because it is easy. On that basis, I wonder if it worth restricting the audio books? We reserve them for long car journies and stick to books when at home. I feel like it is a bit of a passive thing to be doing, like watching telly. You get the story without any effort which is lovely sometimes but doesn't encourage reading.

One little thing you could also try is to read to your DS at bedtime or whenever, and don't finish the chapter but stop reading at the best 'cliff hanger' moment so that if you DS wants to know what happens next he has to read to himself. DS1 goes through phases where he can't be bother to read whole books and it works with him. He is definitely a magazine/non-fiction reader though.

Well, 10/11 is a transitional age for reading. I bought my 11-year-old nephew some William books at a second hand book fair when he came to stay; he bought Rambo First Blood. It was only after he finished that he told me his Mum had banned it! If your son can read, he will when he want to (and what he wants to).

If his reading ability is good, might he be ready for adult rather than children's books? DS1 is in y6 and when we go to the library he usually chooses sports autobiographies from the adult section. Between them and the sports pages of the newspaper he reads far more than he realises.

thank you all. I have taken a step back in the last month, and tried to chill out and I think it might be working ! A friend suggested Tom Gates, which whilst it seems a little young for him, he is absolutely loving, and has just devoured the first book over the weekend. So I will be buying more ! And he is still enjoying his audio books.

He continues to say that he hates reading, but when he finished the Tom Gates book asked me what else he could read, so here's hoping we're over the worst..... I think my problem was that I really couldn't bear to think that he did actually hate reading. I guess I should have taken it the same way as when he says he hates me for making him do homework !