DD never had an interest in reading (now 6yrs)

[RolandOnTheRopes]

Our DD has never been interested in reading. Even as a toddler she'd just walk off, or start talking about something else when we would read picture books to her.

She has always had a short attention span generally, i.e. would only ever watch 5 mins of TV then go and do something else. That's improving though as she gets older. She is 6yrs now.

She has struggled with reading at school, but is slowly making progress. I get that she won't read to herself, but she still doesn't want us to read anything to her either.
We can sometimes get her to pay attention to ones with flaps, musical ones and ones like Jolly Postman.

When you ask her why she's doesn't like books/stories being read to get she says it's boring. It's like she just didn't see the point in it all.

At night rather than bedtime stories she potters around her room quietly, or does colouring.

Her (twin) brother can't get enough of books.

Anytime else have a similar child? Any changes as they've got older? Any tips??

If she doesn't like books that's a shame, but you really can't force her to like something.

What does she like? Can you incorporate words into this hobby so that she is still building her reading skills?

What about audio books at bedtime for
her to listen to?

My DD was like this until I found books about her favourite subject (dragons). DH started reading car magazines when he was a young child

Sounds like she hasn’t found the right books for her. What is she reading at the moment? Have you tried silly books like captain underpants or comics like Investorgators?

Does she like being read to?
My dd spent a lot of time reading song lyrics at that age. I used to print out stuff like Taylor Swift and she'd sit in her room with the print out singing for ages.
Would she read a joke book ? She can read it in short bursts even if it's just for 5 minutes.
My sons liked factual books much more than fiction. Their school reading schemes had non-fiction books which they found much more interesting whether it was machines, animals or history (they particularly liked Ancient Egyptians)

I do some one to one reading in school with one of the reading charities.

I see children with no interest in books or stories.....but they might help me read a kids recipe and pretend to make something, or do story starter games, wordsearch, word flowers...play word snap or other word games.

I am reading with y2 this year and am finally seeing one child who had no interest in books and wouldn't try to read in Sept starting to engage with books a bit. I think for some it just takes time (and the right book or subject).

Can she actually read but just doesn't like stories/novels?
Recipes, a shopping list, a message written in a card, information sign at the zoo, an instruction sign, the Sylvanian Families catalogue etc.... if she can't read things like that then does it matter if she doesn't want to read a story?
If it's actual reading in general she can't do then I would focus on things like I mentioned above. Not everyone likes reading stories.

Is she any better with having older books read to her? It sounds like they might be a bit young for her age perhaps? My toddler had outgrown picture books well before 2, and at not yet 3 he is also outgrowing lift the flap books. He likes the Jolly Postman.

Also does she see adults reading for pleasure?

Lots of childrens books aimed at her reading stage are incredibly boring. Biff Chip and Kipper could put anyone off reading.
If she tolerates lift the flap would she manage something like the Usborne puzzle books like Puzzle Castle, Puzzle Planet etc they have some words for reading but are mostly more active.
Can you play board games with reading involved like pictionary, telestrations or rapido where she can practice reading the cue cards?
My son is dyslexic and couldn't read for a while- we had audiobooks in the car and during lunch if it was just me and him so he was still hearing stories.

Weird question but do you do the voices and actions when reading to her? My son would always drift away or wander when my partner was reading as he read it all like he was narrating a cereal box. But if we read it like a ceebeebies preenter he was much more interested.

Check her out for visual stress, we have only just discovered my reluctant (now 18yo!) reader needs coloured overlays for reading. They thought what they saw on the page (having to go back and re-read sentences and words disappearing) was normal and it has never ever been picked up either at primary or secondary as they didn't articulate it and nobody (including me) ever asked the right question. It was always they need to practice more, read more/wider, try harder with comprehension etc. This won't be picked up in a normal eye test, I bought the overlays myself to try out and then school refer on for assessment. Looking back it makes so much sense, reading is boring and slow when you have to keep re-reading the missing bits! May not be but it's something to consider, I so wish it was something I had known about years ago.

Could she have the impression that reading is her brother’s thing. He is better at it and that you approve of that. If she feels she isn’t as good then she may be just focussing on something else like drawing instead especially if you praise that. (May feel that reading and being read to are part of one activity.)

To be clear I don’t mean you are favouring him, children (and adults) can get the wrong end of the stick.

As PP suggested can you find books about a subject she likes or read as part of for example cooking or Rainbows if she is in that (part of girl guides but I suppose could be about actual rainbows if she is interested.)

Thank you everyone this is so helpful.
Her interests are mostly babies, singing, dancing and crafting. She loves playing schools as well.

She doesn't like being read to (stories that is) and very rarely tries to look at books by herself although there are loads in the house. I love reading and always have a book on the go.

I love some of these suggestions though, joke books and song lyrics I hadn't thought of that, but I think that could capture her interest.

I feel bad because I think I've slotted her into a 'doesn't like words' category, especially like someone mentioned if she is now thinking that's her brothers thing. We just haven't found the right format/type for her to be interested.

Her teacher was really surprised when we were chatting to him about it at parents evening (explaining why we hardly ever write anything in her Reading Diary) because she appears to listen to story time well at school. She has remedial reading with a TA 3 x per week.

I like the non fiction suggestions as well, recipes, maybe we could find some books on crafting, or magazines. Definitely need to try different formats, the puzzle books too. Audio books I will show her, they have kids ones on Borrow Box.

I did wonder if she has problems visually with reading. She struggled with phonics, and was very slow to get her head around them, but when I've asked her, she says she can see the words all fine, but they are just boring.

It sounds a bit like I'm obsessed with getting her to read books, I'm really not! We pretty much don't bother as she's shown zero interest so let her just carry on as she is with no pressure. It just plays on my mind that school is going to be a real struggle if she won't read, so anyway I can gently encourage her is what I'm after.

Reading this with interest as my DD is the same. She's in her first year of school. We read books to her but she often just wants the same short chapters over and over and isn't bothered by the rest of the story. Very hit and miss.

Won't make any effort to read the stories set to her by school. She is bright but not interested in reading or writing. It's like she decides she can't do it so won't try. I am worried about what the next few years will be like if she doesn't start getting to grips with the basics soon.

Sorry no advice OP but you're not on your own. It's hard going.

Dd is the same. She’s also 6 but I’m pretty sure she has ADHD. She has no focus on anything and has a lot of the other traits.
I don’t force her to read and I do read to her at bedtime. While she potters round her room playing and not really listening. The teacher said not to force her so we don’t

Realise you have probably tried this, but strongly advise embracing comic books. My reluctant reader was made into a passionate one by a combo of Dogman and Bunny vs Monkey!

Don't lose hope. My DD was the same but now at 11 enjoys reading. I did get an Audible subscription so she could read along with some books she might like that she felt were hard work but she doesn't do that anymore.

Dyslexia? Has she had a sight test?

I was a slow reader. We stood in a line for the eye tests. I memorised what the others said.

I got glasses aged 6.5/7ish. My parents took me to the optician because I started getting headaches. I still remember seeing leaves on trees and the pattern on my grandparents' wallpaper when Ingot my first glasses. I was reading big books within a couple of months and leapt from Peter and Jane to Sunny Days and then to anything I could lay my hands on.

I am.still as "blind as a bat" -8 diopter in both eyes, astigmatism, now need varifocals.

If she likes singing then song lyrics or poems and rhyming stories might be more her thing. My little girl had no interest in stories until we found Julia Donaldson, she memorised them all, so when she was little I'd pause at the end of each line to let her say the last word and when she got older we'd take turns to recite a line each. It was much more interactive for her and appealed to her love of music/song. You could try something like the nonsense rhymes or revolting rhymes for a bit of humour too?

Hi op. We had this with our dd for years. Wouldn't read and wouldn't be read to. Just had no interest at all in books. We tried and engage her but she just wasn't having any of it. About 1 month ago out of nowhere she started reading. She's now reading about 3 books a week. After years of us worrying about it she just found her own way to enjoy it. She's 11.

My DD was like this, she is now Yr 6 and we have been advised to get her tested for dyslexia. The school have advised blue overlays as she did some tests recently and performed much better when given blue paper etc.

DD finds reading easier with a blue overlay, and I wonder if her aversion to reading has been because of this over the years.

speak to the school for advice.

Have you had her eyes tested?

It's great hearing everyone else's experiences, all the other kids in our family/close friends love reading so it's nice to know we're not alone in having this!

She's not had an eye test, her writing is really neat and no complaints about headaches so not sure whether it's her eyes, but that's something we can look into.

I'll keep offering some of these different options to her so thank you again for all the suggestions. Comic books, and just reading even if she's not listening attentively, because some of it still might be going in.

We are moving house in a few weeks, which will mean a new school, and her current teacher said to make sure the new one keeps up with the extra reading. I'll have a chat with her new teacher to see if they have any other insights.