Question for teachers but parents feel free to give your opinion!

[Latetothematch]

My ds is 9 (year 4), he is a very reluctant reader - partially due to being dyslexic, partially due to poor eyesight, partially due to there being a hundred and one other things he'd prefer to be doing than sitting down with a book.

He reads chapter books along the lines of: Mr Stink by David Walliams, Secret Seven etc.

This term his school have introduced reading diaries, and if they read 5 times a week they get a credit. The school advise reading between 15 and 30 minutes a night. This has been fantastic for my ds, for a child that wouldn't read at all, he now reads 15 mins (always the minimum for my ds!!!) 5 times a week to ensure he gets his credit.

He will never finish a book. Once a week the class go to the school library and are allowed to choose two books, every week he chooses two new books (he knows full well that he is allowed to keep the same one until he has finished but he doesn't want to), and will read approx the first 3 or 4 chapters of each book then return it.

Do teachers/others think this is a problem at the present age, or is it just good that he's reading something/anything even if never finishing a story? Or should I persuade bribe him to finish a book? I was thinking of saying if he reads a book the whole way through that he can £5 (he works for cash!!!).

[Hulababy]

Re library books - maybe encourage him to get nonfiction so not issue regarding finishing them

Fiction books - can you share the reading with him? He reads a chapter and you match him with another chapter. Or even a page each in turn. Gets through the book faster but teaches him the benefits of finishing a story.

[Louise2005]

My son wasnt interested in reading unless I got him to read to me as part of school work. I bought things I enjoyed such as Enid Blyton but that didnt really get him interested. What turned him into a reader was Adam Blade's Beast Quest books. I have seen online that many parents of boys credit them with getting their sons reading. They have cards in the back, you could tell him that he can take them out when the book is finished. I needed no bribe, my son wouldn't put them down.. You can sometimes bet packs of 6 on offer from book places like scholastic/ the book people which makes them cheaper if he does get into them. Lots of boys at our school were reading and comparing cards. If this isn't the case at your school, try and get 1 of his good friends into them if you are friends with the mum as this will make him keener. We bought at least 20 books he devoured them and now reads a wide range of things. He isn't the reader I was and I have to set time to say ok read for a bit, but when he starts he enjoys books.

[leolion]

To be honest, I would try not to worry about it too much. I was very much like this as a child. I was a very able reader, but just did not have the reading'bug'. I would love the feel and look of books, and loved going to the library but would only read the first few chapters before getting bored. It was nothing to do with the type of book either- I just did not have the passion that some had for a good story, and would rather do other things than invest my time in reading.

I went on to go to grammar school, get a degree etc. I'm in a Book Group now but I will not go near a 'Wolf Hall' or 'War and Peace' as I just don't want to read something that long!

Perhaps some shorter stories are the way forward. He will in time start to finish longer books but perhaps reading books per se, is not his thing- and as long as he keeps his skills up, this is ok!

[starlight1234]

just a question...Is he reading the end of the book? My son does this (although year 2) I found it was removing his pleasure from the book ( no surprise there) so made him stop and now he enjoys it again.

Have you asked him why he doesn't want to finish them?

Also Fact books can be very good for boys

[octopusinastringbag]

Have you tried the Tom Gates books? They are great for that age group but have lots of illustrations and do don't look daunting as they don't have masses of words on a page. My DS is a reluctant reader but he will read a Tom Gates book in an evening. He's pestering me for the new one at the moment, I've got it hidden away for Xmas/a rainy day, I think it will be coming out soon.

[Mogz]

Don't bother with the Beano, as much as I loved it as a kid it is awful now. Try older ones, or DH suggests a comic called Pheonix.

[TwllBach]

Speaking as a (relatively unexperienced, though) teacher that once had a class of eight year olds, I wouldn't necessarily be worried that he wasn't finishing books. As someone up thread has said, it does take time for some people to start enjoying free reading. As long as his actual reading isn't suffering, I don't see any harm in letting him experiment with what books he likes and wants to read. I'm sure, given time, something will click and he will find The Book that changes it all for him.

Saying that though, I have been known to refuse to let children change their reading books until they have given it a proper go. But four chapters in seems reasonable to me...

[Latetothematch]

He won't read comics - even when I've tried to buy him comics, he has actually responded mum that's a waste of money there are better things you could spend your cash on.

He does play computer games (although they tend to be football games so limited text), but has started msging his older sister which is great as chatting via text and neither use text speak so practicing writing and reading without realising.

[Latetothematch]

Laughing that's a great post - thank you.

During the summer he found an old copy of the beano annual (think 1980s one) and he really enjoyed it and read it the whole way through - woohoo! But I showed him a new copy of the beano annual and he thought it was awful, so maybe I need to go on ebay and find old annuals for him.

He did not like Beast Quest at all, only read a couple of pages before giving up, and I think the football series was the one he tried (max or something like that similar thickness to Beast Quest) kept on going back to them and trying to perseve with them but never finished.

[NoComet]

Asterix is a great idea, DD2 and DH read Asterix together, also Garfield and Calvin and Hobbs taking parts and throwing in lots of dramatic expression.

DD2 could read difficult stuff, but she doesn't want to she wants to chill after a long day at school.

At 12 she now reads Twilight, hunger games and stuff and is beginning to appreciate her/DD1's set books. Both have been reading about a boy.

I think it takes time to find something that interests them.

I didn't read much until 12 and then I devoured AC, Sherlock and my mum's thrillers and yes I started with the Agatha C and Holmes short stories.

[Latetothematch]

I've tried to get him interested in non-fiction, but he won't even look at the non-fiction section in book shops.

We share the reading of the book, so 3 nights a week he reads to himself for the 15 minutes, and 2 nights a week he reads out loud for 15 minutes and then one of us will read to him. He normally loses interest of us reading to him after about 2 pages. He has never liked being read to, didn't enjoy story time at school, doesn't like audio books etc.

[laughingeyes2013]

I can see your dilemma and I can't claim to have any answers, but have a few thoughts that you may like to add into your melting pot of decision making!

My view is that bribery is fine, I just don't have the answer as to whether it is (or isn't) needed at this stage over reading. The question is perhaps more whether you stand the risk of pushing him so he runs a mile and you lose the ground you've already gained.

I wonder (but honestly don't know the answer) if there is any chance that it might be best to leave him a little while longer to find his own way when it suits him.

I don't know if there is any harm in letting him read half a book - will it teach him out of habit to never be a finisher? Even if it does, I would think any bad habits can be relearned if needs be, so it probably isn't the end of the world.

Which probably just about sums it up really. Parenthood is a series of one guilt trip to another, and all you can do it consider all the information you have available at that time, and make the best choice you can, knowing that you may see things with a new perspective when you look back in hindsight!

There isn't too much that can't be undone later if you find out there was a better way through. So, while its really good parenting to try to cover all the angles, maybe don't be too hard on yourself or give yourself too much angst over it. ??

[curlew]

This is time for me to trot out my pet theory again. I think that it takes much longer than we think to become someone for whom reading is an effortless pleasure. I think that even after they become free readers and are reading anything, it still remains a process that has to be worked at for ages. Not for all children, obviously, but for most. So a long book is daunting, even for a good reader.

I would try comics, or really really easy longer books, like Beast Quest, or those football ones I forget the name of. And bribery is good. But I think it will come with time and practice.

Oh, and whatever you do, don't offer him Treasure island! It's a good story, but it does go on a bit!

[NoComet]

Will he read a bit, let you read a bigger bit?

At about 12 my dyslexic DD ended up having DH read bits of twilight to her.

Even DD2, who is an excellent reader, would get me or dad to read bits of longer books with her at I guess 7-8. She also constantly corrected my dyslexic paraphrasing

[Mogz]

Chose your own adventure books are great fun.
And another vote for Roald Dalh, if you get the big treasury there are lots of great short stories and poems in it.
Has he tried any of the Redwall books? They're quite exciting, in fact I still like getting them off the shelf for a quick read.
How about some graphic novels? TinTin and Astrix, he'll read them through without realising it I promise you!

[ICameOnTheJitney]

Oh Pansy I LOVED that book and have just ordered it for my DD thanks to your reminder! Thank you! We live not far from where it is set.

[Panzee]

When I was a child I read Harold and Bella, Jammy and Me which is about friends and the things they got up to. Very episodic, no "end" that I remember. Hopefully it's not dated too much.

[ICameOnTheJitney]

I would ask his teacher to not allow him to change. He needs to see the story to the end to get the maximum pleasure. He doesn't know this at the moment...but he will once he's done it.

[Latetothematch]

He's started a number of the Wimpy Kid books really likes them but won't finish the damn books!!!

[Latetothematch]

Oops x post - thanks PG.

[Latetothematch]

Short stories - if any one can recommend ones that are good for a 9 year old boy that'd be great, he and I have tend to find lots of short stories are girly (fairies etc) and/or for a younger audience.

[Latetothematch]

Oh I remember those ones, I had forgotten about them. I don't know but that is an idea, because it also gets away from reaching end of chapter 3!