Reading 5x a week (I have a reluctant reader)- when do you do it and how?

[SaloonBalloon]

My DD is 7. Despite the fact that I read to her a lot until she decided she didn't want bedtime stories any more at around 6.5, my DD has always been a reluctant reader. Until recently she was about a year behind. I am supposed to be reading with her 5 times a week but she never wants to read to me and I find it difficult to compel her as I don't want to turn her off reading completely.

Mornings before school are usually a bit of a rush trying to get myself and two children ready for school ( I am a SP with shared care).

After school I am usually managing her behaviour until bedtime as she is often tired and grumpy and prone to meltdown on occasion. When she comes in I like her to sit and relax/watch TV or play with her sister until teatime. After teatime if I ask her to read again she normally refuses or procrastinates and says "tomorrow".

At the weekend, I could try and set some time aside to hear both children read ( her younger sister is an early reader) so that is a possibility. We do usually have a period sat round the table, writing, drawing or doing art and craft.

I'm curious though.... what do you do? It maybe once you have an independent reader they take off and start to read for pleasure ( which is what I'm hoping will happen some day) but I'm concerned that it won't happen by osmosis.... it's up to me to make her an independent reader by practising.

Calvin & Hobbes books.
The Beano.
If she's young for age, I think there's a Charlie & Lola magazine you could sub to.

There is nothing wrong with wanting pictures. My 11 year old is currently enjoying Lizzie Bennet's Diary by Marcia Williams which is an illustrated diary version of Pride and Prejudice. Audio books are also wonderful and a very pain-free way to absorb new vocabulary.

Try getting up even just 5-10 mins earlier each day. We used to read in bed first thing and nothing happened before my son had read a few pages in bed; that was when he was around 5 years old. We used to have tears at the start but when he realised nothing else happened until afterwards then it always happened. Now he reads to me and then we read to him each night age 6. You can often trick them to read more when it seems like they are going to bed later! In fact we just move bedtime a little forward. We made progress when I found football books that he could read so find something that the children love and then hope that they want to read more. Good luck. It was hard at the start but it does get less painful for you & them when they start to make more progress and can read better/more interesting books