Are some children just 'readers' and others not?

[Mumof3onetwothree]

I hear parents saying things like 'my son isn't a reader' as though it's a sort of personality trait and you cant do much about it. I loved reading as a child. I find these comments a bit frustrating and to me it feels as though they giving up on the child and they'll miss out. Is this true....are some children not readers? Or is it that they find reading hard and avoid it?
Maybe I'm just biased because I found reading easy and enjoyable.

My two DC's both read very well from the get go. We always read to them from a very young age and they enjoyed the feel of books. One hated fiction and would always look for a non fiction book in a subject that interested them, the other also hated fiction but would read a broadsheet newspaper cover to cover every night from about 9 years old. Their teachers would complain that they weren't reading a variety of books and this would hold them back. I'd love to meet those teachers now and ask them to explain how their reading habits have held them back, now that one is HOD in a STEM subject in a large school and the other is also doing extremely well in their chosen career - both have good degrees from good universities, which would not have been achievable had they not read at all!

One of mine was reading at 3, taught herself by me reading to her. The other ... still on single words at 6. Same parents, same upbringing (sahm) but oh so different. Both now grown, my reluctant reader Dc2 is now the high flyer, with one of the hardest rated degree types, very academically demanding job, you know the kind cited by others as being crazy hard!

If you have a reluctant reader, perhaps they need different learning techniques, dd is dyslexic, but also they can make huge jumps when they "finally get it" so don't make reading a chore, remember they read things other than books

I was good at reading as a child, but I didn’t enjoy reading fiction. I loved factual books. I noticed at a young age how “formulaic” fiction is: I remember sighing (aged 7) at the end of Beauty and the Beast, and thinking “another enchanted prince”. I always found it quite an effort to “learn” the characters, when I read a book. I didn’t read for pleasure until I was about 19.

Me and DB, we both enjoyed reading but out of both of us I was the natural reader. My DNephew, 5, he’s a natural reader and enjoys it. DNiece, almost 7, she’s a natural reader and enjoys it and her brother (3) he’s more active and less into reading.

I am a reader, I am not sporty. Some people are just inclined to favour different interests. You could be the best reader or football player, but if you don't enjoy it you can't force it.

Same and it saddens me a bit because I still get a lot.of pleasure from reading. I

DD has a readying she lower than her actual age so would benefit from reading more but just isn't interested.

I find it a bit odd the way we elevate reading above other activities. I am a really keen reader and can't imagine my life without books. But I can also see that other people get just as much out of non-reading activities like music, craft, sport, gardening etc. I do think it's important to have an absorbing, non-screen hobby, but does it matter whether it includes books?

Fair point

You're assuming people are giving up. Also , when does not giving up become forcing? Would you say the same about any other hobby? Because reading for pleasure, is a hobby.

My children dd ages 11 and ds who’s almost 7 struggle with reading.

dd can read very well, but struggles with comprehension and taking in what she’s read.

ds has SEN and really hates reading, it’s very difficult to get him to read his reading book at home. He’s over 12 months behind in his reading.

as a child, I read loads! Now as an adult, very rarely read a book, my mind wanders to other things etc. I don’t feel deprived that I don’t read books.

I think that the expansion of entertainment options reduces time to fill with other entertainments. I'm in my 30s tv was a couple of hours of cbbc covering various ages, we didn't have any game consoles until late teenager. these days there is tablets, streaming tv, games consoles, mobile phone apps. Children aren't bored enough.

I do agree though that constant entertainment with electronics mean reading isn’t stimulating enough for them.

I agree with this. One child read everything under the sun, a real bookworm. The other never read a book until the set books that came with GCSE. Guess which one failed English literature 😀

I grew up like that , and a lot of my friends still weren't readers. I also remember being told off for reading too much and "wasting time" when I could just finish my homework and go outside and play, so and so is out playing already. Some days/weeks I just didn't want to. Once I finished all the books in our home library, I started borrowing from friends and the town library. The adults were always surprised I read so much and so quickly.

My brother and I were polar opposites when we were young, only a year apart so we were pretty much brought up identically. I would tear through books, I would read a book in one sitting. He hated reading.

Now, he's always found with a book, I barely have the time to read and have only read three books this year. It's just all down to the child

Reading is a hobby/interest like anything else. Some children will enjoy it, others won't. I loved books but wasn't interested in sport. Other kids spent all day out playing football but never touched a book. Different interests.

Absolutely agree with this.

Yes, as children neither of mine were readers, despite me being a primary and early years teacher and English Lead!

I knew so much of what to do, how to support them, when yo leave it, what to provide, how to link to real experiences…dahdeeda…it didn't engage either of mine.

One started to find his interest via Harry Potter, the other through the internet with factual information about cars.

The ‘Harry Potter’ child, now adult, still reads. The ‘internet facts about cars’ has continued with this facts and online information into his hobbies and career. He was so knowledgeable that I think some of the books we bought were already ‘old hat’ by the time he had them. He is very up to date and current with his knowledge and experience.

Both passed the 11+, both A* students at GCSE and A level. ‘Car’ child chose not to study further ( and is earning more than the masters graduate!).

I read to both my children everyday . The house is full of books . One is an avid reader and the other is not , much to my disappointment.

I think for some kids it's about the content.

I was a huge reader as a kid, had to go the class two years up to find a book as I'd read everything in my class etc. Still get through about two books a week now.

My brother was completely uninterested, my Mum found it a huge chore to get him to read anything. Until at about 7 he discovered the sports pages in the newspaper and started devouring it every morning before school. He reads quite a bit now, but it's never fiction. History, science books, autobiographies, travel books, but never fiction. He's not particularly interested in TV dramas or films either, he's just not bothered about stories.

So it was never that he struggled reading, he was just completely uninterested in the content.

I’m an English graduate and teacher. Books were my life as a child. My home can only be described as one with a culture of reading. There is a massive bookcase in our living room. My daughter had her own books and bookcase before she was out of the womb. I read a lot. My daughter sees me read a lot. I talk about books, have read books to her at bedtime, daytime. She has a library card. I have bought book series she has told me she might find interesting…

She will not read. She hates reading. Just wants to draw like her dad. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's interesting seeing the comments about computer games.

We've had games consumes in the house from before the kids were born and playing on them was a normal part of their lives from an early age. It was always carefully regulated though.

One of my kids was desperate to improve his reading so he could understand the instructions in Banjo Kazooie and another learnt a massive amount of her letters, sounds and numbers from a pc children's learning game. I forget its name but it was amazing. I let her play an hour a day and she loved it. It was obviously supplemented by other things but it was a major factor in her early years learning.
We lived overseas and she ended up going to school a year earlier than she was meant to as she was so far advanced.

Im a reader. Was a massive reader as a child - won every “who can read the most in the holidays” prize, always had a minimum of three books on the go at any time, read very very quickly. My mum used to quiz me on the content because she didn’t believe I could take it in. After a 20 min lecture on the rules of quidditch she didn’t ask again.

I think the value so many people place on reading to the detriment of everything else is weird. Yes, obviously there is massive value in it, but we shouldn’t be putting down children for not being “readers”.

My DH is not “a reader”. He can and does read, he’ll read non fiction stuff only, but it’s occasional and definitely not part of his personality. He’s also extremely educated, successful, knowledgeable, flexible, imaginative. I can’t think of a quality we assign to readers that he doesn’t have - apart from knowledge of fiction. And there are so many people out there the same.

I’ve also always thought being in to reading or not was partly about opportunity and largely about personality, so it’s rather good to hear from the voracious readers here who’ve ended up with non readers!

Mine struggled reading but once they finally cracked it 2 out of 3 became avid readers for some years -(this also happened to me and my own father Agatha Christie making huge impact for both of us). Eldest more sporadic reader is apparently now getting into reading as activity between lectures.

I filled the house with books of all kinds - most of which eventually ended up in charity shop and primary school library. The libraries near us never really captured their imagination in same way they did for DH and I as kids.

I read a lot - there was little else to do - DH had more hobbies so read slightly less - kids have pod cast audio books books comics games hobbies more time out house wit parents doing stuff and more groups/activates - more entertainment all round.

I do remember being taken aback after moving and looking round school DS had head in book ever time we stopped and waited and drawn to books out during visit being told adamantly by head and other teacher showing us round boy don't read right in front of him.

MIL was never a reader - she had a bout of unemployment as an adult early 60s - only time she was out of work went on about 5 months before she found something she started reading - mostly the misery genre that was prevalent at time - now reads widely and often brings a book on visits.