Revving Up Reluctant Readers

What about kids who don’t much like to read? I don’t enjoy competitive sport. My parents didn’t play it, I didn’t play it as a youngster, I only ever saw it as something boys and elite athletes did. Perhaps if my life had been different, competitive sport would now be a fulfilling part of my life. (Anyone for Book Chook badminton?)

Even if I’d been surrounded by competitive sport as a child, isn’t there a chance I’d still have disliked it? Perhaps my nature, or something in my environment, or a combination of both, might have led me to reject it. Similarly, with children who don’t like to read, isn’t there a chance they are just not that into it?

It’s a logical conclusion. But reading is so important to a child’s education, I believe we owe it to our kids to do everything in our power to turn them on to reading.

So how can we rev up reluctant readers? Give these ideas a try.

• Surround your kids in print

Make sure there all sorts of printed materials in your home, and in places that are available to your kids. Leather-bound classics on high shelves do not work. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, picture books, chapter books, caption books, comic books, library books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, board books, books with audio tapes, home-made books, joke books, text books - you never know when a particular format or genre will appeal to your child.

• Give them choices

I am old-fashioned enough to believe we cannot always get to choose. There are somethings in life we just must do, like stop at red lights. Unfortunately, that can apply to reading, particularly at school. But if you want reading to be associated with fun, with enjoyment, then allowing your child to choose his own reading material for home is a great idea. If you're at the library, and you think a book is too difficult, I think it's better to let your child find that out for himself, than make the choice for him. Same goes at book stores, garage sales etc - a little gentle guidance doesn't go astray, but it comes down to balance. Encouraging kids to make choices gives them a feeling of independence, teaches them consequences and allows them to have a measure of control in their lives.

• Ensure kids see you read

If you only ever read when your kids are asleep, they don't get to see you as someone who values reading because you enjoy it yourself. Boys in particular need to see that reading is a significant and valuable activity for their dads. Youngsters copy what they see adults do.

• Share the fun

Sometimes kids associate reading with a bad experience. Maybe someone has belittled their reading ability, or it has become a dreary chore for them, struggling with unsuitable material. In some cases, I advocate backing right off. Don't abandon a daily reading schedule - but change it. Consider different approaches. Could you share the reading? By that, I mean read aloud together. No correcting so that removes the whole 'right/wrong' attitude, and it becomes two people making meaning from print. Could you read most of the book aloud, and just ask your reluctant reader to join in at certain places? Work on reinforcing what he does know, and slowly introduce new material. Reading can be such fun - try to find material your child will enjoy, and read to him or with him. Maybe it's a review of a movie he might like, or a book starring his favourite toy. Find the key that will rev him onto reading.

• Read aloud

This is linked to several points above, but can't be emphasized too much. Read aloud snippets from the newspaper, a riddle, a great line from a poem, an interesting snippet from a magazine. Read aloud to your children at least once a day, and do your very best to make your performance entertaining.

If we surround kids with all different kinds of print, give them choices, model reading to them, share the fun of reading, make reading aloud a daily habit at the very least - and they still don't like to read, well, we've done our very best.

And in the end, that's all a parent can do.

(Photo credit: Jennifer Zwick - what a talented artist!)