Tips & Tricks for Dealing with Reluctant Readers
While many children love to read, there are plenty of other kids who either dislike it or absolutely hate it. This makes it really tricky for parents who know that their kids are required to read for a certain amount of time each night as part of their homework. Reading is an important part of life, beginning in school and extending all the way into the business and working world. If your child is a reluctant reader, the best way to encourage them to at least start to like it is to try some different ways (aka “tricks”) to get them started. Finding just the right way for your child to begin could start a lifetime of loving to read.
Get literacy materials with topics that interest your child. They will be more inclined to want to read something if they actually like the topic. If your child likes to cook, find some cookbooks with recipes in them that you could make together. If they like sports, pick up some copies of Sports Illustrated magazine or any other that they would love. As long as the topic is one that your child would enjoy, it doesn’t matter what it is.
Be creative with ways they can read aloud. One way your child might be less reluctant is to have them read to a pet. Studies have shown that when people with severe speech impediments read to animals, their stutters are much less pronounced. Reading to a pet can be very motivational and therapeutic for a child.
Surround them with various types of literature. Your kids will still be reading, even if it is something as simple as the back of the cereal box each morning. There are no rules that children MUST read an actual book or novel. Other “non-book” ideas are newspaper comics, street signs, the directions for their new toy, and Google or Wikipedia results on a topic that interests them, such as dinosaurs or astronauts. Additionally, try checking out some books on tape/CD from the library. Having a story read to them on the CD while following along in the book is another way for you to provide a different way for them to read. It might also help you to avoid some of the conflicts that you might face when trying to get your child to read.
Make a cozy spot. Offering a bean bag chair or another place that makes you want to curl up and read a book might be just the incentive you need to get your kids motivated. Curl up and read with or to your kids also. The special time you make to read to your kids might be what they are craving. Time with you is precious, so take advantage of this quality time.
Ease up a little bit. Don’t give up, but find a balance so that you don’t have to have a fight each afternoon when it comes time for homework reading. By having lots of choices available and around the house, as well as other options that your kids know are offered, you will slowly start to see them come around.