My Child Hates to Read
What happens when my child hates to read? How do I get my child to want to read? These are common questions I have heard from parents. It is possible that some children just haven’t found anything that interests them, while others struggle with the process of reading. In these situations, it’s critical to discover the barriers holding back each child.
When a child has the ability to read but lacks interest we typically need to find content of interest. There are so many genres out there and our children need to be introduced to them. Do your best to avoid leveraging only what you liked or disliked at their age. Encourage any reading such as a magazine, street signs, billboards, comics, video games, etc. It’s a muscle that needs to be strengthened, the more you work it out, the stronger it becomes and should never be seen as a punishment. Modeling is also critical, does your child see you reading on a daily basis?
Personally, our 9-year-old for a long time preferred non-fiction books over fiction. He loves to learn something interesting from his books and share immediately, including his love of obscure facts. He also watches Youtube and plays video games where he reads the subtitles. On the other hand, our 12 year old has fallen in love with manga and graphic novels. She no more gets a new book and it is finished within a day or so. They couldn’t be any more different when it comes to reading, however they both are strong readers.
The focus for Kindergarten through about 3rd grade is on learning to read, before switching to reading to learn. Students who struggle to read and have reached 3rd grade begin to find ways to avoid reading. We as adults do similar things when we find something we don’t like to do or want to do. A good example of this is “Instacart.” People who hate grocery shopping now can order online and not have to step inside a grocery store. In the world we live today there are many ways to work around things we don’t enjoy or lack skill. Learning to read cannot be one of those things we “work around” and we need to find all ways possible to support our children. How have you found ways to support your children in learning to read?
#standreadytosupport