Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

Tagged: Reluctant Reader

This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 6 months ago by lgeurink.

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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October 2, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Gina
Member
Hello Everyone, I am hoping you may have any suggestions regarding my dilema. My 12 year old daughter does not like to read. It is always a struggle to get the reading done. We all know that at times, we will need to read books that we do not enjoy. It would be nice to find some living books that she enjoys. My dream is for her to enjoy reading like I did as a kid. Her favorite subjects are science and spelling. She loves art too. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great!
October 3, 2012 at 1:29 am
mccormickmomma
Member
Are there any books she has enjoyed? Does she enjoy listening when you read or to audiobooks? Is it the subject matter or the act of reading she dislikes?

October 3, 2012 at 1:52 am
ServingwithJoy
Participant
Without knowing her it is hard to tell what the ‘turnoff’ is…are the books that she is trying way above her reading level? Or are they on topics that she just isn’t all that interested in? Does she see you setting aside time to read, or can you share a special time to read together?
Also, I think one of the things that helps a child form the habit of reading is setting aside a specific time for reading every day. She should have a quiet hour when she is able to choose a book and work through it.
My kids sometimes have books that I tell them are ‘assigned’. They must read one chapter of that book before they can move on to free reading time. Usually they end up enjoying the book and continuing in it on their own once they get started. But even if they choose to read something else, the time is still spent in quality reading.
Limiting T.V. and even computer time helps to create a reader. Not only will she have less to distract her for entertainment, but her attention span will increase so that she can enjoy a book more.
Since you say that you enjoy books, I am wondering if maybe the books you are choosing might be where you feel she should be, rather than where she is in her reading level. It is okay for her to start with books that may seem ‘young’ in reading level, just to get her into the habit of enjoying her reading time. She will build up to more challenging literature.
If it makes you feel better, my husband hated to read until he was an adult. Now he is absolutely an avid reader, though he still reads slowly. I think creating the habit of reading for information and pleasure is the most important thing for you to pass on to her.
Maybe these are already things you have tried, and this just isn’t her strongest suit. I think it important to continue to develop her in this area, and appreciate the growth she makes – even if she doesn’t turn out just like Mom :).
October 5, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Gina
Member
Thank you two for the wonderful insight and feedback. In response to your wonderful comments….We have tried audio books but there is no joy in it for her. She is not interested in reading and only follows through becasue it is required. Per her feedback, she does not like any subject matter unless it is science. We have tried a variety of topics without any change.
We have reduced tv significantly as well. She is a very diligent student and hard worker. Very task orientated.
I do realize that she may never love reading. If she does not like to read, is it then possible for her to ever love to learn and enjoy school? As a mom, you want the best for your childeren. Reading is a skill that overflows into every part of our life – from school, to homemaking, to work.
Yes, we are now looking at changing her reading level. Thank you for affirming this! Like you said this may build her confindence up for more challenging books in the future. We also hope this will build her comprehension skills thus building more confindence. One concern is that if you reduce the reading level, then what is the best way maintain her studies so she does not fall behind?
October 6, 2012 at 2:08 am
lgeurink
Member
As a child I read non stop every day all day and when I realized that 3 of my girls (we have one too young to read yet) do not share my same passion for reading it was something I very much mourned. It is hard for me to wrap my head around pleasure in life that doesn’t involve hours immersed in good literature.
My three suggestions are this, first, have a good cry over it as a loss. You had a dream as a parent that is not being realized and it is okay to be sad about that. Second, I agree with lowering the reading level as a confidence builder and so she is not spending as much time doing something she dislikes. Third, many people (although not you presumably) do not glean information best from reading. I personally learn best from speaking facts aloud after I have read or heard them. I have a daughter who learns best from being physically involved with the topic. Some people need to write down what they have learned to solidfy it. Discover what way your daughter learns best. A great book on this is called The Way They Learn by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias. It is an easy read and maps out the different types of learners and how to cater topics to their learning styles. Different learning styles are often a reason schools have trouble teaching 30 kids the same topic, because there are so many learning styles and one teacher can’t possibly cover them all. But the great thing about homeschooling is that you can do that as the mom. Once you know how she learns best (and at 12 she can probably help you figure that out with the guidence in the book) you can look at ways other than reading the information (gasp! I know, hard for us book people to hear!) that will help her maintain, and I would guess excel, in her studies. And while the CM method highly stresses living books (and you would certainly still use them!), it does support different learning styles. This is most obvious in the various suggestions for narration ideas: oral, drawing, written, acting, diaramas, etc.
I hope this and the other suggestions you received do help!