What do I mean by reluctant reader? A reluctant reader is a child who has reached 10 or 12 years old, who can read, but doesn’t enjoy reading on their own, a child who almost never picks up a book to read for pleasure. And yes, avid readers can produce reluctant readers; two of four of my children fell into this category.Here are a few tips drawn from my experience.
I think children who do not struggle with decoding the words can find reading boring for many reasons. Here are three of them: They have not found the right book. Their limited word and world knowledge makes many texts too difficult to understand. They are so used to reading not making sense, that they do not put much energy into making it make sense.
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, are often prescribed powerful medications to help them stay focused in school. But adding white noise to a classroom may be just as effective as drugs at aiding learning among these pupils, suggest the surprising results of a Scandinavian study.
Reading list for boys, grades 1-6. I love to find books that excite reluctant readers. The key is to find that magic intersection that marries your child’s just-right level with content that matches their interest and a layout that is visually appealing (small chunks of text broken by pictures, larger font size, etc.). Alas, this is a moving target. I have an actual person that I select these books for, my youngest son’s best friend’s older brother who is a 4th grader with my oldest. My mom friends have had success with these books for their reluctant boy readers and suggests you try them. If you want to purchase a book, click on the image of the book to buy at Amazon.com.
This is from Imagine Learning who turned to Ann Lodgson, a school psychologist who specializes in helping parents and teachers help struggling students. Click here for entire article.
This is a great blog post on Partnered Reading to encourage your reluctant reader to read from http://PracticalPages.wordpress.com She also gives some great resources if you need further advice.
These tips are from Dr. Abby. I have more posts on Reluctant Readers here