Pleasure reading...do you mandate a time for this each day?

[Sue G in PA]

I'm struggling with this decision b/c I have 2 ds's who do not like to read much at all. It's all I can do to make sure they read the assigned books each day! My dd11 reads each night before bed and we have to remind her to stop or she'll go for hours! Ds9 pitches such a fit that I've really taken a hands off approach with him meaning that I stopped assigning books and just let him choose. That means he has more than his daily dose of Star Wars every day! I'd much rather see him reading these books for fun/ pleasure reading instead of during school, KWIM? I've recently been convicted that I'm slacking where ds9 is concerned in order to avoid the conflict. During any given day, there is already so much conflict in my home that I try to avoid it whenever possible. But, I've noticed I haven't really been driving him to fulfill his potential (he is very bright but also very lazy when it comes to academics).

 

So, long story short: Do you set aside a mandatory block of time for pleasure reading or just let them read for pleasure if they want to? If so, do you let them read whatever they want (within reason!)? My dd11 reads well above her grade level, but for pleasure will just consume "easy" books like American Girl, Dear America series, Hanna Montana/High School Musical books :glare: and other easy reads. Should I point her in another direction or just let this go? TIA

[Susie in CA]

I'll respond to your questions regarding your ds 9. My older ds is 8, almost 9. He is just starting to enjoy reading a bit. I would still not say that he loves reading. This year I have really stepped up to bat. At the beginning of the school year I started to have 'literature' time. I don't use a program but I assign him something to read. We follow the WTM cycles; so this is usually related to the time period we are studying in history.

At first this was very difficult for both of us. I used to have him tell me what he read after every chapter, sit next to him to see if he was really reading etc. This was quite stressful for both of us

I also required 30 min of free reading every day outside of school. During this time he could read anything he wanted as long as it was a chapter book. A Star War Chapter book would have been okay for this, a Star War picture type book would not. Outside of school or 'free' reading he could read anything he wanted which was really nothing.

 

Fast forward six month! Today we went fishing with a friend and all boys were reading books in the back seat while I was driving the car. This would never have happened at the beginning of the school year. I can see that being diligent with him has paid off. He does actually like reading now. He reads enough now on his own that I do not have to insist on the 30 min 'free' reading because it just happens (like in the car today). He can read anything he wants now because he reads.

 

I think because of my reading policy two things happened.

1. Reading simply got easier through practice. :)

2. He sees that he will simply have to read in our house. It is not negotionable! :D

 

I hope some of this helps.

 

Susie

[Mrs Mungo]

My kids have to be in bed, reading 30 minutes before lights out. This gives them time to wind down and relax in addition to giving them time to read. If they are really into a book and quiet I sometimes "forget" to remind them about lights out. ;) Oh, and they can more or less read whatever they want during this time. I do make frequent suggestions about what they should be reading and talk them into reading something by my sheer excitement of sharing this or that childhood favorite with them.

[Kris]

My son is a reluctant reader, also. I thought about having him do a certain amount of pleasure reading every day, but then I realized he reads so much already just for school, I don't require it.

 

But I have let him have a say in what books he reads for school and I think it's paying off.

 

When we started homeschooling, we ordered Calvert. When the box arrived, he totally ignored it, while I couldn't wait to dig in and see what was in there. When I showed him the books, his eyes sort of glazed over and he wasn't interested in even touching them, let alone flipping through them to see what was in there. That was three years ago.

 

Now, he picks up any book that's lying around the house and thumbs through it. Sometimes he even *reads* it on his own! I have had to *limit* the time he spends on his assigned books because he'd basically read them for half the day, if he could.

 

So I'd say just leave him be. If he doesn't like it, making him do more of it isn't going to help. Of course, he still needs to do his school assignments, but if he doesn't find reading pleasurable, it's anything but "pleasure reading." Hopefully, after he finds some interesting things to read about, he'll want to learn more and expand his horizons a bit. My son's "wake up call" was "The Iliad." He even told me once that he would have read more in school if they had assigned "cool" stuff like that.

 

Good luck!!

[Peela]

I dealt with this issue at that time by doing lots of reading aloud. At 8/9 my son was a reluctant reader, but loved being read to. At 9.5, he suddenly grabbed a book from my hands that I had been reading aloud, and asked me if he could read it himself, and he hasn't looked back since then. It was a distinctive turning point.

Goosebumps were the trash reading around here at that time, both he and his older sister had a collection. I actually kept reading aloud to them (still do) and just did a lot of scouring booklists for good books, gave good books as presents, and basically weaned them off Goosebumps and similar books. At one point after I knew they had basically been converted to good books but were still attached to their collections, I actually did break the tie and get rid of their books, and they complained briefly, but it wasn't such a big deal by then.

I worked really hard at getting the right books. The book which converted my son into a "reader" was Sea of Trolls- it's quite a thick book, and because he was hooked into the story, and managed to read it, it broke him into a whole new world.

I think you can encourage the reading of good books during school time, but try and focus on books you think they might love, and see if you can trick them into taking their schoolbooks to bed at nightime.

And keep reading aloud stories they will love. Pirates, dragons, whatever they are attracted to. Survival stories. Animal stories. I still think thats the best way to instil a love of reading in reading reluctant kids.

[Jenny in Atl]

I'm lucky in this area, both kids love to read and I don't have to bug them to read. It's usually the other way around, where I'm bugging them to turn the light off and go to sleep, or go outside, if it's a nice day (especially my oldest :tongue_smilie:).

[Nestof3]

My boys are 6 and 8, and I have begun a "system" where I stick with their 9:00 bedtime, but allow them to stay up until 9:30 or sometimes 10:00 if they are reading a book (my 6 year old can look at books too).

[sadiegirl]

I think the key to a love of reading is finding that subject that excites that child. I know that identifying their passion and then finding the perfect(or near perfect) book has really taught my boys about how reading enriches their lives. They are 12 and 11 and both of them still love audio books and my read-a-louds as well.

[hsmom]

I make sure that he reads (free/pleasure) for at least 1 hour daily. This doesn't include our reading from our history, science or anything like that. I have to make sure he does this or he won't read at all.

[Plaid Dad]

I would distinguish three types of reading:

 

 

1. parent chooses book and sets the amount of reading time
   
2. child chooses book but parent sets the amount of reading time
   
3. child chooses both book and amount of time spent reading
   

 

 

 

I would define pleasure reading as #3, and I would not require it - which is not to say that I wouldn't require any independent reading. For a reluctant reader, I would probably start with #2 with the child choosing from a pre-approved list of books, or at very least with parental veto power for really poor book choices. I'd then aim for #1 or a mix of #1 and #2.

 

I would also add listening to read-alouds or audio books to the mix, particularly for a reluctant reader - not in place of their assigned reading, but as a stand-in for the pleasure reading that other kids do on their own.

[happy2homeschool]

I require an hour of reading time for school every day. The books are either selected by me or approved by me -- books for history, Newbery books, or other good literature. In the beginning I selected books that would interest my two boys (9 and 10) -- books with adventurous boys, pirates, dogs, etc. but now they will read just about anything I give them.

 

This is our first year homeschooling so I just started this requirement last August. At that time my boys only wanted to read Calvin & Hobbes or Horrible Histories. But after a month of required reading they became voracious readers of all kinds of books. Many times after they read a book they ask me to get other books by the same author (Esther Forbes and Sid Fleischman come to mind). Now at bedtime -- when they read for 30 minutes with any book they choose -- they usually pick up whatever book they were reading that day instead of C&H or Horrible Histories.

 

I agree with the posts above -- find a subject that excites your children and stock up on books that will interest them -- this is a good first step. Good luck!:)

[LaMere Academy]

Well my children have to read an hour every day. Sometimes it's a book of their choosing and sometimes it's a "school" book. My oldest son obviously gets his reading of Sonlight books done for his hour...and reads more than that. If he has a pleasure book he'll read that another time during the day. He was just reading out in the living room now, and it's a Sunday morning.

 

My oldest DD will choose a book to read for her hour of reading. Next year she'll be back to Sonlight and will have her readers to read.

I do let the kids read before bed some nights, depends on what time they're getting to bed. I'm not too consistent with bedtime, though I'm trying.

 

My younger two I have to tell to read over and over and they try to avoid it usually. I notice if I put them to bed at 9PM and say they can read for 30 min. they'll read then. Hmmm, so I really should do that every night. :D

[Krista in LA]

My kids read from 12-1 every afternoon. It gives me a break where I can sit and watch my soap opera and relax. :eek: Okay, maybe I shouldn't have admitted that part. Regardless, it's nice to have that break everyday.

[Part-Time Homeschooler]

I have a reluctant reader too -- ds reads well above grade level, but he absolutely hates reading! I have him read 30 minutes per day from either McGuffey's or Pathway readers. For pleasure reading -- after school work is finished and they've watched an episode or two of "Arthur" on PBS Kids -- he reads a book of his choice (usually Encyclopedia Brown, The Boxcar Children, or sometimes Highlights magazine). Plus, I read to both children for 30-45 minutes before bedtime (usually classic literature). I pray that ds will one day love reading. But until that day, I'm just trying to work it into our routine as much as possible!

[Josie]

I don't mandate pleasure reading, but my dc do it on their own. If they didn't I would do some or all of the following.

 

1. I would start reading a book aloud to them that I KNEW they would love. I would then stop reading the book after 1/3 of the way or so. If they want to know what happens they would have to read it for themselves.

 

2. I would make sure they saw me reading a lot for my own pleasure.

 

3. I would have an hour of quiet time every night before bed. During this quiet time they could select from 5 activities. I would allow reading books, writing in a journal of some sort, listening to classical music, listening to books of tape, or sleeping. That is it. We do this already, and my dc consider this a big treat. I will say that we have done this since they can remember, so it is natural to them.

 

4. I would read great books to them as much as possible. Yes, I would finish them as read alouds.

 

5. I would have a time during the day where we ALL sat down and just read for 1/2 hour.

 

6. I would talk about cool books I read. For example, over dinner I would discuss a book I read. I would show excitement.

 

7. I would make sure DH talks about cool books he reads.

 

8. I would limit the use of TV, Game Boys, computers, etc.

 

I haven't' read all the other replies, so I hope I haven't duplicated them.

[Beth in Central TX]

Well, I don't have relunctant readers, so this may not be helpful in your situation. However, I require literature reading as part of our school day (usually 1/2 hour). After school I have the boys read for 1/2 hour; they can pick any book from a list of good books that I want them to read before they leave home. The also do free reading at night and on the weekends, but they choose the book (or magazine) and the amount of time they want to read. DH and I are big readers, so I think it's natural that they read on their own because they always see us reading.