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I am having a very difficult time trying to find books that my son will read (he is 10)....nothing seems to interst him...I do make him read certain ones for school...but we have checked out so many different kinds, subjects, genres of books for him...and he won't read them...

 

BUT...if either my husband or myself have read a book outloud to the kids first, he is more likely to pick it up and reread it...is that ok? Is there any reason why we shouldn't rely on that for right now?? For example, we just finished reading "where the red fern grows" and he just, this morning, picked it up to read...but I KNOW for a fact, if I would have just put that book in his hands, he wouldn't have given it the time of day. So, what do you all think??

 

thanks.

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I do this too. My 9yo daughter practically has a phobia of reading new and unknown books. So we read out loud and she gets hooked. In her case, I think it's partly that her visual issue makes reading harder work than it is for the rest of us. She likes reading but she wants to be sure it's worth it! And she just doesn't like the unknown anyway.

 

IMO reading aloud is a great strategy. Audiobooks too! Reading aloud is a good in itself, and I've come to the conclusion that we all ought to be reading aloud to our kids much more, and for far longer, than we do. People usually figure than once a kid can read well, read-alouds should stop, but I now disagree with that.

 

I think it's much better to get him hooked through a read-aloud strategy than to just make him read every book. I'd bet that as he matures and realizes that an unknown book is a fun unknown rather than a potentially unpleasant slog, he'll be more willing to pick up a new book.

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You might try reading a book that has a sequel or series or pick an author that has written several other books that your ds might enjoy.

 

My ds10 read the entire Redwall series after we listened to the first book on cd. He has also loved books by Gary Paulsen after we read Hatchet.

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You might try reading a book that has a sequel or series or pick an author that has written several other books that your ds might enjoy.

 

My ds10 read the entire Redwall series after we listened to the first book on cd. He has also loved books by Gary Paulsen after we read Hatchet.

 

 

that is a great idea too....thanks.

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You might try reading a book that has a sequel or series or pick an author that has written several other books that your ds might enjoy.

 

 

:iagree: Also, my daughter tends to like books by the same authors, even if they are not in a series.

 

He might enjoy Swiss Family Robinson. My sons love the Jungle Doctor series and the Little House books.

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My DS did this a lot, we are in the car a lot and listen to a lot of audiobooks. I convinced him to read a book tha we had the audiobook for, so he could read, listen, read some more, listen some more. He didn't want to read long books he didn't know.

 

Now, this year, he has taken from me Tom Sawyer to finish on his own. He's re-reading The Hobbit, has read all the Percy Jackson and the Kane Chronicles.

 

He wasn't a reluctant reader before, but he was reluctant to read anything long. The combination of audiobooks and re-reading has gotten him over that hump.

 

Good luck,

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I've been known to start a read aloud and then get busy just at an exciting part! ;) Ds then continues it on his own:D

Stephanie

 

:iagree: I did that w/ Harry Potter when ds was little. He kept wanting me to just read it too him, so I read a few chapters, then told him he had to finish it to see what happened. :D

 

OP- I think letting him read a former read-aloud is a great idea!

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Why do we want them to read? A few reasons off the top of my head:

1) To hear great language and sentence structure.

2) To see excellent grammar and spelling.

3) To open one's mind to new ideas and worlds, and to enlarge the imagination.

 

All of these are accomplished when your son hears a good book, then re-reads it himself. I see no harm in it! :)

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