Teenage boys, reading, and pulling teeth....

[stephanie]

Despite my many attempts to force my ds14 to love reading, he just doesn't. He reads because he has to, but it's not something he would do on his own. We've discovered his genre of books he enjoys, and once he's reading he gets really interested. However, having him read for 30 minutes is like pulling teeth. Obviously I would like for him to read more, but we honestly don't have enough time in a day for me to break up reading into 3-4 segments. He would consider that cruel and unusual punishment, and I dont want him to hate reading. On top of that, he does not like to read books with much length to them. He can handle small chapter books, but becomes overwhelmed at the thought or look of a novel-like book. So what do you do with a child who struggles with this? I realize he HAS to read something...just a little bothered by his lack of interest.

 

Maybe if I read to him? Maybe he could do his usual reading, and I can work on the harder pieces with him? Of course I have no idea where I would fit that in, but if it helped I would have to. Even if it were just 15 min. Does that sound appropriate, or am I letting him get away with too much?

 

[Amira]

Would it be easier for him to listen to audiobooks? My boys have listened to many classics that we got online for free, and we like to check them out from the library too.

[Julie Smith]

Have you had him tested to ensure he has no learning disabilities? Vision issues....

 

Are the books he is reading appropriate for him?

Is the font to small?

Is the reading level to high?

 

Is he able to listen to age appropriate audio books with good comprehension?

[stephanie]

Have you had him tested to ensure he has no learning disabilities? Vision issues....

 

Are the books he is reading appropriate for him?

Is the font to small?

Is the reading level to high?

 

Is he able to listen to age appropriate audio books with good comprehension?

 

 

He has no learning disabilities or vision issues. The reading level is below grade level for him. He has amazing comprehension, but is a visual learner. He loves to watch a movie that is made after a book he has read. I may try audiobooks for him. He does well when I read aloud so hopefully it'll be the same.

[Julie Smith]

He has no learning disabilities or vision issues. The reading level is below grade level for him. He has amazing comprehension, but is a visual learner. He loves to watch a movie that is made after a book he has read. I may try audiobooks for him. He does well when I read aloud so hopefully it'll be the same.

 

 

It's funny because I just got back from a homeschool meeting that talked about learning styles. One part of it was a bit of a warning not to teach to favorite learning styles. At least not all the time. Because the kid in question is likely a visual learner because he is not good at learning things audio. But if he doesn't practice learning things through audio means he wouldn't improve at it...

 

It was a really neat discussion. I'm not doing the 90 minute discussion about it justice.

 

I think the way it was phrased was doing thing of them as learning styles. Think of them as learning abilities. So he has a high ability at learning things visually. But has a low learning ability with audio. Don't ignore that. Look for ways to improve his audio learning.

[Heathermomster]

DS uses the text to speech option on his Kindle when he reads for pleasure.

[elegantlion]

He has no learning disabilities or vision issues. The reading level is below grade level for him. He has amazing comprehension, but is a visual learner. He loves to watch a movie that is made after a book he has read. I may try audiobooks for him. He does well when I read aloud so hopefully it'll be the same.

 

Ds is the same way, great comprehension, a little below level, just doesn't like to read.

 

We ask that he does 30 minutes in the evening, Mon-Fri. Lately it's been a lot of school reading, normally I like it to be a novel, but he's also a slow reader and non-lit reading has picked up this year. . We still do read-alouds, it's one of his favorite things.

 

It's a cautious line. I want him to read, but not burn him out. He'll read an manga in two days, but his other reading takes longer.

 

Love your Fruit Loops, btw. :D

[stephanie]

 

 

Ds is the same way, great comprehension, a little below level, just doesn't like to read.

 

We ask that he does 30 minutes in the evening, Mon-Fri. Lately it's been a lot of school reading, normally I like it to be a novel, but he's also a slow reader and non-lit reading has picked up this year. . We still do read-alouds, it's one of his favorite things.

 

It's a cautious line. I want him to read, but not burn him out. He'll read an manga in two days, but his other reading takes longer.

 

Love your Fruit Loops, btw. :D

 

 

El, I forget how much our ds's are alike! Mine is such a slow reader, but can read any directions to his video games (and fully comprehend) in minutes. Also, my ds prefers me to read aloud. He just eats it up when we're huddled up in our living room reading. He begs me to read during lunch!

 

Btw, Im still in a love affair with Fruit Loops...were going on 37 years and going strong! ;)

[mama27]

I love to read. I could read all day, every day. There are times when I spend hours reading and neglect everything else. Obviously, not neglecting my kids, but I won't do housework and stuff.

But my dh hasn't read a book since he graduated high school 28 years ago.

Some people just don't like to read and no amount of effort on your part will chnage that, IMO.

Should you require reading anyway? I do even with my kids who don't like to read. 2 of my dds have already decided once they graduate the only book they will ever read is the Bible. These same 2 are very creative and artistic. I can't draw a stick figure. An art curriculum would be torture for me, but they like them.

[Alessandra]

We've discovered his genre of books he enjoys, and once he's reading he gets really interested.

 

This jumped out at me. My ds was like that -- once he found a series he liked, he read and read. I think you should require reading, but allow whatever books/magazines ds likes. Some kids do well with seeing a movie first and then reading the book -- I know this is contrary to what a lot of people would recommend, but it can work.

[Susie in CA]

My boys are 12 and 13 now. I no longer require reading outside of school work. Why? Well, we are busy. The day is full and the last thing they want to do is more of what I require of them. I don't want to do that either. Having said that, though, we do read a lot for school: literature, history, science, writing etc. I like to read, but when I already did a lot of reading throughout the day for my work or school I don't always feel up to reading more later. I find that the boys go in phases. Sometimes they read quite a bit in their free time; sometimes not at all.

 

Here is what I would do:

 

1. Evaluate how much reading he actually does throughout the day including all his school work. You may find that he reads quite a bit.

 

2. Evaluate how much reading he actually does during his free time. You may find that he reads here too, just not what you think of as reading. To give you a couple of examples: a. ds 12 likes to do NXT programming. This requires a lot of detailed reading. It's just not a novel. b. DS 13 plays Warhammer. In order to play he has to read to read very detailed manuals as well.

 

It seems to me that they just like to read to get something rather than to just read. I think that's okay. They do read some longer books on their own. We still read aloud at night because they choose to. And they read longer books for literature during school time. I think that's enough.