anyone else have a child that doesn't read for pleasure?

[In2why]

My 10 year old son is reading on level.  He understands what he reads and will read what I require.  But he doesn't love it, he doesn't even like it.  This is a strange concept for me.  As for the rest of the house we all read constantly.  

 

I have tried to find interesting books to hook him, and do not require large books because I know they can intimidate him. I even dropped back a level so the reading is easier but the story is still interesting but that didn't help.  He isn't dyslexic.  My daughter is and he doesn't have those struggles.  He has had an eye exam and that went fine.  If there were a reason, the only thing I can think of is that he is ADD without hyper activity.  We know that and have chosen not to medicate him after a REALLY bad experience with Ritalin.  Although now I am questioning that as I am writing this out since the way his brain works he can jump from topic to topic in seconds.   

He loves read alouds and even when I think he isn't paying attention he can almost always answer comprehension questions or narrate back what was read in detail though.  

 

I am at a wall and I am not sure how to get over or around it.  He is getting older and to continue with a classic education he is going to need to read more and more.  I am also a bit envious when I see some of your kids reading lists.   I am trying not to compare because he has other strengths but I am wondering if any of you were faced the same problem.  How you provided a classic education with a child who prefers not reading?  Or even better how your child eventually loved to read?  

[OneStepAtATime]

Have you tried him with a Kindle and Immersion Reading/Audible/Text to Speech?  Or just books on CD?  If he could be building things or some other physical movement while listening to books it might be a better fit.  My kids do better if they can move while listening....

[kathy_overman]

My son, 10, is just like this.  He tolerate reading, and rarely reads for fun.

 

He will read what I require, but often he has to read to me so I know he is really reading.  I feel as if I have tried everything.  Now, I am working to accept him as he is.

 

He does enjoy reading comics so I encourage this as much as possible.  I am trying to let go of my hangup of having a non-reader child.  I don't like it, but it really is not that awful.  It is just different for me, different is not bad.  So, I try to encourage what he does love.  I am finding the more I "let go," the more he will pick up a Big Nate, or Wimpy Kid book and read it for the 100th time.

 

FYI:  He is medicated for inattentive ADD and it does not change his like/dislike of reading.

[OneStepAtATime]

Oh, as overpeople said, some kids prefer comics.  Have you looked into graphic novels?  The quality of the literary content varies but it might spark an interest.

 

My DH have never liked reading, but he became a successful engineer and has many hobbies.  Some people just weren't meant to like reading....

 

 

[LLMom]

I have several dc that don't like to read.  I finally resigned myself to the fact that some people just don't like to read no matter what you do.  My kids always loved to be read to, but they will not do it on their own for pleasure.  I have decided I like them to want to know information and stories, and that can be in any form.  My children love movies, audio books, hearing the news, and listening to others tell stories, real or made up. 

[In2why]

Have you tried him with a Kindle and Immersion Reading/Audible/Text to Speech?  Or just books on CD?  If he could be building things or some other physical movement while listening to books it might be a better fit.  My kids do better if they can move while listening....

 

We love Kindle immersion and audible for read alouds.  What I worry about is how it is going to effect him as he is getting older.  Reading makes a person a better reader.  His history, Science, and even writing are requiring more reading and at a higher reading level.   I worry that if he doesn't read more at this age he is going to struggle as he moves into middle school with other subjects and I see him as on the verge of all education becoming a chore or dread because of it.  It is already beginning but so far in minor ways.  For example he is beginning to turn off to history because of the reading involved.  I am requiring less and less when a part of me feels I should be requiring more since he is moving into the logic stage.  We still watch documentaries and try hands on learning but seriously in middle school and high school all the subjects require more reading.  

 

I am not sure I am communicating very well.  I am trying to figure it out in my head.  

[Rebel Yell]

Yes.  This child also has some eye issues which make prolonged close-up focusing difficlt, so after all the the "school" reading, fun reading is just painful.  But she loves movies, documentaries, musicals, audio books, and graphic novels.

[Erin]

Buck has never, voluntarily, read fiction books for pleasure.  FOR YEARS he absolutely fought me on it.  Which bothers me to no end, btw.  I read voraciously, his father always has a book, his sister is one of the top readers at school...and then there's my boy.  He probably has dyslexia and didn't read at grade-level until he was about 5th grade or so.  OTOH, he has always enjoyed non-fiction.  

When he was little, he called them his "lookin'-at" books, because he didn't really read them cover-to-cover, he mostly just looked at them.  As he got older, he would read the captions under the pictures, to get more details.  Older still and he would read some of the text surrounding the pictures/captions to get a bit MORE information.  Since this is how I've always read things like National Geographic, I figure that's probably a perfectly good approach.  

 

At 14, he now has decided he likes fiction, too.  

He still won't read it if he doesn't have to.  Probably too many words at a time, the same reason he won't read non-fiction cover-to-cover, but he LOVES audios.  And, now that he's old enough to run his tab himself, he checks out audios from Overdrive on his own and doesn't have to wait for me to buy him something from Audible, or help him find something from Librivox (he adores Poe, speaking of Librivox.  lol)

 

 

Look into audios.  Most of the classics (open domain) are available at Librivox, completely free, so that would be my first suggestion.  I will never forget the day Buck was giggling through Tom Sawyer.  Sitting up on his bunk, headphones in, fiddling with a Lego creation and guffawing at whatever Tom and Huck were doing.  

 

I knew that day that we'd crossed a bridge.  

[Lieutenant Stranger]

My 8-year-old has never read for pleasure beyond comics. Honestly, we knew he could read, but I had never seen pleasure reading.

 

As an incentive, I set up a summer reading program for the kids. A variety of good books (I chose because I wanted him to read something different) like Newberry award winners. After he finishes a book, I need a small form filled out so I can tell he actually read it. Then, you get to pick a coupon from my envelope.

 

Sample coupons: 20 extra minutes of Minecraft, bake cookies, skip school and go swimming (we did this yesterday), ice cream for snack, etc. He has a variety of books to choose from -- several Roald Dahls, Henry Huggins, Stone Fox, an abridged Tarzan, etc. 

 

So far...he is reading. I'm hoping if we can keep this up during the summer, he will realize there are actual books out there that he can enjoy, and that picking up a book will become a habit.

 

Hang in there! 

[In2why]

I have several dc that don't like to read.  I finally resigned myself to the fact that some people just don't like to read no matter what you do.  My kids always loved to be read to, but they will not do it on their own for pleasure.  I have decided I like them to want to know information and stories, and that can be in any form.  My children love movies, audio books, hearing the news, and listening to others tell stories, real or made up. 

 

 

How does that translate when your kids are learning subjects where you need to give credits?  I think I may need to rethink how I plan on doing things and seeing what is available that isn't as reading intensive.  I haven't read or researched much about these options.

[In The Great White North]

 

 

Have you tried him with a Kindle and Immersion Reading/Audible/Text to Speech?

I have known a few people who swear by this.  The highlighter  keeps the kids focused and moving along.

 

[LLMom]

How does that translate when your kids are learning subjects where you need to give credits?  I think I may need to rethink how I plan on doing things and seeing what is available that isn't as reading intensive.  I haven't read or researched much about these options.

 

In the case of school, I make them read.  But they don't read for pleasure but do the other things I mentioned like movies and audio books, etc.  I will probably have to use more audio books and DVD's for credits for my dyslexic dd. 

[Crimson Wife]

Go screen-free as a family and see if that makes any difference. The one common thing I've observed about families I know IRL where the mom claims the kid "doesn't like to read" is that they are all big consumers of TV/DVD's and video games.

[AngelaNYC]

Me.

 

I've tried adventure novels, interactive books, books in a series, comic books, graphic novels, audio books, magazines, non-fiction how-to books, Kindle, and Kindle cloud reader.

 

I'm done.  

 

My home is full of every kind of book.  They're available to him anytime.  What else can I do?

[Erin]

Purely anecdotal, obviously, but we don't have video games in our house (other than Minecraft now, on a time limit) and haven't had TV for about five years...

[In2why]

Go screen-free as a family and see if that makes any difference. The one common thing I've observed about families I know IRL where the mom claims the kid "doesn't like to read" is that they are all big consumers of TV/DVD's and video games.

 

This could be.  He isn't a tv watcher but loves Minecraft and Roblox on the computer.   None of our bedrooms have screens in them and bedtime is fluid.  We allow them to stay up if they are quiet and reading.  That encouraged the other kids, but other than an occasional magazine not him.   I think I will track his computer use and make sure I am realistic about the time I estimate he is on it to double check.  For his free time he prefers jumping on the trampoline, playing basketball, or riding his dirt bike. All high intensity outdoor stuff.  Getting him to sit still is always a problem.  

[In2why]

Purely anecdotal, obviously, but we don't have video games in our house (other than Minecraft now, on a time limit) and haven't had TV for about five years...

 

 

I would love to get rid of the TV but DH enjoys Football and racing.  If it wasn't for that I would chuck it.  Son's of Anarchy is the only show I consistently watch, and not with the kids obviously. 

[PrairieSong]

My kids have run the spectrum from extreme bookworm to one who didn't like to read because it was very difficult for him. He eventually did learn and did find books he enjoyed, but is not a big bookworm. He is now in college majoring in engineering.

 

When he was younger, we used audio books and read aloud a lot. I continued reading aloud even after he was reading pretty well, just because we all enjoyed it.

[stupidusername]

my son doesn't read for pleasure. I require him to read science, history, and fiction as part of his home school day. He doesn't like it, but he does it. His reading comprehension is excellent, thank goodness.

 

It isn't optimal but it's not the end of the world. 

[Farrar]

My boys do read for pleasure some, but it's not their "thing" and I admit I spent some time disappointed that they weren't like me or dh as kids - always a nose in a book.  I mean, they would occasionally pick up a book and they were great consumers of graphic novels, but given options, they would program or run around or draw or something else.

 

I had to do a couple of things to make it better for us.  First, I had to decide that their free time was their free time.  It's theirs.  And just because they don't make the same choices I did as a kid is zero reason not to support the choices they do make, most of which are great, creative, fun things.  So I got over myself.

 

Second, I had to decide if it was really important to me that they build the reading habit, I had to make "free reading" a longer chunk of "school" time.  There were some mild grumblings at first and then, really, they both got over themselves and now read for a solid hour every day and like it a lot more and have improved their fluency.  I see it carrying over in their school reading for subjects.  They still don't go pick up books in their free time usually, but that's okay with me and it's easier to be okay with it because I have mandated a nice, long reading time.

[Arcadia]

All high intensity outdoor stuff. Getting him to sit still is always a problem.

Let him move while reading then. Also there are well written magazines and books for outdoor enthusiast. Maybe a rocking chair or hammock for reading might help.

My bookworm actually wiggles while reading.

 

For school assigned reading, I just make my boys do it. They choose their own free reading.

[LibraryLover]

How long has he been a fully fluent reader? 

 

I would keep reading to him, let him listen to audio books, and I would sit with him and read one chapter, let him read the next. Depending on chapter length, I would limit that time to 2, maybe 3-4 chapters. I would also encourage books a little below 'grade' level so he builds confidence.

 

I wouldn't hit the panic button now.  No way is it a given that he won't manage to read what he needs to read as an older teen based on his reading interests at age 10. I believe that a 10 year old boy is more often a creature of movement.  Sure, many 10 year old boys love to sit and read for hours, but many more perfectly lovely and bright 10 year olds do not. It doesn't mean interests won't change down the line.

 

Oh, and Calvin and Hobbes. :)  Lots and lots of Calvin and Hobbes.

[In2why]

Only in the past year would I say he is reading fluently. I did step back on reading level to encourage and build confidence.   He is going to be 11 in August and is reading books like Encyclopedia Brown, Ralph and the Motorcycle, The Droon series.  If a book is thicker he hates it on sight.  I do have some and will get more non fiction at a higher level he can skim through and pick and choose. They interest him as long as he can decide what to read or skip.  Like the Guiness Book of World records type books or any animal encyclopedias.  

 

I got some good suggestions today.  I think we have an old exercise ball in the garage he can bounce on while he reads that could help, and I may need to stop over worrying while still trying to stretch him.  Plus we have a large graphic book section of the library that I don't know much about but will explore.  

[LibraryLover]

If all eye tests etc are fine,  he sounds like a perfectly 'normal' 10 year old.  Keep the books coming, keep reading to him. Pay attention to his interests and fill your house with fat reference books with big photos and illustrations about those interests (Let him come to the realization/ excitement: there is a reason for reading!) Let him read all the Droon he wants. He's still building confidence. Don't push fat books right now. Read him those fat books for pleasure, and let him bounce as you do. Have the audio handy so you can continue it in the car, or at home during lunch etc.  If you watch a movie he loves that turns out to based on a book, get the book. (Jurassic Park is a book. and pretty good one. :))  Don't let him cultivate any concerns that he isn't a 'reader'. He is a reader. :)

[OneStepAtATime]

I meant to ask earlier, when you said he has had an eye exam, was it a developmental eye exam?  DS10 has 20/15+ vision.  He has breezed through every eye exam he ever had.  But after recommendations from the Learning Challenges board i took him to an Optometrist that can screen for developmental eye issues.  Sure enough, he has heterophoria, his left eye tracks slightly out of alignment, which has been causing difficulties with his reading and coordination.  Turns out there are a LOT of developmental eye issues that normal eye doctors do not screen for.  Kids seem to see just fine, but may find reading frustrating or painful or they may not even be consciously aware that it is uncomfortable to read.  They know they just don't choose it.  DS was like that.  He was not comfortable reading.  He didn't know why.  It might be worth looking into.  Check the site below to see if there are any in your area.  Initial exam may be covered by insurance if you ask for a normal eye exam with developmental screening.  

 

http://www.covd.org/

[MeAndTheBoys]

My almost-10 doesn't like to read fiction.  He DOES like to look at (and ends up reading) field guides and animal encyclopedias and reference books.  He comes out with amazing stuff he has picked up from these, so I am happy that he can read and understand.  He loves to listen to me read aloud.

And I've noticed that he likes to pick up my 5 1/2 year old's library books and old SL PreK books and read them.

 

But chapter books--never for fun.  He will read books for school IF I STAY ON HIS CASE and sometimes he likes them, but it's really hard to get him to sit down and read a chapter.

 

I assign him a lot below grade level (he is reading a Beverly Cleary book now--Henry and the Clubhouse, and we got some Magic Treehouse at a thrift shop and Choose Your Own Adventure)--he likes those.

 

I buy all of the Garfield comic books that I find at used book stores.

 

It is odd to me, since I read while I"m drying my hair, on the treadmill, cooking--any time I can have a book out, and I"ll read nearly anything.  and DS1 is a bookworm.

 

But DH is not, and at least I am confident that DS2 CAN read well, it just isn't relaxing or enjoyable for him (unless it is an animal book).  I have resigned myself to buying up all the animal books I can at thrift shops and just encouraging him to read what he wants to read--it is good material.

 

We do a reading curriculum, Christian LIght, and he DOES enjoy the stories.  Which baffles me even more, that he doesn't like to read books.

 

Betsy

[a27mom]

The jury is still out on my kids, but my dh does not read fiction. I have never seen him read fiction in the 20 years I have known him. He is well educated and very intelligent. I can't say he doesn't "read for pleasure" because he reads the paper, finance magazines, tractor manuals (cover to cover), ag papers and magazines. But it always has to be something he sees as useful.

 

I have a feeling my oldest might be this way. She is so practical and has not started reading fluently, she could be considered slightly behind. (She had vision issues, that resolved a few months ago) But as she is only 6, I don't consider her behind (she is reading at a mid first grade level). Her personality is a lot like her dad. She doesn't care a lot about TV and movies either, though she will watch. I have resigned myself to the strong possibility she won't be a reader, and it is really ok. She actually appears to have excellent reading comprehension, for the limited amount she can read, and based on her understanding when read to.

 

Fortunately my younger one is already starting to read fluently, and already reads for pleasure :) so I do have a bookworm I can relate to ;)

[Outdoorsy Type]

My oldest and middle son like non-fiction only. They read Calvin and Hobbes, Farside, Survival books, Eyewitness books, encyclopedias. Etc. They don't read much/any novels that are not assigned. They do love books I read out loud. My youngest is six and reading at a K/1st level so I don't know if he will read fiction willingly or not. I have three different novels and an audiobook going right now to help boost up that fiction free diet. :)

[purplejackmama]

Yep, all 3 of my school aged children. I feel like the biggest homeschool loser.

[FairProspects]

My 9 year old ds has very specific tastes in reading. He requests books that can be hard to find and I would not pick for him on my own. If I stocked his room with fiction only, he probably would never read for fun. But he will spend hours reading atlases, engineering books, science dictionaries, the history of airplanes, ships, trains, etc. Maybe just finding books that are more interesting to him would help? What does he find fascinating that he would willingly read to discover more?

[Storygirl]

Sigh.  Only one of my four children is a recreational reader.  The others only read when I assign it for school.  My grand plan is to gradually increase their required school reading, but more than one has some learning challenges, so it's a struggle.  When I dwell on it, I do feel sad.  I have always been an avid reader, have undergraduate and graduate degrees in literature, and worked in libraries and bookstores for my career, so books have always been a foundational part of my life. I have to admit that one of my primary reasons for beginning homeschooling years ago was the opportunity to bring books to life for my children.  I remind myself that they are their own people with their own interests and also take hope in the knowledge that reading is a hobby that can be picked up at any age.  Forming the habit early is better, of course, but my sister became an avid reader as an adult, so I know it's never too late. In the meantime, I do a lot of reading aloud, so they continue to be exposed to literature.

[BrettW]

Does anyone have a child who likes Minecraft AND likes to read????  

 

Having read many threads (Minecraft threads, hating to read threads) I wonder about the connection. I suppose it could be a chicken and egg issue. Do kids who don't enjoy reading need more visual stimulation and therefore flock to Minecraft? Or perhaps there is some aspect of Minecraft (part of the "addiction"?) that draws kids into a mindset that reading is boring. My son (10) will never, unless forced, pick up any book knowing that a computer/minecraft is nearby.

 

Are the two mutually exclusive?  :confused1:

[abcinnc]

I have one who enjoys reading and two who do not.  I have provided a classical education by reading aloud to them.  I am trying to get them on a schedule of reading at least 30 minutes per day on their own.

 

[Cricket]

For his free time he prefers jumping on the trampoline, playing basketball, or riding his dirt bike. All high intensity outdoor stuff. Getting him to sit still is always a problem.

My oldest ds (16) is like this--very gifted athlete and does not enjoy reading at all. He hates sitting still! But he does like when I read to him while he works out. I'd much rather curl up with a book than have someone read it to me while I exercise! Ugh!

[Crimson Wife]

Does anyone have a child who likes Minecraft AND likes to read????  

 

Yes, both my older kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE both Minecraft and reading. However, both were fluent readers LONG before Minecraft entered our household. And we don't have cable/satellite or pay for Netflix so they aren't getting a lot of TV. Maybe 1-2 DVD's from the library a week, and that's it.

[Arcadia]

My son (10) will never, unless forced, pick up any book knowing that a computer/minecraft is nearby.

 

Are the two mutually exclusive? :confused1:

My 9 year old loves reading and likes gaming.

If we are at Best Buy or Target, he goes for the Wii and doesn't want to leave. If we are at the library or Barnes and Noble, he can spend hours there. As a kid, I can spend hours at the arcade and hours reading at the library. Gaming and love of reading aren't mutually exclusive. Your son might like his own comfy reading corner.

 

It is possible to be addicted to games because that is how games companies like Electronic Arts make big bucks. Games draw the players in to a virtual reality and gives player an adrenaline high.

 

My kids are requires to do an hour of leisure reading everyday. They choose what they read and where they read. They get to play computer/tablet games after all their required work are done.