Motivating a reluctant reader over the summer?

[Cakes]

My DD is 11 and a rising 7th grader. We have not home schooled but we are mapping it out for either 7th or 8th grade. Over this summer, each week day,  I am having her review math for 30 mins (interactive on line program), read 30 mins and write 3x per week. She also has about an hours worth or PT exercises to do daily. She is also swimming 3x as cross training for dance. She will also be dancing 1 1/2 hours a day Mon-Thurs in July.

 

Right now her reading consists of a math book, (Danica McKeller) but I would love to see her pick up another book. How do you all incentivize a kiddo  who doesn't love to read to pick up a book over the summer? She feels like she has a lot to do daily as it is...should I just relax and not worry about it? or should I push the matter a bit more?

[Kim in Appalachia]

It does sound like her plate is quite full.  But if you want to gently try and get her to read offer a bribe.  It could be read X number of books and get X dollars, or after each book a movie, or whatever you think she might like.

 

I also think you should take her to a book store and let her browse and get whatever she wants.  It doesn't have to be a "good" book, just something fun, even a graphic novel if she likes those.  

 

Make it fun, but don't push. 

[FriedClams]

I agree her plate sounds very full. The only thing I'd suggest is after dinner skip the TV and everyone (mom and dad, too) chill with a book for an hour or so - or have a read aloud time. Honestly, her schedule sounds very school-y and not super "fun" so this might be a choose-your-battle deal and make sure your priorities are clear about the have-to-dos and the nice-to-dos.

[Cakes]

ok, good input from both of you. 

 

The writing is going to be simple and light and honestly could be skipped. She wants to write a series of short books and so I bought a couple of writing books for her. The idea was to structure a little time to work on that over the summer. Still waiting for the writing books to arrive in the mail, we can reassess that.

 

I struggle with finding a balance of down time and 'veg' time. Meaning, she would sit all day in front of the tv or on her iPad. I would prefer to see her use some of her free time more constructively. We are implementing a 'no tv during the day' summer routine, 10-5. The iPad will have limits as well, although she would like to start a blog. I figured she could kill some time with books but every time I suggest it she just groans. she actually enjoys reading when she lands on a good book, but she is a bit picky so that causes her to hesitate about starting new books. 

 

Typically during the school year she has a pretty tight schedule, once she is home from dance, homework is complete and PT  exercises are done, she usually hops on her iPad or zones out in front of the tv. But summer is WAAAAYYYY too wide open for that nonsense.

 

I would love more advice :-)

 

 

[EndOfOrdinary]

I would get a couple extremely high interest books and see if she likes them.

 

Percy Jackson is fabulous at motivating readers.

The Kane Chronicles are another femal centered series that have had good success with girls her age.

Little House are always very interesting, quick reads which provide a feeling of instant success

Anne of Green a Gables

Ender's Game is a bit heavy in places, but definitely riveting

The Secret Life of Bees good gracious it is so good

The DaVinci Code is really hard to put down

 

What does she like? Often times I have found unmotivated readers have not found themselves in the pages of the book. They do not read because they do not get sucked in yet. Once they find their genre or series, they take off.

[lmrich]

Would you be willing to start a book club for your dd and her friends? If yes, there are tons of books and website that guide you through the process. I keep it simple. I read the book, take notes on it, make dessert and invite the girls over. We sit around and talk about the book. I think dessert is important.

[Cakes]

EndofOrdinary, you hit the nail on the head...she doesn't have a clearly identified genre that she loves. It is really hit and miss when she picks up a book.  She has a soft spot for fiction books that are about kids with disabilities or difficulties, there were two or three that she read last year and really enjoyed ( I can't remember the names, I will look up the authors and see what else they have written.  She has a stack of books in her room as well as a Barnes and Noble gift card with $100 on it ( a year old!). I think we will go to the library and look around and see if anything piques her interest, but she is not without options!

 

Imrich, I love that idea but the truth is the schedule is already pretty tight, I don't want to add another commitment. Maybe once we actually are home schooling we can make that work. It has been pointed out to me, on another thread,  that now is not the time to add anything else to her plate. But thank you for the great idea, I will hang on to that!

 

Edited to add that she loved Wonder by RL Palacio and Out of My mind by Sharon Draper. Any suggestions along those lines would be welcomed!

 

[Farrar]

When you said books with kids with disabilities or difficulties, the first two I thought of were Wonder and Out of My Mind.  Ha.

 

Kids with disabilities or differences.  How about...

 

A Mango Shaped Space

Counting by 7's

Mockingbird

Rules

The London Eye Mystery

Loser

The Truth About Georgie

 

 

[Cakes]

Farrarwilliams, thank you. I will look into those titles!

[Kareni]

  She has a soft spot for fiction books that are about kids with disabilities or difficulties, there were two or three that she read last year and really enjoyed ( I can't remember the names, I will look up the authors and see what else they have written. 

 

What about non-fiction or memoir?  Some books to consider:

 

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret

 

Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us by Albert Marrin

 

out of print:

Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster: The Discovery of the Smallpox Vaccine by Albert Marrin

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

Farrarwilliams, thank you. I will look into those titles!

 

Her recommendations are always spot on! We have loved many of these suggestions.  Another suggestion would be the book Wonder.  It was earthshaking for my 11 yo.

 

Can I just very gently suggest that you emphasize finding things she wants to read, rather than rewarding reading as such? I think that you will be far happier with the result if she chooses readings and does them willingly vs. reading for an external reward.  That can often backfire.

 

 

ETA: Farrar suggested Wonder, of course!

[Cakes]

Kareni, thank you for those suggestions. I will add them to my growing list to take to the library and see if anything floats her boat.

 

Chrysalis, thank you for the 'gentle' suggestion ;-) I am sure you are right! She did read Wonder and loved it. 

 

On the suggestion of a member here I ordered a couple of books on writing, because DD is interested in writing a children's series. So now she has that in her stack and on her to do list as well. There are simply not enough hours in the day, at least during summer!!

 

I am just going to take a step back and continue with her 30 minutes of reading a day unless she chooses to read more. She has 3 books to get through before summer is over and at 30 mins a day, those 3 may take ALL summer ....LOL! We do have a small commute a few times a week next month for ballet, and she does like to read to me in the car, so maybe we can knock out some reading then. 

 

There is a fine between encouraging and pushing. I have ventured into pushing territory and I trying to step back!

[StephanieF]

There is a very short follow up to Wonder available on kindle, another chapter from another character's perspective which my ds is enjoying, only short though!

Stephanie

[Mrs Twain]

I agree with the bribe idea. We bribe our kids every summer to read. It works marvelously well.

[albeto.]

DK Eyewitness books helped with this issue in our home. They're packed with wonderful illustrations and photographs, and each one has a brief, but informative paragraph that explains it. Every few pages a summary or explanation will take a half page. The brevity helps with taking the pressure off picking it up and starting to read, as well as putting it down. My kids would read for 2 min or 2 hours depending on what caught their attention. Because there are so many topics covered, I found things that appealed to my kids' interests, as well as introduced them to new topics. What I liked the most about this was the lack of pressure combined with the information gave my kids the experience I wanted for them - to recognize the value of reading as a means to an end they pursue, rather than as a chore. They have books like this in all reading ages, so they can move up as their interests and confidence raises, and eventually move on to non fiction and fiction. 

 

[songsparrow]

I generally agree with the suggestion to try to avoid using an external reward as motivation to read, and mostly in the past have focused on taking the girls to the book store or the library and finding something that they really want to read.  But lately it's been a lot harder to find things that they want to read, so this summer I have offered a reading reward.  I've asked them each to read 5 books over the course of the summer (that they have not previously read) and discuss them with me.  If they choose to read a classic, it counts as two books.  If they complete all 5 books by mid August, they can each invite a friend to a day at a water park.