When you ask your kids to read, and they cry

[Incognito]

Nope. It is okay to have assigned reading. Mine read all the graphic novels off the kids section and some off the teens section of the libraries. My DS9 will only read non-fiction if it is free choice so I assign some fiction books for him to read. My DS10 will read anything and everything but read mostly mysteries so I assign some in genres that he won't usually pick.

I just treat assigned reading as literature. Their leisure reading is anything they want to read. They get assigned reading from the German class teacher too so I'm not the only "bad guy".

I think the difference here is the op wants to develop a love of reading and expects possible lying about what is read. For assigned reading in this case, I would personally only do it together out loud for a while, so the practice happens, but it is separate from reading independently for pleasure.

[Sahamamama]

Sorry for the posting marathon, just following up on what was said after I went to bed. :)

 

I suppose the elephant in the room here is that I do let them play video games. I limit it (30 minutes twice a day, after chores are done, except Sundays which are screen free), but it is there. And, beyond their video game time, they are currently obsessed with finding and listening to songs they have downloaded from their favorite game du jour, and also playing around with Garageband and making their own songs. I have been of the "all things in moderation" perspective.

 

However, what I don't like about video games, even on a limited basis, is that they seem to kill my kids' enjoyment of other things---such as reading, playing with toys etc.

 

So there is the route of just going screen free for the summer (at least). They would HATE me if I did that. And it may or may not push them to books---I just don't know. It could totally backfire if they knew I did it to try to get them to read. Thoughts?

 

Why not try going screen-free for the summer, and see if it makes a difference in their overall creativity and initiative (even if that doesn't directly lead to more reading, per se)? That is, they might do more without having the games at all, but it might not necessarily mean they'll volunteer for more reading.

 

How will they know what you are thinking, unless you tell them? ;)

 

What about getting some library books about summer fun things, like building a fort or a clothesline tent, a campfire or a forest shelter? A book about fishing? Canoeing? Summer constellations? Bike repair? Even if some of the text is over their heads, they might begin to view books as sources of information about topics of interest.

 

One of my 8 year olds is a bit like this, she needs non-fiction to be motivated to read. In fact, about a month ago, she said to me, "You know, Mommy, I am a lazy reader." :huh: I already knew this, but I said, "What do you mean, Sweetie?" She answered, "When I pick up a book, if I think it's going to be too much work, I just don't bother to work it like Crash and Bang do. I kind of skim it and ask Crash and Bang about it. They tell me the story, and then I don't have to read the whole thing." We talked about that a bit. She said she looks at the words (difficulty, meaning), the length of the chapters, the length of the book, whether or not there are any pictures (to help explain descriptions?), and if she thinks the book will be interesting enough to be worth the effort. Also, does the book smell weird?

 

I did think it was cool that she knows all that about herself at the age of eight! She seems to want to grow as a reader, to read more for herself.

 

I agree with OhElizabeth, that a part of that growth is going to come when we find books that connect with that child as a reader. Then, ZING! They are hooked on the process of reading to __________________. Fill in the blank with whatever it is that floats his boat -- be entertained? travel to another place? learn some new skill? discover a hobby? get lost in a story? enjoy the beauty of language? meet new "people" (characters)?

 

I think that for some children, chapter book fiction is tiring, because they are expected to imagine so much. Unless there are some pictures, they have to imagine what each character looks, sounds, and acts like; the physical settings of the story; how to pronounce the dialogues, often written in dialect (challenging, even for an adult!); what the characters are thinking and feeling (something my Little Engineer feels exhausted doing); and so many other subtle, unspoken and non-explicit aspects of the story. Also, if they take a long time to read each chapter, they can only read so much of a story at a time, get interrupted by parents for things like folding laundry, and have to come back to a story and remember where they left off. My eight year old mentioned this, too, as being something she finds difficult -- remembering all that she has already read.

 

Non-fiction is more straightforward. A child can pick it up and read a part, still get something out of even that little bit, and there isn't really a storyline and a cast of characters to retain. No strange dialogue or dialects, no scenery to imagine, and very little ambiguity.

 

Graphic History Library is a hit here. Rainbow Resource has a ton of them.

 

It's funny: My oldest (Crash) will read stories, poems, fables, fairy tales, history, and biography all day long. Boom has gravitated to the Science Center books, nature books & field guides, and the History Bookshelves (lots of history for this one). Bang reads it all, and leaves a trail of books wherever she goes.

[chilliepepper]

FWIW on the screen time, 30 min 2x a day sort of sets you up for them longing for it.  If you want to allow 1 hr/day, I'd personally leave it at that and not force it to be in two chunks.  The in-between time is probably full of them just thinking about getting on to finish or do whatever they have in mind.  In our home, screens aren't a big focus, partially because it has become a habit to not turn them on before lunch.  Also, I found that for who we are, when I did a certain amount of time a day for them, then they longed for it every day and had a harder time not obsessing over it.  Now, it is available if they ask (TV, after lunch - usually one show, but sometimes more) and if their room is clean (this either creates clean rooms a lot or no screen time  -I win either way! :)).  Oh, and breaking the "every day" habit of TV took us being busy with fun things out of the house for a week or two, but after that they weren't used to watching every day, so it isn't on that often when they are awake.

 

Ahhhh, I think you are right. I'm even wondering about going to more time, less days. We currently have screen free days on Sundays. They think they hate it, but as I type this, they are playing Uno. With each other. And they aren't obsessing over when their next Geometry Dash fix will be.

 

Maybe I should go to screen free days two or three days a week, with more time allowed on the "on" days. Or I could tell them they get six hours total in a week---use it all up the first day if they want, or bank it for later in the week. This would cut down on start/stop frequency, which I think is annoying for all of us.

[chilliepepper]

I think you're getting great advice to ease off, to consider that reading is not so easy for them and that there may even be some issues at play. But I also noticed that you seemed at sea about what books to hook them with so I thought I'd address that.

 

I think you just keep strewing stuff and see if they bite on any of it. Get it from the library, buy a book or two for every occasion if you can (like, hey, it's a long trip, let's get a book!). Don't underestimate letting them pick their own books either. There are other comics or graphic novels out there, other Wimpy Kid style books, books that are Magic Treehouse level but feel a little older, and even slightly more literary books that you could potentially use as "assigned reading" - though I'd wait until there are fewer tears.

 

Some suggestions for other high interest reading...

 

 

THANKS for all the suggestions. We've tried some of these, but not most of them...that is a great list! Thank you!

[chilliepepper]

You might consider shifting more to audio books for free reading time.  It might get them really interested in reading while they are still working on reading skills separately.  That way they can even be reading stories that are above their current reading level.  More advanced vocabulary/grammar/concepts/stories might get them interested without bogging them down in decoding and fluency issues for material above where they are currently reading.

 

DS loves his Kindle and his head set.  He can read or listen or do both through Immersion reading while he also does other things, like play with legos or whatever.   Because of the headset he doesn't bother anyone else if he is reading/listening while in the same room with someone else. He reads or listens to books a lot more if he can be moving, too.

 

Dumb question, but...

 

Is immersion reading available on all Kindle books? What is it exactly and how do you do it? Does it work on the basic Kindle (the $59 one), or do you need a Kindle fire or somesuch?

 

How do you do Immersion reading while also playing with legos?

[chilliepepper]

I think the difference here is the op wants to develop a love of reading and expects possible lying about what is read. For assigned reading in this case, I would personally only do it together out loud for a while, so the practice happens, but it is separate from reading independently for pleasure.

 

Yeah. Something like that. :)

 

About reading out loud: My 8yo does really weird stuff when he reads out loud. Pauses to take a breath mid word, inserts weird humming sounds between words, skips words, adds extra words...it's actually pretty torturous to listen to him. I would actually like to have his reading out loud evaluated by some kind of professional, but I don't know what kind of person does that. Do any of you? I've talked to a couple of PS reading specialists, and could probably get an appointment for them to listen to him read. But beyond that, is there anyone else we could/should see?

 

I think I need to bump down the reading level for him so he can work on out loud fluency without decoding at the same time.

 

Does anyone have suggestions of EASY books for him to read out loud that aren't too babyish?

[chilliepepper]

Why not try going screen-free for the summer, and see if it makes a difference in their overall creativity and initiative (even if that doesn't directly lead to more reading, per se)? That is, they might do more without having the games at all, but it might not necessarily mean they'll volunteer for more reading.

 

How will they know what you are thinking, unless you tell them? ;)

 

What about getting some library books about summer fun things, like building a fort or a clothesline tent, a campfire or a forest shelter? A book about fishing? Canoeing? Summer constellations? Bike repair? Even if some of the text is over their heads, they might begin to view books as sources of information about topics of interest.

 

One of my 8 year olds is a bit like this, she needs non-fiction to be motivated to read. In fact, about a month ago, she said to me, "You know, Mommy, I am a lazy reader." :huh: I already knew this, but I said, "What do you mean, Sweetie?" She answered, "When I pick up a book, if I think it's going to be too much work, I just don't bother to work it like Crash and Bang do. I kind of skim it and ask Crash and Bang about it. They tell me the story, and then I don't have to read the whole thing." We talked about that a bit. She said she looks at the words (difficulty, meaning), the length of the chapters, the length of the book, whether or not there are any pictures (to help explain descriptions?), and if she thinks the book will be interesting enough to be worth the effort. Also, does the book smell weird?

 

I did think it was cool that she knows all that about herself at the age of eight! She seems to want to grow as a reader, to read more for herself.

 

I agree with OhElizabeth, that a part of that growth is going to come when we find books that connect with that child as a reader. Then, ZING! They are hooked on the process of reading to __________________. Fill in the blank with whatever it is that floats his boat -- be entertained? travel to another place? learn some new skill? discover a hobby? get lost in a story? enjoy the beauty of language? meet new "people" (characters)?

 

I think that for some children, chapter book fiction is tiring, because they are expected to imagine so much. Unless there are some pictures, they have to imagine what each character looks, sounds, and acts like; the physical settings of the story; how to pronounce the dialogues, often written in dialect (challenging, even for an adult!); what the characters are thinking and feeling (something my Little Engineer feels exhausted doing); and so many other subtle, unspoken and non-explicit aspects of the story. Also, if they take a long time to read each chapter, they can only read so much of a story at a time, get interrupted by parents for things like folding laundry, and have to come back to a story and remember where they left off. My eight year old mentioned this, too, as being something she finds difficult -- remembering all that she has already read.

 

Non-fiction is more straightforward. A child can pick it up and read a part, still get something out of even that little bit, and there isn't really a storyline and a cast of characters to retain. No strange dialogue or dialects, no scenery to imagine, and very little ambiguity.

 

Graphic History Library is a hit here. Rainbow Resource has a ton of them.

 

It's funny: My oldest (Crash) will read stories, poems, fables, fairy tales, history, and biography all day long. Boom has gravitated to the Science Center books, nature books & field guides, and the History Bookshelves (lots of history for this one). Bang reads it all, and leaves a trail of books wherever she goes.

I LOVE everything you are saying here. Except...maybe the whole-summer-screen-free thing. I'm going to think about it, though!

 

Thank you for sharing. :)

[PeterPan]

 

One of my 8 year olds is a bit like this, she needs non-fiction to be motivated to read. In fact, about a month ago, she said to me, "You know, Mommy, I am a lazy reader."...

I think that for some children, chapter book fiction is tiring, because they are expected to imagine so much. Unless there are some pictures, they have to imagine what each character looks, sounds, and acts like; the physical settings of the story; how to pronounce the dialogues, often written in dialect (challenging, even for an adult!); what the characters are thinking and feeling (something my Little Engineer feels exhausted doing); and so many other subtle, unspoken and non-explicit aspects of the story. Also, if they take a long time to read each chapter, they can only read so much of a story at a time, get interrupted by parents for things like folding laundry, and have to come back to a story and remember where they left off. My eight year old mentioned this, too, as being something she finds difficult -- remembering all that she has already read....

You know, you might try doing some RAN/RAS work with her to see if it will speed up her reading and some digit spans or other things to work on working memory.  My dd was that, where we'd get to the end of the read aloud chapter and she'd have no clue what happened.  It was a working memory thing.  It's easy and free to work on if you do digit spans, play games, etc.  Also it can be visualization.  That's a bit more complex but something you can google and read about.  

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4rcl6f0uo70esmv/AAAaGAHw3_YTMEQZSw_WI-t_a?dl=0 Here's a link with files for the RAN/RAS dots.  Doesn't take long, and a good RAN/RAS is directly correlated with being a strong reader, meaning it's worth working on.

[Farrar]

Yeah. Something like that. :)

 

About reading out loud: My 8yo does really weird stuff when he reads out loud. Pauses to take a breath mid word, inserts weird humming sounds between words, skips words, adds extra words...it's actually pretty torturous to listen to him. I would actually like to have his reading out loud evaluated by some kind of professional, but I don't know what kind of person does that. Do any of you? I've talked to a couple of PS reading specialists, and could probably get an appointment for them to listen to him read. But beyond that, is there anyone else we could/should see?

 

I think I need to bump down the reading level for him so he can work on out loud fluency without decoding at the same time.

 

Does anyone have suggestions of EASY books for him to read out loud that aren't too babyish?

 

Some of the books on my list could work. Things like Beverly Clearly maybe. Or take it back further. Read for history and do a Who Was sort of book - those are super easy but you can use the "this is for history/science" excuse.

 

But the other suggestion I have is read children's poetry. Poetry is great for practicing close reading. It demands it. Do fun poets like Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, Marilyn Singer, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Judith Viorst, Mary Ann Hoberman. Get collections meant for kids like Sing a Song of Popcorn or the various Caroline Kennedy collections. And then, to make poetry exciting, have a poetry tea. :)

 

http://www.bravewriter.com/bwl/poetry-teatimes/

[PeterPan]

Yeah. Something like that. :)

 

About reading out loud: My 8yo does really weird stuff when he reads out loud. Pauses to take a breath mid word, inserts weird humming sounds between words, skips words, adds extra words...it's actually pretty torturous to listen to him. I would actually like to have his reading out loud evaluated by some kind of professional, but I don't know what kind of person does that. Do any of you? I've talked to a couple of PS reading specialists, and could probably get an appointment for them to listen to him read. But beyond that, is there anyone else we could/should see?

 

I think I need to bump down the reading level for him so he can work on out loud fluency without decoding at the same time.

 

Does anyone have suggestions of EASY books for him to read out loud that aren't too babyish?

Uh, remember the psych eval I mentioned?  That's where it comes up.  They can run a CTOPP (test of phonological processing).  They'll have him read a sample and then will ask basic comprehension questions.  Sometimes the ps will do a good job and run the tests, and sometimes they won't.  Ask them upfront.  Request in writing evals for SLD reading and ADHD and that way they HAVE to run the tests.  It won't be the reading intervention teacher but an actual psych.

[PeterPan]

Dumb question, but...

 

Is immersion reading available on all Kindle books? What is it exactly and how do you do it? Does it work on the basic Kindle (the $59 one), or do you need a Kindle fire or somesuch?

 

How do you do Immersion reading while also playing with legos?

Whispersync For Voice - Amazon.com

[ElizabethB]

Here are some reading diagnostic tests and reading grade level tests to help you try to figure out if there are any problems:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html

 

You could also check the symotoms checklist at covd.org to screen out vision problems.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I have done a lot of incentives over the years.  I don't want to associate reading with dread.  Yes there are times we have to do stuff we don't like, but I don't want reading to turn into something up there with a dental exam.  I have been very successful with incentives and letting them pick a lot of what they read.  One of mine can read for hours.  The other one has a hard time sitting for long periods of time reading.  Sometimes I work around that by reading to him while he moves around or does whatever. 

[chilliepepper]

Whispersync For Voice - Amazon.com

 

Ok, I looked into this but I'm obviously impaired. Do I need to download an app onto our Kindle, or is Whispersync already available by default and I just need to add the audio companion to the books that we already have and future books that we get?

[PeterPan]

Ok, I looked into this but I'm obviously impaired. Do I need to download an app onto our Kindle, or is Whispersync already available by default and I just need to add the audio companion to the books that we already have and future books that we get?

 

If you go to that page and scroll down to the middle, it will say something about trying it for free.  When you click that, it will take you take an ebook (they rotate monthly) that will be free AND the audio will be free.  So buy both on amazon, since they're both for free.  Then go to your kindle (with your wifi on, obviously, so they download) and open the kindle book.  When you open the kindle book and tap the middle the page, a little play button should appear.  If you own both the audio and the ebook of it and have them both on the device, you'll be able to do that.  

 

If you get an ebook through the library and buy the audio yourself (an audio labeled as being whispersync ready), then the immersion reading will still work.  And the reverse works too, where you get the audio through the library and buy the ebook.  Both ways it works.  

[kolamum]

I haven't read all the other replies so forgive me if I'm missing something because of that; I'm also going to be replying from the perspective of a Mamma with a child who does have a validated problem reading, but I also have a child who has no issue simply doesn't enjoy it.

 

In our home our child with vision problem is often thirsty. It use to drive me batty, like I honestly thought he was being a bit obnoxious to need thirty sips of water to accomplish things. As it turns out, my child vision problem was causing dehydration & exhaustion. The brain scans of an average person reading compared to the brain scans of what my son's brain looks like are shockingly different. It's like comparing a small glowing nightlight to having your entire room lit up with 100watt bulbs. It made a huge difference in my attitude towards how he reacts in situations, kwim?

Having said that, you did mention that he's often got an "excuse" for not doing things so I can understand why you'd be far more hesitant to think down that line. You also mentioned that he's not quite ready for "bigger" books yet & is much more on the line of the Magic Treehouse Books. what about:

 

Polk Street Kids Series

Humphrey's Tiny Tales

A To Z Mysteries

Barkley School For Dogs

Stick Dog {really not living books, but they really suck my "non reader" in}

Mercy Watson

Encyclopedia Brown {getting a little higher in reading level, but as each 'chapter' is a new story/mystery it might go down well}

Capital Mysteries

Magic Schoolbus Chapter Books

Geronimo Stilton {I know.. I know..}

Flat Stanley {so many different levels depending on which ones you pick}

Calendar Mysteries

Third Grade Detectives

Imagination Station

 

 

One thing that really helped encourage my "non reader" to read during our recent term break was that I hung a sign up on the kitchen white board that simply said:
 

 

Want a morning Wii Turn?

 

Then Do...

Daily Chores {red card} -- We do zones

Read a book for 20-30 minutes & tell me about it

Do something creative for 30 minutes

Listen to read aloud

 

 

 

There was no whining because it was clear what he had to do in order to get the electronic time. ;)