Voracious Reader...have you turned your kids around?

[Tree House Academy]

My oldest ds is 9 and doing 4th grade (ish) this year. He came out of ps after 3rd grade and absolutely LOATHES reading. I couldn't get him to read a short story, much less a chapter book and he hated just the thought of having to read at all. Well, I have to say that after 5 months of homeschooling, my reluctant reader has become a voracious one! He reads chapter books by the hour! Sometimes he gets one and is finished with it before we have even had it for the day (which, to me, is awesome). The library lets him check out 10 books at a time because he can easily read them all within the two weeks and return them (love our librarian!). I am just so pleased with his progress. Don't ask me what changed...other than that something "clicked" for him and he realized he actually likes to get lost in a story.

 

So have any of you turned a reluctant reader into a voracious one? Any tips on creating a voracious one from the beginning? I think often of my 5 year old and hope he finds the love for reading much sooner than his older brother.

[PariSarah]

You must be so thrilled!

 

I don't know if there's a trick to creating a "reader" or not, but I think the two things that seemed to work well with the older, that we'll try to replicate with the younger, is providing "motive, means, and opportunity." We never really assigned reading--just brought home a stack of library books of widely varying topics and reading levels, and said, "Read whatever you want out of this stack." Nothing that was absolute trash, but a mix of lighter stuff with tougher stuff.

 

And then we had quiet rest time every day, non-negotiable. One to two hours every afternoon where his choices were reading in his bed, sleeping in his bed, or staring at the wall in his bed. Guess which one he usually picked? ;)

 

Often enough, he just breezed through the easy stuff, and browsed everything else. Sometimes, he'd get interested enough in a harder story to stick with it. And sometimes, he'd even go way out of his normal level, if the topic were really interesting to him.

 

But he never resented it, because we never "made" him read. And I only asked for a one- or two-sentence report on what he had read, if I even asked at all. The self-directedness kept him interested, and having a good variety of good stuff meant that he developed a taste for the good stuff.

 

Such a great success story for you, though! I enjoyed reading it.

[rafiki]

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[unsinkable]

You must be so thrilled!

 

I don't know if there's a trick to creating a "reader" or not, but I think the two things that seemed to work well with the older, that we'll try to replicate with the younger, is providing "motive, means, and opportunity." We never really assigned reading--just brought home a stack of library books of widely varying topics and reading levels, and said, "Read whatever you want out of this stack." Nothing that was absolute trash, but a mix of lighter stuff with tougher stuff.

 

And then we had quiet rest time every day, non-negotiable. One to two hours every afternoon where his choices were reading in his bed, sleeping in his bed, or staring at the wall in his bed. Guess which one he usually picked? ;)

 

Often enough, he just breezed through the easy stuff, and browsed everything else. Sometimes, he'd get interested enough in a harder story to stick with it. And sometimes, he'd even go way out of his normal level, if the topic were really interesting to him.

 

But he never resented it, because we never "made" him read. And I only asked for a one- or two-sentence report on what he had read, if I even asked at all. The self-directedness kept him interested, and having a good variety of good stuff meant that he developed a taste for the good stuff.

 

Such a great success story for you, though! I enjoyed reading it.

 

But there are kids who would just stare at the wall...what do you suggest for those kids?

[Tree House Academy]

Haha...I know what you mean. I think before, my 9 y/o would have chosen to stare at the wall until he fell asleep. LOL

 

My 5 year old is a different story. He is already reading pretty well - we are half-way through LLATL blue and just flying right along. We are also 25 lessons into Come Read with Me which he LOVES. He is definitely the kind of child I could put in his room to have a "rest" and he would pick up a book and start reading. That is a great idea and one I may try soon!

 

I am definitely proud of my 9 year old...and I pray it keeps up and doesn't stall out. He is so super proud of himself. (and I am soooo super proud of him!)

[MUJLBE]

I think some children are more likely to become voracious readers based on their personalities and interests. BUT, I think it is very important to continue to read interesting read alouds that are above your child's reading level for as long as needed until they can read at that level on their own. For some kids this might be age 4 and for others age 8. Reading challenging, vibrant, spellbinding books creates a love of books and this is a key factor in a love of reading. And yes, we might all want to continue read alouds with our voracious readers...but it can be hard to find time between the books they are reading on their own. Today my son announced that he didn't want the audiobook from the library (the only form available for a particular title). He wanted to read the book!

 

Susan-who became a voracious reader at age 7

 

ds(7)-who became a voracious reader at age 7