TheAttachedMama Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Hi Everyone, My youngest (rising 5th grader) has yet to catch the reading-addiction bug. This summer I want to do a lot of "Drop Everything and Read" times each day with a pile of good books. I also want to do a bit of unschooling and delight directed learning. He seems bummed out by school and learning (in general) and I want to bring some more delight to his days and get him excited about history and science again. I was thinking of doing an ol' fashioned reading reward chart or something. Maybe "reading bingo" to encourage him to pick up some new-to-him genres. What do you think some decent goals might be? (Again, he is a reluctant reader and won't reach for a chapter book unless I require it.). 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 (edited) Maybe pair books with more physically active learning and/or with movies or with things he loves? What does he like to do? Any friends he could share the challenge with, irl or in cyber space? Anything fun in your area this summer? What else is planned for his/your summer? What prizes or rewards would motivate him? Edited May 9 by ScoutTN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 When I was a little girl, Pleasant Company came out with their first 3 offerings. You have no idea how much I lamented not having something like that for boys when I had my own kids. To have the books come alive with playsets and costumes and recipes....that was amazing. I would have given anything to have a box of offerings for regular books. So I started making that for my kids, especially during the summer. I'd take a book I wanted them to be interested in and bring it to life chapter by chapter for them. Eating Turkish Delight while reading through Narnia, watching the ships and learning knots/sailing terms/whittling while reading Treasure Island, Having a small box appear on the table with instructions on how to make your own tollbooth, eating your words, and learning mathemagic tricks to enhance Norton Juster's book, pairing up the American Boy's Handy Book with My Side of the Mountain to make shelters, ovens, and learn about the land. Read, do, think. DEAR is a stopgap for schools. If you want kids to love reading, sometimes they need the push into the story. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 21 hours ago, TheAttachedMama said: (Again, he is a reluctant reader and won't reach for a chapter book unless I require it.). 🙂 If not chapter books, will he reach for any books? My oldest, who is now a prolific reader, was very reluctant at that age to make the jump to chapter books. Really, for him it was not the length of the overall book, but the length of any given passage of text. He read books with snippets of text - DK encyclopedias, joke books, kids' magazines, etc. - but did not like books that expected him to focus on just text for multiple pages. Here is a post I made back then about getting him over that hurdle: My 6th grader is a little less reluctant this year, but last year he was still completely capable, but strongly opposed to novels with just pages full of text. Here are some things I used to scaffold him through the transition to chapter books: - graphic novels - "older kid" picture books (both fiction and non-fiction) with more words on each page - DK, Usborne, Lonely Planet Kids encyclopedias - factoid books like Ripley's or Guinness world records - Geronimo Stilton books - Short stories (we liked Avi's Best Shorts: Favorite Stories for Sharing) - X-Story Treehouse books - Basher books on all sorts of subjects - Who Was biographies - high-interest magazines - Larry Gonick books - Holling C. Holling books - The non-fiction Magic Tree House Books - Terry Pratchett's Dragons at Crumbling Castle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domestic_engineer Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 This past year that things that worked for my reluctant, dyslexic reader was (a) finding the right kind of fiction book (lots of trial and error), (b) race mom or grandma to be the first to finish reading the book, and (c) reading a book that had already been listened to via audiobook. I also got a personal Kindle for this kiddo so that (a) font size and line spacing could be increased as desired and (b) the Kindle could stay up in the bedroom beside the bed (compared to a device with access to the internet & a web browser). Surprisingly, kiddo appreciated knowing "how many hours left" in the book, and that statistic was motivating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 On 5/9/2024 at 5:08 PM, wendyroo said: If not chapter books, will he reach for any books? Here are some things I used to scaffold him through the transition to chapter books: Yes! He always has his nose in a book, mostly graphic novels. And I will continue to encourage that behavior. However, his reading level is a bit behind, and I think he needs more practice. That is why I am going to encourage extra practice with reading books with more words/text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 1 hour ago, TheAttachedMama said: Yes! He always has his nose in a book, mostly graphic novels. And I will continue to encourage that behavior. However, his reading level is a bit behind, and I think he needs more practice. That is why I am going to encourage extra practice with reading books with more words/text. If it is any reassurance, the 6th grader I wrote that previous post about is now a rising 10th grader, and he now reads a ton of "chapter books". He still loves graphic novels and manga and D&D books, but he also chooses to read thick biographies of Buckminster Fuller and tons of math books and titles like The King of Infinite Space (Euclid and His Elements). I did not think we would ever reach this point, but we did, with gentle nudging but not too much pushing or conflict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ting Tang Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Have you read any Roald Dahl books, including the less popular ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 2 hours ago, Ting Tang said: Have you read any Roald Dahl books, including the less popular ones? I started him with Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Keep the suggestions coming! Also, what is a reasonable book goal for him? He is very interested in doing our own reading rewards program at home...but for an "actual good reward"? (His words, not mine. I guess he wasn't too pleased with the library's rewards they were offering.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneGG Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 I have a “book club” with my son. We read the same booK in the evening and discuss it in the morning over breakfast (he’s an early riser, so it’s just us usually & maybe the baby). I have seen him begin to delight more in reading books at his level since we started this. Now, it’s certainly not a picturesque book club. There have been times I’ve wondered if he was even reading the book. I’m often the one doing the sharing, but when he’s into it.. it’s a beautiful thing. 😊 As far as rewards go, his ultimate reward is that he can stay up however late he wants reading our book. Haha. But after we finish a book we go to the book store and we *buy* two copies of whatever book he picks out for our next read. Buying new books is a bit of a novelty in our house; we primarily use the library or go to the thrift store. Have you read The Book Whisperer? I read it a few summers ago and remember it being inspirational for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 On 5/13/2024 at 11:47 AM, TheAttachedMama said: I started him with Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Keep the suggestions coming! Also, what is a reasonable book goal for him? He is very interested in doing our own reading rewards program at home...but for an "actual good reward"? (His words, not mine. I guess he wasn't too pleased with the library's rewards they were offering.) Just now seeing this, so you are probably way beyond needing any ideas, but... How about a chart of 12 books (4 per month of summer, or one per week, if he is comfortably reading at that volume/speed)? Ideas for reading level of books he chooses from for those 12 books: - for each week there is a choice of 3 books he can choose from - for the first 6 weeks of choosing, 2 books are below his comfortable reading level, and 1 is at-comfortable reading level - for the next 4 weeks of choosing, 1 book is below his comfortable reading level, and 2 are at-comfortable reading level - for the last 2 weeks of choosing, 2 books are at-comfortable reading level, and 1 books is a little bit of a "stretch" reading level How the chart works -- when he finishes reading a book, he puts a sticker on the reading chart and picks a prize: • easier book = pick from a "low stakes" prize basket (~$1-2) (candy bar, interesting fidget toy, cool water bottle stickers, etc.) • at-reading level book = pick from "mid range" prizes (~$5) ("coupon" for ice cream, pizza, rollerskating, 2nd run movie theater outing, etc.) • stretch reading level = gets to go shopping for a $15 Lego set, game, tool, rock-climbing or trampoline outing -- whatever floats his boat in that price range Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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