Do You Have a Reluctant Reader?

Posted on: 1 July 2020
By: Adrienne Bone

With food, kids can be fickle, picky, or just plain unwilling to try something new. Umm, and did I say picky?! Well, the same can be said for reading. There can be so many reasons why a child is reluctant to read.

Here are some of the reasons I have encountered tutoring kids:

They are not good at it. They find it difficult so they do not want to.
"Reading is boringggggg...."
They are not motivated.
The book does not have enough pictures. Too many words.

Some things they cannot or don't tell you:

It does not look "cool" to read.
Maybe there is a learning difficulty present such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or an information processing disorder. (Please note: just because a child has reading problems doesn't mean they have a learning disability. Early identification and intervention can be critical to solving reading problems.)

Possible things to try:

Finding something they like is key! What interests them? Even as an adult it is hard to read just anything. So why would we have a different expectation for kids?
Limit screen time. I know, our phones and tablets are addictive. However, it is too important to allow devices be the main source of their time consumption.
Set the example. Kids can be imitators. If they see you read, then they may try to do the same.
Read with each other. Spending time together may be all the encouragement the child needs.

Listen and talk to your child. At the end of the day, the only way to overcome an issue is to recognize it is there.

Below is a list of recommended reads broken down by age range.

AGES 4-7 (Picture Books):

AGES 7-10 (Chapter Books):

There are lots of great chapter book series! Have you heard of Dav Pilkey, Rachel Renee Russell, Jeff Kinney, or Lincoln Peirce? These authors have books that include pictures to break the "monotony" of just reading words on pages. Feel free to click their names to see additional titles. Here are some titles I feel are pretty cool.