Situation guideAny grade
How to Help Your Child Enjoy Reading
A child who can read but won't is usually telling you something about the books on offer. Let them choose (graphic novels, comics, magazines, audiobooks, books on their own interests), keep reading aloud, and keep charts and quizzes out of it.
Your nine-year-old can read perfectly well but says reading is boring, and the book everyone recommended sits on the bedside table with the bookmark on page four. The skill is there; the wish to use it is not, at least not with the books on offer.
Why "boring" is rarely the whole story
"Boring" can cover several things: the wrong book, a worry about reading, not seeing what it is for, or other interests that always win.
Ask about it at a calm moment, not with a book open on the table. "What would make a book worth reading?" often tells you more than "Why don't you like reading?"
Give the choice back
Let your child choose, even when the choice makes you wince. Start from what they already love, whether that is dinosaurs, football, a computer game or a film they have watched twice.
The library helps, because a wrong choice costs nothing. If a book turns out to be dull, it simply goes back.
Reading that counts
1A graphic novel?
A full story told in pictures and words, and often the start of a whole series.
1. A graphic novel?
Answer: A full story told in pictures and words, and often the start of a whole series.
2Comics?
Short, funny and easy to pick up for five minutes.
2. Comics?
Answer: Short, funny and easy to pick up for five minutes.
3A magazine?
Short pieces about football, animals, science or a game: something they already care about.
3. A magazine?
Answer: Short pieces about football, animals, science or a game: something they already care about.
4An audiobook?
Your child follows a story and meets new words, without the effort of reading every line.
4. An audiobook?
Answer: Your child follows a story and meets new words, without the effort of reading every line.
5A book about their own interest?
A guide to a game, a book of shark facts, a joke book: if they chose it, it counts.
5. A book about their own interest?
Answer: A guide to a game, a book of shark facts, a joke book: if they chose it, it counts.
Keep reading aloud
Many families stop reading aloud once a child can read alone, but there is no age limit on hearing a good story. Reading aloud lets your child follow a story that might be too hard to read alone, and it takes the effort out of the evening for a while.
Stop at an exciting moment if you like, and hand over the reading when they want a turn.
Rewards, charts and quizzes
Sticker charts, rewards for minutes read and quizzes after every chapter can turn reading into a chore. Avoid making reading the punishment and screen time the reward, too.
If you want to know what they thought, ask one open question, such as which character they would want as a friend, and accept a short answer.
If reading itself seems hard
If reading itself seems hard, not just dull, or your child seems worried about reading, talk to the teacher, who hears your child read in class. In the meantime, keep reading aloud, so stories stay a pleasure.
This weekend, take your child to the library or a bookshop and let them choose one thing to read, with no comment on what it is.
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Talk about what happened in the chapter, or guess what comes next. Let your child read you the instructions for a new game.