How To Get Children To Read

[nixie]

How do you get your children to read? My son's 18 now and I never could get him to read.When I used to read to him when he was little his eyes would glaze over and he'd demand you make up a story and get rid of the book.As he grow older nothing I'd do would tempt him not even comic books.He'd read books that where set in his English lesson only cause he had too.He grew up surrounded by books but has never taken an interest.On the other hand my niece and nephew are both avid readers although their parents never read.

[the_faery_queen]

my brother never used to read as a kid, i was the one always reading. now i hardly read (nothing out there to interst me) and he reads all sorts of weird stuff! from animal farm (i read it as a kid) to books by red dwarf actors to things i've never heard of. i think he just had to find things that appealed to him. he liked reddwarf so he read ths books of the show. he got into graphic novels, he got into classics and all sorts of things. i dunno how, i just think he found things that interested him.

maybe leave a book in the toilet you know how men like to read in there. (joke before peole call me sexist and so on!) at least my dad does!

[Teresa Edgerton]

And yet very true, for all that, faery_queen. My two oldest (daughters) read voraciously, my two youngest (daughter and son) used to hardly read at all, though I read to them often when they were little and there were always hundreds of books around the house. But in the last couple of years my son (now in his mid-twenties) has started reading fantasy novels in the bathroom. He lives next door, so he comes over here and borrows books from me -- still hasn't reached the point where he buys fiction on his own, but then he's not likely to run out of reading material anytime soon.

I'm hoping that his sister, after her twins are born, will get in the habit of reading to them, and so come around to enjoying the process more herself. I believe she is going to be a very good and conscientious mother, so the chances are very good that she will read to her children (especially since I intend to see that she and they have an ample supply of good books).

If that doesn't do it, I guess I'll have to accept that she'll never take the same pleasure in reading that her father and I do.

[Alia]

Here's an article I found online.
http://www.childrenslit.com/th_getkidstoread.html

How To Get Your Kids to Read This Summer by Gwynne Spencer
Are you one of those parents who say they want their kids to spend more time reading this summer? Are you one of those teachers that sends home carefully prepared lists of suggested titles that end up in the kitchen junk drawer? What's the answer? Here are ten solutions. 1. Take your kids to where books live--the library--at least once a week. Plan to spend at least an hour while the kids browse, explore and peruse. It may only take an adult ten minutes to choose a book, but they are KIDS--they still quake at the thought of Conan the Librarian attacking them because they don't know their Dewey Decimal system.
2. Sign the kids up for the local library summer reading program and get them there for the events each week. If you're going to do battle with the one-eyed monster, it's going to take a little effort and gasoline.
3. Take kids to the bookstore. Go at least once every other week. It can be a used store, a big store, a little local store, but buy them a book now and then. In our relentelessly consumer-oriented world, if you love it, you buy it.
4. Read aloud to your kids, no matter how old they are, every day. Share something you love or something they love, but read to them. Car trips are an especially good time to do this, when you have a captive audience. You never outgrow the need to be read to!
5. Whenever you can connect books to food, DO IT! "What's Cooking in Children's Literature" (Linworth Publishing, 800/786-5017) has hundreds of book-related recipes.
6. Be a media monster--Take books on tape whenever you go on a trip. Some libraries have free tapes to lend. Don't rent book-based videos until after the kids have read the books. Cut the plug off the television. It's a drug. Limit computer game time to equal reading minutes.
7. Host kid book clubs for youngsters to discuss their favorite books. Provide pizza, drinks, dessert, tea, and give readers a chance to sit around and talk about their favorite authors and books.
8. Do you have books in the car, books stacked up in front of the television, books in the bathroom (especially dictionaries), books in the kitchen (especially on the microwave), books in the bedroom, books everywhere the kids sit still during the summer?
9. Don't make kids "finish what they start" reading! It will not build their love for that author or title. Instead, set a good example. Read while you nuke your coffee. Read while you are waiting for the carpool. Read while you are sitting with the TV off. Read when you're at the pool. Read while you're at the veterinarian's office. Tell them about what you're reading. Make it safe and fashionable to talk about books, about reading, about authors, about literature.
10. Keep a list on the refrigerator of the books each person in the family has read this summer.

[j. d. worthington]

While I think many of these have merit, I can't help but pause at #6... In my experience, this is a sure-fire way to build resentment of rather than love for reading in most kids. If they feel that it's in the nature of "homework", then they'll come to feel it's more of a punishment than an imaginative outlet, and this can quickly push them away from reading altogether, except when required by school ... and often even then.

[Cloud]

the standard advice is all very good: read to your children, take them to bookstores, give them books, show them by example how important books are.

BUT! There are other factors involved, too. I have two daughters, now grown. I have been a book lover all my life and did all the things mentioned above. Guess what? One daughter reads, one does not. So personalities have to be factored in, too.

The most important tip in my opinion? Don't let your kids watch TV indiscriminently and constantly. For a long time I thought this didn't matter, because I grew up watching TV and certainly watch a lot of it now, and I've been a reader all my life. I now think differently because I think the amount of TV viewing has changed from when I was a kid. TV is SO ubiquitous, and so commercial that I do think it damages children. Watching too much tv not only takes up time they can be reading (or doing something else, like spending time with family or doing something active), it shortens their attention span and ruins their concentration.

So, good luck with that book thing! This is my first post, too btw.

[Nesacat]

My mom used to read to both my brother and me when we were little. She used Sherezade's trick and would continue the next day. But when we got to the point of being able to read by ourselves, we greatly diverged. I'd agree that you can read to children, buy them books, take them to libraries but there are personality differences.

I became a voracious reader and devoured just about anything and everything filled with words. Read under the blanket, read on public transport, spent all my pocket money on books and eventually became an editor and still read with equal fervour.

My brother just stopped reading anything at all aside from the occasional football magazine. He'd read if it was required reading in school but that was it right up to the time he went to University and then he discovered books that he liked to read. They are mostly biographies of great political figures or corporate leaders as well as books on military strategy. Now, after all those years he reads as well though in a much more narrow band.

My cousins however do not read at all aside from popular magazines though they are voracious television and movie fans. Their mothers however, are all readers who had read to their children and bought them books, taken them to libraries and everything else.

I guess at the end of the day we can only do the best we can and keep our fingers crossed. There seems to be no tried and true method and certainly the love of reading does not seem to be something that can definitely be passed along though I wish it could be.

[Marya]

My parents also took us to the library but I am a much more avid reader than my sister. She read when she was younger but once she got into middle school or so, she didn't read as much. I think part of it was I was much shyer than she was and tended to like to explore the worlds that books had to offer whereas she was out socializing. She has plenty of books though for her kids (one will be 17 soon and one is 5) and they both like to read (well the 5 year old likes books to be read to her) and my sister would read books with the older daughter quite often in the evening before she went to bed. My sister doesn't read as much for herself because she's a single mom and is quite busy.

[Nesacat]

I'd agree with you here Marya, at least in my case. I was pretty ill as a child and also lived very much in my own world. My brother was much more outgoing and went out to play sports and such like. I didn't quite fit in either at school due to an advanced reading ability or with the neighbourhood kids so retreated more and more into the realm of books. None of my cousins who have young children read to them, though I try by giving them books for their birthday.

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

my borhters like that im afriad..however we found he will read factualy books..now odd though we find this the important thing is to let them read what ever they want EVen if its just comic books and make sure they are given access to a wide vsariety of reading material so they can find what suits them.

[Joel007]

Family is a strange thing. I was reading lord of the rings by the age of 11 (i know some kids read it younger but i'm not making a claim to fame), and I actually read a dictionary right through once.
My brother will only read from computer screens or TVs, books are his nemesis (any manuals are arch-). Given our upbringing together, I wonder if he simply tried to specialize in things that I wasn't proficient in to feel more adequate.
Anyway, as far as getting him to read, I've seen him read books only when no alternative prevents itself. For example, an airport or during a power cut. Now that's a funny sight

[BookStop]

I have 3 readers at home - I don't know if I'm just lucky or what. Mine have been read to until they could read, then they read to me and their younger sib. We have always had the 30 minutes before bedtime rule, and they actually look forward to it, the older ones settling in an hour beforehand to get good and into the book of choice.

My youngest really caught on to reading while playing vdo games and watching his older sisters play. You have to able to read the prompts to get full enjoyment out of rpgs. His favorite book is even based on a vdo game - Legend of Zelda, with Sonic the hedgehog books and comics coming in second.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Ultimately, there are all kinds of ways you can prod them into reading, but you can't make them love it. If they don't love it, once they grow up and can do as they like, they stop. So I'd strike off all the suggestions on that list that make reading seem like a chore, an obligation, or a punishment. (Cutting down their computer or TV time -- if you let them know you want them to spend that time reading instead -- falls into the category of looking like a punishment. Give them some other reason, and hope they turn to reading as a solace during the time they have on their hands.)

Reading to your children, having books around the house, letting them see that you take pleasure in reading yourself, trips to the library -- these are all good ways to encourage them, but as we have seen, none of these are foolproof. Sometimes, as several people have pointed out, it's just a matter of personality.

But sometimes, as our children grow older, and the things they used to enjoy pall or they find themselves at loose ends, they may discover a pleasure in reading on their own. That's where the example we set may kick in, when we no longer expect it.

[BookStop]

I don't think my kids have ever looked upon reading as a punishment. We've always had the rule in place, 30 min. before bed, like brushing teeth- it's just the way things are. (and yes, they all read outside of the assigned time too)

Although, I do see Teresa's point too. I don't think any kid would look favorably on something their folks were making them do out of the blue.

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

i f i child wants to read a set reading time works..if they don't they are more likely to resent it and not even read things they like