child finds reading a chore

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JJ

child finds reading a chore

Post by JJ »

Any tips on getting my 11yr son to enjoy reading?

He reads well but lacks enthusiam. He rarely finishes a book, no matter how popular it is (e.g. Horowitz). I know he has to read at school, but I would like him to enjoy quality reading time at home. He's aware of the benefits of reading but looks upon it has a chore. You'd think I'd asked him to clean the house from top to bottom the way he reacts to my simple request to read a few pages of a book.

Any comments appreciated. Thanks
AMDREW THE POET

Post by AMDREW THE POET »

Hi
As you're probably aware, boys are naturally well disposed to fact and information books. We spent a lot of time in bookshops looking for such material which reflected my son's reading age - many are merely pictures with the odd caption. My son has never really enjoyed fiction - until recently. He's been ploughing his way through the Biggles series! This has gained his interest in a way other books haven't!
Anyway, perhpaps let your son choose some higher-level fact books as a starting point. (There is a wealth of stuff available) He can then spend the weeks and days reciting 'useful' snippets of information at you!!?? Otherwise, do try my own books. I won't plug them here .... but they're generally used for reluctant boy readers - see loads of posts in the LINCS section! Or you could just do a quick 'google'!
Andrew Collett
c

Post by c »

Thoroughly agree with hitting non fiction for boys. Why not try the bbc books aimed at adults to accompany their series, e.g walking with dinosaurs, walking with beasts and the recent "future is wild".

Boys often don't see the point of fiction. One exception is historical fiction, because the child sees it as fact. Try "Goodnight Mr Tom" the story of an evacuee in the second world war. That ties in with the recent TV children's series taking modern children out to be evacuees in the country (if you saw it). This book is a good one to share, since some of the vocabulary is old fashioned. My son thought "wireless" was something to do with broadband connection around the home, and not a radio. So this "old fashioned vocabulary" gives you an excuse to share the book, if you need one.
bella

Post by bella »

I also have a son who does not enjoy reading - obviously a boy thing. However, I thought he must be good at it because at the age of 8 he was given a reading age of 13 via a school assessment so I didn't worry much. However, recently I started getting him to read at bedtime and was really concerned to find that he couldn't tell me about the chapter he'd just read as he hadn't understood a word of it. A case of great ability to pronounce words correctly for a reading test but complete inability to understand what any of them mean!! After picking up suggestions from this site we went back to basics and he now reads a chapter from a book 5 nights a week. I now choose the book as he seems to prefer those to the books he chooses himself - probably because he selects a book from the type of cover that it has! He seems to like exactly the sort of book that I liked when I was 9 - and yes that did include Biggles and Just William. We write down any words he doesn't know and then look them up together in the dictionary. We take it in turns to look the words up and then write them down (building on his dictionary skills). He then tries to use a few of the words in school English homework where appropriate. He has actually started to enjoy reading now he understands what going on. We have recently read The Phoenix and the Carpet (great for old fashioned language) and he is currently really enjoying Toms Midnight Garden (Phillipa Pearce). However, I like the idea of trying out some non-fiction because he does like "facts" and maybe he'll pick up a book like that of his own accord to browse through in his bedroom. He is a football fan so I suppose thats an obvious choice and I've picked up on the dinosaur theme. Does anyone have any extra ideas so we can take a trip to the library over half term?
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear All

The following link may be of some use, its a mixture of advice, but the majority is on reading.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... .php?t=423

Patricia
Guest

Post by Guest »

Totally agree with boys not 'getting' fiction. My 9yr old son has recently enjoyed reading about Roal Dahl,s (excuse spelling) childhood in Boy and his time in the army in Going Solo but doesn't enjoy in my opinion his more entertaining novels. Fact is much preferred to fiction in our household too.
Catherine
Posts: 1348
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:47 pm
Location: Berks,Bucks

Post by Catherine »

My son enjoys adventure/fiction strories. Once he gets into a story, he doesn't stop reading, but unfortunately if he wasn't encouraged a bit he wouldn't pick-up a book in the first place.
He has recently enjoyed the Roman Mysteries series, by Carolyne Lawrence, and is starting with Darren Shan.
AMDREW THE POET

Post by AMDREW THE POET »

Horrible Histories have always been a firm favourite too!!
Andrew
sarah

Post by sarah »

The Day My Bum Went Psycho by Andy Griffiths has been a definite favourite with my children!My son really loves the Asterix books too.
AMDREW THE POET

Post by AMDREW THE POET »

Asterix and TIN TIN. The latter has vocabularly which is stretching, but is in cartoon format. I had to buy the whole series for my 'reluctant' reader son ..... If we're on the subject of toilets and 'stuff' (re Sarah) then try Always Eat Your Bogies! Big seller, apparently!
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