You’ve tried dozens of ways to get your child excited about reading, but no matter what, they struggle and are reluctant. You want to throw in the towel, but you know this is a major part of your job as a homeschooling teacher.
So what can you do?
Believe me, I’ve been there. When my son, Sam, was a young elementary student, it was pulling teeth to get him to read anything. While he had his phonics down, reading was a huge monumental chore and so I would feel defeated constantly.
So here is what I did: First of all, I took off pressure on him. I learned when Sam was in a private Christian school that pressuring him only led to stress which led to disease. I was not playing that game again!
First thing I did was I read aloud to him. A lot. I let him play or draw quietly while I read to him. I would read to him the Bible, fun books like Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang, history books, and more. It was our favorite time together.
I took him to a reading specialist who helped him with his processing speed.
Then I joined a subscription service that had small essays on virtually any topic. I would print these out and have Sam read them. At first I only used ones that had a couple of paragraphs. Then I did up to three pages.
After awhile doing this, somehow (I don’t even remember how this happened), we got a book about Llamas. It was a cute chapter book. He read that. And he read it and read it and read it. Then I had to read it out loud to him. He loved that book.
Then my sister-in-law gave me the idea to give him a Kindle. Maybe if it was technology he would be more interested.
Yep. He read Jurassic Park by Michael Chrichton.
Not long after that I had him tested. He was reading at that time at a college sophomore level. He must have been around age 11. I can’t remember exactly. But it turned out he was way advanced.
Now fast forward to these days and though he doesn’t read that many novels, he is constantly reading and researching. He spends a lot of time doing this. He knows more about World War II, the constitution, and many other subjects than most adults. He is in fact a verocious reader. That’s how he got through most of high school. He just chooses to read online and pursue his passions as he’s Autistic. He has several obsessions and he pursues them avidly to become extremely knowledgeable about the subject.
So if you have a reluctant reader, I hope this is helpful and gives you some new ideas! May you reach new heights in your homeschooling and beyond!
