Good news! Disinterested readers can become engaged readers overnight, literally.
How? You need to find what they are interested in. Believe it or not, not all beginning readers are captivated by fairy tale picture books. A case in point, my middle child, who was a reluctant reader until the age of 9. Unfortunately, her standardized test scores reflected this. (She now holds a masters degree in geographical information systems so she eventually figured it out:)
Here are a few suggestions that worked for me...
- Go to the library or a bookstore. Browse through the aisles with your child. See what catches their eye. For my daughter, it was the outer space books, animal books and how things are made books. Who would have thought? Choosing these books highly motivated her to want to figure out what those cryptic letters spelled!
- Now that you have an assortment of books that your child actually is interested in, set aside 10-20 minutes a day where you all sit down and peruse through books. Let them have some quiet time to explore but be there if they have questions about what they are reading. And what are you going to be doing during this time? Reading, of course. Show that you love reading also, by reading your own book or newspaper or magazine at the same time. (don't read on your phone)
- Celebrate reading by making a reward chart with stickers for every time that they complete a book or perhaps a reading passage as in the workbook above. When the chart is filled, celebrate with a fun activity or outing. It's all about making reading a non-boring desirable activity!
Try these and let me know if it helped your disinterested reader.
A little about me... I have 25+ years of experience between the classroom and homeschooling. Now I spend my time creating educational resources for parents and teachers that make learning fun! Blessings to you and yours, Annette
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