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Keeping Older Kids Hooked on Reading
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Over the five years my older girls were in primary school, one message came through loud and clear: Kids will become better readers if they read, read, and read some more. So you can imagine my dismay when Caitlin, who was struggling a bit in this department, gradually found it harder and harder to find books she enjoyed.
In the picture book stage, it was a snap to find something appealing. And if you met a book that didn't hook you? Heck, you've only invested a few minutes -- on to the next. But then Caitlin moved on to short chapter books, then longer ones. The illustrations vanished, the vocabulary grew steadily steeper, and reading wasn't so fun anymore.
I referred to all sorts of children's booklists, figuring that would guarantee hits. But the stacks of books from the library only brought occasional success.
So I turned to the local experts. Caitlin's fabulous teachers and insightful librarians were ready with a run of strategies, all of which make her happy to curl up and turn some pages.
Start short. Though they can be tough to find, short stories are less intimidating. If one doesn't snare you, the next is only a couple of pages away. Try: EVERY LIVING THING by Cynthia Rylant; SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK by Alvin Schwartz.
Think thin. Some of Caitlin's favorites shorter books, also recommended by the children's librarian at our public library: THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE by Roald Dahl; THE HUNDRED DRESSES by Eleanor Estes; WINNIE, DANCING ON HER OWN by Jennifer Jacobson; SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL by Patricia MacLachlan; THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron, and THE INVENTION OF HUGE CABRET by Brian Selznick (Confession: This is a thick book at 544 pages -- but it uses long illustrated sequences to break up the prose).
Get glossy. Try magazines for young readers. With varied topics, lengths, and genre -- not to mention a healthy dose of illustrations and photographs -- there are lots of entry points. Favorites: Ask, Spider (both at www.cricketmag.com) and American Girl (www.americangirl.com/agmg/).
Go graphic. Graphic novels may look suspiciously like glorified comic books, but they lure many a reluctant reader, reports our middle school librarian. It's hard to tear Caitlin away from the adventures of Tin Tin, who turns 79 this year. You might also have luck with edgier fare like Jeff Smith's BONE, folklore like THE LEGEND OF HONG KIL DONG, adaptations of classics like BLACK BEAUTY or historical titles like THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.
Member Comments On…
Keeping Older Kids Hooked on Reading
what i do to get my kids to read is we go to the library and pick out any books that they want to read and read all read the book together taking turns reading a page until the book is finish that way they get their reading time in
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As a Childrens educational specialist one of the best things you can do to instill a love of reading in your children is model that behaviour. They have to see you reading for pleasure in order to make the connection that reading is fun. Another trick is to let them have 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour later before bedtime, but if they want that extra time its for reading in bed. And most importantly, just turn off the T.V. and eliminate the computer/ wii games during the school week. It may not encourage them to read, but it's not distracting them from reading either.
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I have added "reading" to my 11 and 7 year old's chores list. Also, when all they want to do with free time is watch TV, they must read for the same amount of time that they watch TV. I set the timer for 30 minutes to watch TV, then set it again for 30 minutes to read. Usually after they're reading for a while they keep going to finish a book or start another. If at 30 minutes is up and they are done reading, they go on to playing. They don't usually ask to watch TV again that day.
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I have a hard time keeping my 11 year old son interested in books. He recently brought home an adventure book about a panther and we read it together for a book project. We both truly enjoyed it, along with my 6 year old daughter. The author was a teacher who had a difficult time finding interesting adventure books that would attract and keep his students attention. His solution was to write his own. We are reading another of his books and I plan to purchase more. His name is Bill Wallace and his work is excellent for young boys and girls that like adventure books.
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When my children were reading, especially my oldest son and daughter, they hated looking up words in the dictionary. It was just another book with big words that frustrated them. Instead, we purchased a electronic dictionary for each of them. Just typing in the word, seeing it appear on the screen, was magic to them. In turn, they would run to us and tell us of their new found word, many of which we had not heard for a while or were even unfamiliar to us. Books then became a joy, and finding their words listed again in another book or article was even better. I agree, magazines for kids are the best, and we found several that were patterned after what the kiddos were interested in at the time. The key is not to give up--you will hit on something they enjoy.
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My 11 year old is having the same trouble with finding something short she likes generally. She is interested in the Archie Comics which we subscribe to and we have just subscribed to Girl's Life (at her request). She is going to get American Girl as well (she got this as a gift at Christmas). Something she'll enjoy reading AND get some useful info from for her tween years. My 8 yr old son LOVES Pokemon chapter books or Jigsaw Jones series or Nate the Great series. As the school librarian says as long as they read something it doesn't matter if it's in their age group or not.
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My son absolutely loves the Magic Tree House series he can not wait to get through the books to see what is going to happen next.
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