Help with Struggling Reader(s)

[savingdogs]

I think it was about third grade that my kids all enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia and The Five Children (Nesbit). I also highly recommend Marguerite Henry's story's such as Misty of Chincoteague, Brighty of the Grand Canyon. Oh and another good book, Caddie Woodlawn.

Sometimes if you just get them reading the right book....reading is then easy.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I just have to chime in here about reading. this is my own personal experience, so YMMV. My son, who is now 15, hated reading with a passion. As a young child- (4 and 5) he would read, but just got bored of it. When reading requirements increased, he did tend to get overwhelmed. We read to him alot while he was young, and he was okay with that. The standing rule was bed time is this time, but you can read for 1/2 an hour after you went to bed. My daughte alwasy took the extra 1/2 hour. Ds went to sleep.

We did the same thing about trying t find books he was interested in to try and get him into reading. He begrudgingly read things, no books interested him. Plainly put, he hated to read. We quit trying to force it on him.

Flashforward to today. He is a straight A/with some Bs- student, his reading comprehension is phenomenal, he will promptly read to learn about something (eg suspension on his dirtbike needed tweaking or similar things) He does not have a love of reading where he can pick up a novel and get lost in it all day like my daughter and I could, but he is fine at reading and knows how to get theinformation he needs by reading. He is very much like his father. They both think reading is pointless unless you are learning something from it. I am totally ok with that. My hubby has a great job, is very intelligent, knows how to read without having had reading and books shoved down his throat. He does not read as a hobby, just reads to learn something, and so does ds.

So, if they can't read, then action needs to be taken to remedy that. But it is my opinion that as long as they know how to read, they will be okay.

 

[Beekissed]

Really I'd just love some tips on how to get them to like reading more! I think it they both just gave it a chance they'd love it. I love to read, and it makes me sad to think they are starting to hate it!

My middle son is dyslexic, so reading was "too hard" for him as well and he needed absolute quiet to absorb anything he'd read or he would have to read the same sentence over and over.

The rest of the family are avid readers and this didn't help at all because we got so into our books and discussed them aplenty. Reading to them all helped spark Eli's interest but he didn't really start to love reading until he discovered The Hatchet book and then read the rest of the series. He, too, loves to read about things he can learn...survival, hunting, etc.

But, the love for books all started by letting them roam the library and pick their own reading materials, be it below their reading level or above, having a choice and living with those choices until we visited the library again seemed to have a big effect on materials chosen.

Of course, it helped that we didn't have TV as an alternative entertainment and some days I would declare reading days and everyone would curl up with a good book for hours.