How to Motivate Reluctant Readers
I keep hearing from moms whose kids don’t like to read or don’t read as much as their mothers hope. Why the concern?
The Problem With Kids Who Don’t Read
The main cause for concern with kids who would rather do anything else but read is that they won’t become proficient readers without enough time with their noses in books. Kids who can’t read well tend to do very poorly in life, no matter how you measure. That’s why literacy is a high priority for schools and it’s a high priority for homeschooling moms, too.
While there are audio and even visual Bibles, the most accessible way to take in God’s Word is to read it. As a Christian homeschooler, I hope that my children will have the reading skills they need to read the Bible and the will to read it, too, especially when they leave home. A lesser concern where reading is concerned is our desire to have adult children who read for pleasure. Reading is a great hobby that we want to pass on!
What if Your Child Would Rather Do Anything But Read?
Assess His Abilities
Most of the time, children who are reluctant to read find it challenging. Does your child have a visual impairment, attention deficits, or a learning disability that makes reading more work? Does she need to learn to read in a different way? My reluctant reader could not learn to read phonetically, though his three older siblings did. Once I let him learn to read using sight words (or a whole language approach), his reading took off. You may need an evaluation of your child, but read the rest of my suggestions first.
Ease Your Expectations
Because so much is riding on reading, we homeschoolers can overreact to any child who isn’t reading at grade level or just doesn’t like to read. I have heard numerous testimonies of children who were late readers but caught up with or exceeded their same age peers. I can tell you numerous similar stories of people who didn’t like to read as children, but are avid readers as adults. My husband, pictured above, is a great example. He seriously read Gone With the Wind just because he wanted to! When we are fearful, we can easily become impatient and even angry about reading. Our children pick up on our attitudes easily and soon you’re in a battle of wills or you’re dealing with a child who gives up because she feels she’s not a good reader.
Keep Reading to Your Child
I didn’t understand for a long time the incredible value of reading to children in terms of building a child’s reading skills. When you read books out loud that are above your child’s reading level, he is building a vocabulary that will enable his reading to take off when he’s developmentally ready. For example, if you read a word like appreciate out loud, even if your child doesn’t see the word, when she comes to it in a book one day, she’ll sound out uh-pr–appreciate. She will recognize the word easily from a few phonics and the context. Don’t have the time to read out loud as much as you’d like? Consider a Disney Interactive Books or Audible subscription so your child can be read to any time.
Make Reading Easy
My husband represents Capstone Publishers that has succeeded in large part because of its focus on creating high-interest, easy-to-read books–especially for boys. No longer are readers who are “behind grade level” saddled with baby books. There are easy-to-read books on nearly every subject. Graphic novels (like comic books in novel form) are particularly appealing to boys. Calvin and Hobbes (not a Capstone title) has gotten many a boy, including mine, to love reading. You can find this book and Capstone titles at a library near you. I recommend giving your child a book at or below his reading level and telling him, “I’m not sure if this is too difficult for you or not. Let me know, okay, and I’ll find one that’s easier.” What this does is help your child save face if it is in fact too hard, but more likely your child will be thrilled to tell you that it’s soooo easy to read! When your child’s confidence is up, motivating her is easy, too.
Make Reading Rewarding
There are lots of great ways to make reading fun. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Keep a steady supply of new books coming into your home. I’m married to a book salesman and new boxes of books are a source of Christmas-like excitement. You can create that kind of environment by regularly getting books from the library, Goodwill, or Paperbackswap. Ask any school librarian and she will tell you that she has to keep a steady supply of new books on the shelves to appeal to reluctant readers.
- Offer a reward. My husband has often offered a shake for a certain number of books read. Lots of reading goes on at those times. While you wouldn’t want your child to expect a treat every time he reads, an occasional reward will help her see reading as the real reward.
- Connect books to movies or games. Whether you offer to let your child see the movie version or play the related video game of a book before or after reading the book, this multimedia approach has been proven to promote reading.
- Let your child express his creativity around a book. My kids love to dramatize books for the family. Your child may enjoy doing show and tell about her favorite book, drawing pictures to go with it, or competing in a quiz bowl with a sibling who has read the same book.
Have you been able to motivate a reluctant reader? What worked?
How to Teach Kids to Defend Their Faith
There are a number of great resources for teaching apologetics today and what a blessing that is! As a Christian homeschooler who believes in a literal interpretation of Genesis, I am a huge fan of Answers for Kids. While it’s listed as appropriate for ages 8-11, I have used it comfortably with my five youngest, ages 5-13. Few Bible curriculums I have used are as well suited to multiple ages.
One of the best features of the curriculum for us is that it includes colorful graphics on the included CD that grab my kids’ attention. We attach our laptop to our TV in the school room so everyone can see. Doing this also allows us to quickly read the associated Bible passages online. I have my kids take turns reading them and treat doing so as a privilege to be earned once he can read. I have just one more child to go!
Another excellent feature of Answers for Kids is the repetition. We use a number of different resources for teaching Bible and don’t use them every day. The review is a refresher for the kids and me, too!
I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in apologetics, but I have learned new things as I’ve taught the kids. In fact, sometimes the kids have to try to get my attention as I start reading without them! This relates to why I think Answers for Kids is a great Motivated Homeschooler resource: Motivated teachers beget motivated students. If you love it, your kids are likely to love it, too.
Our duty as Christian homeschoolers isn’t just to shelter and protect, but also to equip them to defend their faith.
Finally, this curriculum addresses the challenges to faith our kids are likely to encounter in the future. Answers for Kids is an excellent elementary to junior high weapon for spiritual warfare. Answers in Genesis has a number of other materials I would recommend.
What resources do you use to teach apologetics?
A Thomas Jefferson Education
Next to my Ph.D. in psychology, this book is most responsible for my fascination with how to motivate children to learn. Although certainly not the first voice in asserting that our educational system is broken, nor the first to argue that a classical education is superior, Oliver Van DeMille may be the most influential in insisting that “all education is self-education.”
The most powerful point Mr. DeMille makes is that teaching a child or requiring a child to do lessons that he is not motivated to learn is an exercise in futility. While a student who is mandated to memorize something for a test may be able to give the correct answers when called upon to do so, this student hasn’t really been educated.
If Mr. DeMille is correct, the question then becomes, how can we motivate children to want to learn something for themselves? After all, we worry that our children may never want to learn math as much as they want to learn computer skills, for example. Some of the follow-up books to a TJEd give examples of how to motivate. A mother who wanted her children to learn to ice skate did not just sign them up for lessons as most of us parents are wont to do. Instead, she took them to watch figure skaters several times until the children begged for lessons. The lesson for us as home educators may be that we are trying to feed students who aren’t hungry.
My desire is to have students hungry to learn everything they need to know to fulfill the purposes God has for them. Many homeschoolers are quite interested in the TJEd philosophy and how they might implement it. Here is what it looks like in my home:
- Emphasis on classic literature. I agree with Mr. DeMille that classics do more than just develop vocabulary; they can develop character, particularly if they are discussed in reference to a biblical worldview.
- Permission for older students to choose their curriculum and study full-time. My oldest son is a perfect example of a student who studies for hours without requiring external motivation. He chooses his subjects and masters them, coming out of his office to share what he’s learning with his dad and me. My oldest is definitely a self-directed leader. However, I think what TJEd doesn’t address is the personality differences that may prohibit this learning style from working with every student. My second oldest desires lots of structure rather than freedom, for example.
- Parent education. TJEd suggests that parents study voraciously with a mentor while their children are doing so. While this kind of time commitment would never work for me as a mother of six (nor do I agree that it’s necessary), I have made a commitment to read more classic books along with my children so we can discuss them.
- Emphasis on internal motivation. I don’t believe that finding ways to motivate your child means that you have to make everything fun. Some children aren’t as motivated by fun as they are by appreciation, money, or meeting goals. I find it fun, however, to discover what will get each child busy learning. I look forward to sharing many of my discoveries with you here in the future.
- Supplementing with early requirements. TJEd like Unschooling in the extreme has nothing to do with workbooks or learning material that the child has no interest in. I, like most homeschoolers, feel uncomfortable with the exclusion of some required learning. I recently read something in our piano curriculum that resolved the tension for me. The author argued that we ought to require our children to learn the basics as children so that the tools are there when their internal motivation takes over. I had my oldest child take piano lessons for several years. He told me he wanted to quit and I had no problem letting him do so. I had asked for the same privilege from my mother as a child. A couple of years later, he became completely enamored with classical music. He told me he wanted to begin taking lessons again. As we tried to arrange that, he began practicing on his own. For hours. He became so skilled at playing that he quit asking about hiring an instructor. Had I not ensured that he had the basic capacity to play as a young child, he would not have been able to fulfill the passion for piano that he has today.
I highly recommend you give a TJEd a read. Even if you do not adopt the entire philosophy, I believe you will come away from reading feeling motivated to continue educating your children at home.
Gifted Hands
I recently began reading Gifted Hands, the Ben Carson story (Kids Edition) to my children and I believe every homeschooling family, school teacher, and librarian should be reading it to their students.
The reading level is appropriate for multiple age levels and my children beg me to read it. Then they beg me to read another chapter. The message that faith and reading are an integral part of success is communicated in a compelling way that even my eight-year-old reluctant reader caught. In fact, my son bragged about how many books he read last night.
Other important teaching is diligence, the impact of racism, and what it’s like to be poor. Don’t miss this inspiring addition to your homeschool library.
Welcome! I pray that you will leave here motivated to get school done (while still having fun). Because that's also my goal as a busy mom of six, I'm committed to updating this blog weekly. Thanks for sharing the resources here with others and motivating me with comments. You're a blessing!
Dr. Melanie Wilson
