My kid hates reading... Now what?

I have always, always LOVED to read.  I was that kid who memorized Berenstain Bear books when I was four and had a Lord of the Rings book under my belt at age ten (Fellowship of the Ring, if you care to know).  But not all kids are like that... in fact, a lot of children out there would go as far as to say they "hate" to read.  Why?  Reading, at the beginning, is hard.  Sometimes, if the topic of the book isn't interesting to you, reading is also boring.

How can we as parents encourage a love of reading?  

Why is it important to try?

Reading = Success

Perhaps it's a slight over-simplification to say that being a strong reader will make you more successful, but it isn't completely misleading.  Study after study shows that adults who were strong readers as children have better communication skills, are creative thinkers, and are more successful in college.   Why wouldn't us parents want those things for our kids?

Reading opens the mind up to new ideas, alternative perspectives, and gets our children asking questions about the world around them.  This process helps our children to have active minds - to gain awareness of the larger world.

But my kid doesn't like to read!

It's all well and good to talk about why a child should be encouraged to read, but it's another thing altogether to talk about how to foster a love of reading.  Because of the "hard" and "boring" elements that often make reading a struggle for younger children, us parents need to get creative.  I'll bet that your child who "hates" reading is being exposed to books that are either too challenging for them or are about something they aren't interested in.

So here are three tips for you, the parent with the anti-reader child, to convince your little one to give reading another chance...

1. Pick books that your child WANTS to read.

What movies or games does your child enjoy?  My son is obsessed with Minecraft - so I bought him Minecraft books.  My son loves Disney and Pixar movies - so I bought him books about his favorite characters.  If you know your child, which I'm assuming you do, you'll know what books will be a good fit for them... and try to avoid forcing your childhood favorites on them.

Kids nowadays are very different from the way we were back in the 70's and 80's (or, dare I say it, the 90's... I feel so old sometimes).  While the occasional Dr. Seuss book might be fun, the kids of today have shorter attention spans than we did - they are a product of the technology age and some older books are really outdated, despite our love of them.  Be selective and if your child doesn't like a book, don't make them read it over and over again.  Donate it.  Give it to your neighbor.  Let that book find it's way to the hands of a child that will love it.

2. Find books that are "reading level" appropriate.

Once you've determined the kind of books your child will love, be sure that they are appropriate for your child's reading level.  Every child learns at a different pace, so you'll want to find books that will challenge them to a certain point, but will still be fun for them.  Putting a chapter book in front of most kindergarteners would be a disaster.  But, if your little reader is advanced, maybe they're ready for something a bit longer and more complex.

Sit with your child and read a few books with them to figure out exactly where your child is at if you aren't sure.  My son, for example, is a little bit behind the average kindergartener when it comes to reading - so we're still focused on getting him up to kindergarten level this summer, rather than frustrating him with books that he simply cannot read yet. Accept your child where they're at and introduce the occasional challenge to get them progressing.

3. Read with them.

Above all else, you need to read with your child - even if they're strong readers and naturally love to sit down with a book, we parents MUST make time to read with our kids.  Just sitting them down with a book doesn't help them.  Read with them.  Have them read to you.  Do it every day.

I'm a working mom and we have a three month-old, so I'm often exhausted by the time my son is ready for bed and wants "story time" - so my husband is usually the one who reads with him.  But, whoever is doing it, it's done every single day.  Despite his reading challenges, my son has progressed immensely over the last year... and I feel it's because we made reading a priority for ourselves as much as we made it a priority for him.

Reading is important, and it isn't a chore.  Let your child see the joy in it, and if you haven't found that joy for yourself, perhaps you will through the exercise of helping your child.