Anyone's kid just not into reading?

DD is going to be 8 soon, she's finishing up second grade. She is a great reader. Reads above grade level, does great on reading/reading comp in school.

But when she is home, she couldn't care less about picking up a book. Everything else takes priority.

And forget chapter books. She loses interest after 1-2 chapters and never wants to pick it up again.

She's ok reading a short, non chapter, book... but most are below her reading level now. So we are stuck with chapter books which she has no interest in reading after a few chapters.

I don't like forcing her to read. And I don't like rules about reading. Because to me, that will just make her hate it and foster a resentment toward reading for life.

I can't say I'm a great example either because I only read on the beach or by the pool in the summer or on vacation. I don't just sit around the house reading myself . It bores me. I will read a chapter or 2 and my mind will start to wander to other things I want to do. So I get where she is coming from.

I guess the point is- should I even bother worrying? She reads great, comprehends, gets great grades in reading at school and reads above grade level.
Are there just some kids who aren't fans of reading in their spare like some kids are not fans of sports or other activities?

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

My older 2 kids - have not found the love of reading. They are 8 and 9. They go through little phases here and there but for the most part do not enjoy it.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

My sons do not like to read, and I feel the same way you do about forcing it. Reading comprehension is definitely their biggest weakness in school, and I know it would improve if they read more. Their grades are very good, and I think there is only so much I can force them to do. I love to read and I read in front of them, but that hasn’t made a difference. Reading is not as much fun as Fortnite!

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

For the most part both of my girls would rather do 100 other things over reading a book. My younger one is finishing 2nd grade and struggled with reading. She has made a lot of progress so I'm hoping as her skills evolve she will read more.
My older one not interested at all.

I get not pushing them to read but I do think it's important for them to do some reading over the summer so they don't go backwards.

Have you tried highlights magazine. Both of my girls enjoy that and the novelty of getting it in the mail.

Anyone's kid just not into reading?

My daughter is exactly like yours--excels at reading, comprehension, vocabulary, but would never choose to read a book. I think part of what bothers me about this is that I am a voracious reader and deep down I'm disappointed that she doesn't enjoy reading in the same way. That being said, she loves getting American Girl magazine in the mail (she's crazy about the quizzes) and she keeps them and reads them multiple times. She also enjoys being read to so during the summer and school breaks I'll read novels with her at night or she has listened to audio books alone in her room while she's doing other stuff. I also sign her up for the library summer reading program where they get prizes and a party for reading a certain number of books, and now that she's a little older, sign her up for the library programs where she reads to little kids, just to drive home the importance of literacy without being like "YOU MUST READ!"
I feel like kids can't be forced to read; they have to come to it naturally and if she's doing fine in school there's no need to sneak it in or force it.

Message edited 6/5/2018 3:38:57 PM.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

While I wouldn’t force her to read, I do think it gets easier if it becomes a routine for them. Granted my older 2 love reading so maybe it’s easy for me to say that, I have 2 younger ones so I’m sure they won’t be as easy . My older 2 usually read in bed for at least 20 mins, but we have gone through many chapter books that they didn’t care for. Has she tried “The never girls” series, it’s Disney and about tinkerbells fairy friends, my brother got those chapter books for her and all of her friends have borrowed them or bought them, even her teacher borrowed them for her DD.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Yeah I guess it's an individual thing. Not everyone is going to be a lover of reading, just like not everyone is going to love cooking, sports, crafts, etc.

I just feel like at her age she should be reading more.
Over the summer we do go to the library and take out books and i make sure she reads them all before we have to return them.

Maybe it's the age- I mean at 8 years old, American Girl Dolls and You Tube videos seem to take precedence over sitting down and reading a book and I guess I can understand that

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

My DD is the same age and the same way. What finally sparked her interest in reading was finding a chapter book series that she and the other girls in her class loved (Rainbow Magic fairy books) they get them from the school library. They turned it into a whole pretend play thing in the playground at recess.

What also helped was reducing the amount she had to read by having her only read the words in quotations and I read the rest. We read a chapter or 2 each night as part of the nighttime routine.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

All great suggestions for book series for me to try for her... I am going to check my library for all of these.
Maybe we just need to hit on something she can get into.
thanks all!

Anyone's kid just not into reading?

I wonder if she'd like reading something different - like a graphic novel, collection of short stories/poems, etc. It would take the chapters out of the mix but would still be entertaining.

My son has really been into comic collections - like Big Nate (just the comic strips) and I just got him a Calvin & Hobbes book.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

what reading level is she on?

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

My DD does like to read, and has a lot of great books, BUT, they usually have to read for 30 minutes as homework, and it's a book that has been chosen at school, so that limits the "free time" reading because she said she doesn't like to read more than one book at a time. I wish they just allowed them to read what they want as homework. In the Summer she does read more though. She is a level Z, so her lack of reading a lot at home hasn't seemed to hinder her progress.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

My 8 year old loves the whatever after series(modern retelling of fairy tales)...and her and my 6 year old both like junie b jones books, which are easier chapter books...not as many words on a page and maybe like 60 pages.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

What is she into? I find that for kids who are not readers, finding them books about topics they already have interest in really helps them discover a love for reading.

Things that could work, she reads a page, you read a page. Find a tv show or movie about the book and read the book then watch the movie to compare what was left out. The planetarium in NJ offers a magic tree house show for kids. Perhaps there is one on LI or nearby that offers something like this. If she likes AG dolls, read the books.

For reluctant readers, choose your own adventure, manga, and comics are good choices.

I find that there is a large step up between 2nd and 3rd, and children that are reluctant to read between both tend to struggle with the pace and expectations of third grade.

There are a number of reading programs for the summer including Barnes and noble and your local library. If my kids read ten books over the summer and do a 100 page work book I buy them a prize. Perhaps you could work something like that out with your kid. It has made a really big difference in reading stamina for my kids.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

I would say it doesn't matter but I'm an avid reader and as a teacher, I think she should be enjoying it...

but maybe her thing isn't chapter/series books right now. Maybe she'd prefer high level picture books or graphic novels or like read+response/diary type books. Maybe she needs a different character to relate to.

Also as someone said, what about riddles, word games, literary puzzle books of some sort. Word scrambles, crossword puzzles, things like that...

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Thank you all for the suggestions. This was helpful.

I especially like the one about earning a prize for reading a set number of books over the summer.
DD is very driven by toys and "things"...

So if I set up some kind of reward system for her to work towards, she might be more motivated to read more, and hopefully will end up liking it along the way!

I believe our library has a summer reading program too- i will check into signing her up for it this year.


I will also check out the book series suggested here.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Raises hand... my son completely!

He LOVED being read to as a child - always picked up a book and brought it over for us to read, but reading himself - nope.

He has to read 20 mins every day for school and you would think I asked him to kill someone with the dramatics every night.

I think what did him in was he was struggling with reading a tiny bit and they tossed him in remedial reading. With that the one teacher in there piled on the same books for 3 wks. Reading became an absolute nightmare and chore - for him and for me. This was on top of his classwork and reading for class. That was last year - this year he has another teacher in RR that allows him to ready the Magic Tree House series that we already are reading together for his class and enjoyment. He and I take turns reading a chapter each night. He follows along when I read and sometimes I'll say the wrong word on purpose to see if he actually is reading along with me and surprisingly he does.

Random things that get him to read... we find books that he may like... anything Minecraft related, Zombies...The Last Kids on Earth, still loves Diary of a Whimpy Kid series. Things like that.
He has friends his age and younger that have blown through Harry Potter - he cringes just looking at the size of the books...he won't even watch the movies because the books are too big.

He also as silly as this sounds reads to his pet guinea pig. It becomes a distraction at times because he likes to eat the books, but it motivates him to read more. The library has nights monthly where you can read to dogs I believe. He has a fear of dogs or else I would do this.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

My 2nd grader has no interest in reading. I bought her the first book in the Gooney Bird Greene series and she maybe finished 10 pages and said she doesn't care for the girl character. I plan to get a few more different books this summer and will try again.

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?

you mentioned American Girl Doll - If I remember they have books as well don't they? My DD is 14 so we are passed the American Girl stage but I do remember her reading those books

FYI - for when they get older - American Girl has 2 body books for girls - they are excellent - helped us so much with puberty issues and questions

Re: Anyone's kid just not into reading?