Unlock Your Child's Love for Reading: Proven Techniques to Transform Reluctant Readers

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Let’s face it: Learning how to read can be hard work. Not only do your kids think so, the experts do, too.

Just ask psychologist and researcher Dr. Louisa C. Moats, one of the nation’s leading experts on how children learn to read.

“Unlike spoken language, which is learned with almost any kind of contextual exposure, reading is an acquired skill,” Moats explained in Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science.

“If learning to read were as natural as acquiring spoken language, human beings would have invented writing systems many thousands of years before we did, and everyone would learn reading as easily as ducks learn to swim,” she said.

Photo by Samuel Sweet

We wish it were that simple.

Kids commonly balk at having to read. It takes a lot of brain power to recognize letters, remember their sounds, and blend them together to make intelligible words.

Many people think reading is all about the visual aspect. However, Moats said about 80 percent of first-grade reading relies on phonics.

“The ability to sound out words is, in fact, a major underpinning that allows rapid recognition of words,” Moats said.

This is true for older readers, as well, for whom vocabulary becomes a bigger factor in grasping what they’re reading.

The key for new readers: phonics, phonics, phonics.

The key for older readers: phonics and vocabulary.

Teaching new readers

It’s important to create a positive atmosphere around reading lessons. To encourage your young reader,

• celebrate small wins, praising efforts rather than perfection.

• avoid correcting every mistake. Focus on comprehension, not perfection.

• model reading by letting your child see you read regularly. This conveys the value and enjoyment of reading.

My favorite book for teaching reading is Phonics Pathways by Dolores G. Hiskes. It’s a single workbook with no separate teacher’s book. It starts with vowel sounds and goes through fifth-grade reading.

The book isn’t divided by grades; instead, it naturally flows from one lesson to the next. It’s easy to follow, with each page of new words building on previous ones.

And it’s fun. Did I mention that? Dewey the Bookworm, a cartoon figure named after the Dewey Decimal System, graces every page along with clever words of wisdom.

Dewey’s quotes often made me laugh, even when my kids didn’t catch the humor.

Things like:

• “Seven days without laughter make one weak!”

• “The best thing to do behind a person’s back is to pat it!”

• “You can’t be a smart cookie with a crummy attitude!”

• “The only thing wrong with doing nothing is that you never know when you are finished!”

• “A hug is the perfect gift! One size fits all, and nobody minds if you give it back.”

In kindergarten, my son and daughter each got to page 93 or so. The following school year they were both able to skip first-grade reading and jump right into a second-grade reader.

Phonics Pathways is meant for phonics beginners, remedial readers, English as a Second Language students, and pupils with short attention spans. It also teaches techniques helpful for dyslexic learners. I highly recommend it.

Other ideas for new readers

• Tactile activities: Create words using wooden blocks, letter tiles, magnetic letters, or sand trays.

• Visual aids: Incorporate videos or animations that bring stories to life.

• Storytelling: Let your child create his own stories. This builds narrative skills and shows that stories are everywhere.

• Technology: Apps and educational software like www.ABCmouse.com and www.ReadingEggs.com can gamify reading practice.

Teaching older readers

When tackling a new passage, first “pre-teach” words your student may not be familiar with.

Then have your student read through the section one or two times, focusing on sounding out the words.

After that, run through the passage again, only this time focusing on comprehension.

“If kids have read through the text once or twice beforehand, they’ll be in much better shape for comprehending it,” said fluency researcher Timothy Shanahan.

In fact, this habit can “raise students’ reading level with that text by at least one grade level,” Shanahan said.

Comprehension helps

• Ask your child questions about what’s happening in the story as they read each section.

• Have students read aloud to each other, to a favorite doll, or to a pet.

• As a parent, read aloud together with your student:

o   Alternate sentences, paragraphs, or pages.

o   Read aloud a character’s dialogue and have your child read aloud a different character’s words.

• Learn vocabulary and root words. Wordly Wise workbooks are great for this.

Screens vs. paper

Digital texts certainly have their advantages. You can download entire books onto a device, change the font size, and alter screen illumination.

Still, research shows readers tend to comprehend more when working with paper rather than screens.

“We tend to skim more when reading screens and we are less likely to stop and think about what we are reading, which limits later memory for the information,” Shanahan explained.

“No, comprehension is not always suppressed or limited by digital text, but it happens often enough that we should be concerned.

“One study found students grasped the major plot points of a story digitally but that they were deficient when it came to making connections of other text points with the plot (Mangen, Walgermo, & Brønnick, 2013),” he said.

College-bound high schoolers also tend to perform better on complex tests like the ACT when taken on paper, he added.

So whenever possible, stick with paper over screens.

Keep a journal

Have your child answer a simple, open-ended prompt each day by writing one or two sentences. Here are five examples:

1.   If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be and why?Example answer: "I would have a dolphin. It could swim with me in the ocean."

2.   What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?Example answer: "I like to build forts and read books with my stuffed animals."

3.   If you could have a superpower, what would it be?Example answer: "I would want to fly so I could see the tops of mountains."

4.   What is your favorite food, and how does it taste?Example answer: "I love pizza. It’s cheesy and yummy!"

5.   If you found a treasure chest, what would you hope is inside?Example answer: "I hope it has gold coins and a map to another treasure."

Proven Reading Solutions

• Read aloud to your child daily (shoot for 30 minutes). Allow your youngster to color, create with Play-Doh, or use items from a sensory bin while you read. Older children enjoy this as well.

• Tailor books to your readers. Most children like stories with kids their own age or a little older.

• Select books and magazines that align with your child’s hobbies, favorite TV shows, or activities.

• With beginner readers, start simple: Use books with fewer words, larger fonts, and vibrant pictures. The pictures infer concepts. Older readers may enjoy comic books and graphic novels.

• Mix it up: Have your child read recipe cards and determine whether you have all the necessary ingredients. Have him read game instructions and teach the family how to play.

• Listen to audiobooks in the car: Hoopla and Libby (both free through the public library), Audibles, and WonderBooks.

• Switch up your reading spots: inside a tent, under a table, up a tree, in the bathtub, etc.

• Engage in a family reading challenge with actions like “read a book with a blue cover” or “read a book with a one-word title” or “read one of mom/dad’s favorite childhood books.”

• Set up ways for your children to share books with friends; they’ll be more likely to read a book recommended by a peer.

• Create a book trailer, i.e. a short video that introduces a book to potential readers without giving away the entire story.

• Cover a cereal box with construction paper and turn it into an advertisement about a book. Decorate it with pictures, drawings, and puzzles that relate to the story. Be sure to include the book title, author, and summary.

• Use an app to track your reading minutes, number of words read, or number of books read.

Book suggestions

• 4+ years old: Bob Books sets

• 6-10 years old: Spy Penguins series, Lightfall series

• 8-11 years old: The Vanderbeekers series, The Penderwick series, Lemons by Melissa Savage

• 11+ years old: The Shadow Children series, Nancy Drew series, The Hardy Boys series, any books by author Nancy Rue

• Newberry Award winning books, especially the older ones like The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, Caddie Woodlawn (one of my favorites!), Pecos Bill, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Thimble Summer, Strawberry Girl, etc.

Websites to check out

• www.DogoBooks.com  Book reviews by kids for kids. The site also has a read-along, read aloud section. The hundreds of quizzes for popular books help increase reading comprehension.

• www.RedeemedReader.com  Lists book reviews from picture books through teen/adult levels.

Podcasts

• Stories Podcast: A Bedtime Show for Kids of All Ages. A narrator reads aloud stories ranging from 20 minutes to an hour long.

• The Story Seeds Podcast: On each episode, kids collaborate with famous authors to grow their story ideas. Then the author takes those seeds and writes an original story that you get to hear on the show!

• Greeking Out: National Geographic’s Greek mythology podcast for kids tell legends of ancient Greece, with such staples as monsters, heroes, shipwrecks, and quests for immortality.

Final Thoughts

Helping a reluctant reader requires empathy, creativity, and persistence. By fostering a positive relationship with reading and tailoring approaches to the child’s needs, you can transform reluctance into curiosity and enthusiasm. Every small victory contributes to a lifelong love of learning.