Jj is for Jottings 66.  7 Tips for Reluctant Readers.

Some early readers find large blocks of print rather daunting and are therefore reluctant to read.  Here are some tips for getting around this:

• Find something with more pictures and fewer words to help get over this hurdle. Even comics can have an important place in the development of reading.  The greater proportion of pictures to words draws them in and then they find they are actually reading without realising it.  It’s a bit like learning to ride a two-wheeler bike – as long as you think your parent is holding on to the bike you are fine; the first few times you realise they have let go, you crash.  Then you realise that you can actually do it on your own quite easily.

One of my sons had good reading skills at a young age, but didn’t engage in reading.  (I suspect he was parked in front of the television when at Day Care – lucky he was there for only a day and a half a week.)  What got him reading was “Footrot Flats”.  We had several volumes of these cartoons.  That broke the barrier and he went on to read books with much more text.  He’s currently reading “Harry Potter” in French!

Some highly visual chapter books (eg. “Captain Underpants”) are written specifically for reluctant readers and for children with challenges such as dyslexia.  The stories and characters can be rich and well developed, and children still learn reading skills with these more visually driven books.

• Rhyming books, particularly if there is a bit of rudeness involved, help many young readers overcome their reluctance to read. Each rhyme may be only a verse or a few verses, and so the book is visually broken up into bite-sized chunks, which all helps.
• A book about a computer game is still a book. Many reluctant readers are fans of popular computer and video games. Some of these games have book counterparts, such as Pokémon and Minecraft, and this can be a great way to steer your child towards text. From there, you can head on to graphic novels and comics, and then full-text books.
• Don’t forget nonfiction. Some children like to collect facts and would prefer this to fiction.  Many factual books are highly visual, presenting information in both text and pictures.  Look for whatever topics interest your child.
• Reading to your children instils the love of a story, and can this can help draw them into wanting to read for themselves. If you are reading an exciting chapter book to them at the rate of a chapter a day, they will realise that, if they were able to read it for themselves, they could read as much as they want at any time and not have to wait until the following day to find out what happens next.
• Make sure that books which are of interest to your child are lying around the house, inviting them to see what’s between the covers.
• A final note – avoid giving your child an e-reader. Studies have shown that people, especially children, absorb and retain stories better when they read them in print. So there is excellent reason to stick to paper. At night, screen time is known to interfere with melatonin production, which makes it harder to fall asleep.