What tips do you have for encouraging... - The Dyslexia Comm...
What tips do you have for encouraging children who are reluctant readers to read over the school holidays?
I think by finding out exactly what they are interested in, what makes them tick. When I was a boy, reading didn't really interest me. Reason being, I got frustrated by the lack of coherence and comprehension so never bothered. I think you would have to show lots of patience and project that on to them, otherwise they would pick up on it instantly. Most children when they are REALLY interested in something will want to know about it. So by taking advantage of this, I think will help encourage them to read. There's nothing worse than just sat there, looking at the words and not having a clue of what it's saying to you.
Hi
We have started reading muddle puddle farm by Michael morpurgo which my 7 year old and I read together. It's early days but so far so good in getting her to read small sections. There are bits in speech bubbles which my daughter reads whilst I read the main body of the story to keep up the flow of the book. We have also got the smallest horse in the world by Jeremy strong which is dyslexia friendly and has small paragraphs in larger type so we can share the reading between us.
hope this helps a little
I've read a bed time story to my three children since they were tiny. One child started reading to herself at the age of 6 - thankfully! - because I am still reading to the other two as they turned out to be severely dyslexic and it was the only way they could access stories at a level that appealed to them. It is very labour intensive but fortunately I have come to love this time with them and it's the only time I get their full attention!
I have a girl and a boy with profound dyslexia and I have taken the same approach with both of them.
I read stories I think that they will like and I don't mind reading.
It's really important for both of you to LOVE the story - if it's too babyish or boring it will kill reading for them and you will hate reading it to them. You want to enthuse them to access stories by any means possible - reading will follow from this but it is a long process taking years from a parental point of view. Be very patient.
So I refuse to read fairy stories so my 9 year old has her story from me then she takes the cat to bed and reads out loud to the cat all the books I can't stand. It's brilliant - she started doing this herself about 6 months ago and as her confidence has developed she has tried harder books - I leave what she reads entirely up to her and I don't push her to do this at all. She is very taken with the Goosebumps series she found at the local library recently as well. She loved all of the Little House on the Praire series and we are currently reading through the Harry Potter books.
My 14 year old suddenly took off reading last year by himself. He is VERY dyslexic but with a combination of good teaching and a love of stories he was determined to access stories for himself. He recommends the Percy Jackson series to everyone and he bought himself the first book in 'The Hunger Games' series on Saturday - he had finished it three days later. Pretty impressive. He still wants me to read to him though which is amusing as he is is now a good foot taller than me but he loves listening and it seems to help him process stories when he reads to himself.
For those of you who are interested in what we are reading: we are currently finishing 'Cue for Treason' by Geoffrey Trease and will be reading the 'Dark is Rising' sequence by Susan Cooper next. His favourite series last year was the 'All Creatures Great and Small' by James Herriot. The Merlin series by Mary Stewart went down well (albeit with some editing by me of unsuitable parts!) and so did the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We also love 'Just William' books and the Asterix series is a top favourite that all my children will now read although the 9 year old struggles with the words still.
Also, I limit TV so there is none after 7 pm unless it's a special treat and once in bed there are no electronic gadgets to play with unless connected with literacy or imaginative play which they can play with until lights out.
Hope this encourages someone - chill about it but get them to LOVE stories and be committed to enjoying them together - eventually you will get there. Do not put any pressure on them to read themselves - that kills reading for everyone.
I was also reluctant to read but I really enjoyed
The Alex Rider Series by by Anthony Horowitz
The Wind Singer Series by William Nicholson
Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer
His Dark Materials by Phillip Paulman.
Even if they don't want to read them. I find as a dyslexic it is far more better to listen to them by audio book while reading them because it is far easier to understand the story. The dyslexic is putting all their effort into reading they are not following the story itself.
My son, 5, has just finished his year in reception and his school are very keen to make sure that he reads everyday, holiday and term time. There are also some suggestions that he is dyslexic as both my wife and I are and he shows some signs but he is too young to be diagnosed. Getting him to read can be a real struggle at times but then other times he is fine. We have found that making sure that the book is of interest really helps but also we let him choose. We have a special folder with 5 or so books in and then get him to pick one. However, we also make sure that the 5 books are not too difficult as well as not having too many words per page. It's funny because he'll happily read a book with 5 to 10 words on a page that is 20 pages long but if you gave him a book of 10 pages with 20 words on a page he will really struggle and claim that it is too difficult.
We also make sure that reading happens at the same time of day early on seems to work. So before he gets down to play after breakfast we read with him. It normally doesn't take long and the differance is huge from when we just used to do it at some point in the day.
I know it sounds quite regimented but we tried lots of differant ways of doing the reading and this is the one that seems to work best.
Hope that helps a little!!
Hi check this link below if you have a iphone or iPad try it out its a free download with a sample book i found it very useful. BTW the apps called CrowdedFiction