Practical Ideas to Get Kids to Read

When my niece was little she was the world’s biggest Dora the Explorer fan. She would gleefully run through the house screaming, “Swiper no swiping!” Now she’s a teenager and all she does is swipe. I would estimate she spends about two seconds on a TikTok video before she’s swiped on to the next one. Now, I enjoy a fun cat video as much as the next person, but the problem with the world’s obsession with videos is that if all we do is watch content we’re missing out on a very important critical thinking skill- making inferences. These short, fun videos require nothing of our brains. We just watch, enjoy, and then move on to whatever is next. We don’t stop and wonder about what we’ve seen, we don’t generate any questions about the video or make any predictions about what may come next. Making inferences is a skill we hone through reading, and many of today’s kids hate reading.

So how do we get kids who hate reading to read? First let’s talk about what NOT to do. Do not rush out and buy a popular chapter book and place it lovingly in your child’s hands with your eyes full of hope and dreams. That would be like someone handing me a bowl and all the ingredients for making sourdough bread and telling me, “Go make some bread.” Not only would that be overwhelming for me, but it would be frustrating because I don’t know how to make sourdough bread, and more importantly, I don’t want to. What I need to do is start with a box of Jiffy Cornbread mix that only needs eggs and milk. Maybe if I can learn to make cornbread from a mix successfully I’ll be ready to move on to sourdough.

Now let’s talk about some strategies for turning your child into a lifelong reader. Start small- no chapter books. Start with something like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. You might be thinking, my child’s fourteen! They shouldn’t be reading something on such a low level! That’s like saying an adult who wants to learn to play piano should start with Beethoven instead of "Mary Had a Little Lamb". There’s nothing wrong with reading lower level books if they’re more accessible and more enjoyable for your child. Another option is comic books and graphic novels. These types of materials have pictures along with words so not only is your child reading, but they’re having modeled for them how to picture things while they read- super important skill! Another option is magazines. Short, high interest magazine articles that have pictures are an excellent way to get your child to read without handing them a book, since for a lot of kids, books have a negative, “What is this, school?” type vibe. Try magazines such as Sport’s Illustrated Kids edition, Highlights, or National Geographic Kids. I like magazines a lot because the commitment is small. You can have your child read just one article a day, they aren’t overwhelmed by a story that they have to hang in there with over a long period of time. *Make sure to vet any reading materials you choose for your kids to ensure they meet your personal family values, especially the suggestion above for comics and graphic novels. 

Next, once you’ve chosen some reading material, how can you get your child to do the reading? One thing I like is a “banking” system. This is where you trade minutes of reading for minutes of another activity your child enjoys. For example, ten minutes of reading can equal twenty minutes of swiping, video games, or playing catch.  By using a system like this your child can “bank” minutes and keep track of how much they have on a chart. If you choose to do something like this, accountability is the key. We don’t want to put our children in a situation where they're tempted to fudge the truth a little. So if you decide to trade one magazine article for one hour of video games, read the article ahead of time so you can engage with your child about it afterwards. That way they will know that they actually have to do the reading to get the reward. Plus, you get the added benefit of having a thoughtful conversation with your child and you can even add in some critical thinking type questions like:

• Why do you think that article was important?

• Who do you think would enjoy that article?

• How has that article changed the way you see the topic?

More on what types of questions and discussions you can have with your child about the reading in a later blog!

Lastly, some might think that the strategy above sounds a bit like bribing your child. It’s not that at all. It’s not bribery when we go to work and do tasks in order to get paid at the end of the week. It’s not bribery when we set a goal for ourselves to clean the house before going to lunch  with a friend. It’s simply a task-reward model that we use in real life all the time. And if you keep up with requiring reading from your child on a consistent basis the day will come when you find that even when the ten minute reading time is up, your child might inform you they need a little more time to finish the story/chapter/article… because, just like that, your child is enjoying reading!