Reading for tween/teens

[Anonymous]

This sounds painful. Do not force mandatory reading on teens unless you want them to really hate it. Many adults read trash for enjoyment. Many adults do not read for fun at all. I haven’t read a book in years and hated summer reading when it was assigned in high school. I wouldn’t have liked it more if my parents attempted to make me read.

[Anonymous]

I am paying my 7th grader to read over the summer. I’m picking out the books, we already have a deal in place! There are a lot of low-quality books on the market for middle school girls, and my kid gravitates toward them bc they’re popular…but they’re very often trite and one-dimensional so she loses interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am paying my 7th grader to read over the summer. I’m picking out the books, we already have a deal in place! There are a lot of low-quality books on the market for middle school girls, and my kid gravitates toward them bc they’re popular…but they’re very often trite and one-dimensional so she loses interest.

I just wanted to add that the Selection series are the books my seventh grader was into. I was thrilled lol, but after reading a few of them she lost interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You want your kids to love to read, right? Please don't make it a chore. Make a weekly trip to the library, combine it with a trip to get a treat if you want to, but please don't force them to read things they don't want.

In general I want my kids to read books that they enjoy but I have to read boring things for work sometimes and in high school and college they will likely have to read things they wouldn't choose to read on their own. If kids are in a school with no assigned reading, I think it is OK to sometimes ask them to read things they would not choose on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You want your kids to love to read, right? Please don't make it a chore. Make a weekly trip to the library, combine it with a trip to get a treat if you want to, but please don't force them to read things they don't want.

I believe OP has middle schoolers, not elementary schoolers. But I MISS the days of going to the library and getting a treat! We used to get piles of books…sigh….now most kids don’t read unless forced to by teachers. I think the fear that kids will hate reading if you make them isn’t accurate. They may hate you 😜 but they may eventually like reading if they stick with it. Reading takes practice, it truly does, I think people forget that. It’s like exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am paying my 7th grader to read over the summer. I’m picking out the books, we already have a deal in place! There are a lot of low-quality books on the market for middle school girls, and my kid gravitates toward them bc they’re popular…but they’re very often trite and one-dimensional so she loses interest.

what do you pay them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want your kids to love to read, right? Please don't make it a chore. Make a weekly trip to the library, combine it with a trip to get a treat if you want to, but please don't force them to read things they don't want.

I believe OP has middle schoolers, not elementary schoolers. But I MISS the days of going to the library and getting a treat! We used to get piles of books…sigh….now most kids don’t read unless forced to by teachers. I think the fear that kids will hate reading if you make them isn’t accurate. They may hate you 😜 but they may eventually like reading if they stick with it. Reading takes practice, it truly does, I think people forget that. It’s like exercise.

Learning the skill of reading takes practice. Once mastered, you can come back to it whenever you want.

Kids can still enjoy reading. Don’t force daily reading. Don’t force them to read “good literature” in place of the “trash” they enjoy. Don’t pay/bribe them to read, turning an intrinsically enjoyable activity into work.

Do let them see you read for enjoyment. Do share things (quotes, news/magazine articles, etc) that you enjoy/find interesting with them. Do read together - pick a fun book to read together just for the pleasure of the experience, or pick an audiobook to enjoy together in the car. Do take them to libraries/bookstores frequently. Do seek out and offer them reading choices (not requirements) that you think they might (not should) enjoy - including magazines, books on topics of interest, really good books (not necessarily classics) that they might not have heard of, new books that are generating buzz, novelty books, etc. Amazon and Goodreads both offer helpful suggestions based on previous preferences to find additional books that might be of interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want your kids to love to read, right? Please don't make it a chore. Make a weekly trip to the library, combine it with a trip to get a treat if you want to, but please don't force them to read things they don't want.

I believe OP has middle schoolers, not elementary schoolers. But I MISS the days of going to the library and getting a treat! We used to get piles of books…sigh….now most kids don’t read unless forced to by teachers. I think the fear that kids will hate reading if you make them isn’t accurate. They may hate you 😜 but they may eventually like reading if they stick with it. Reading takes practice, it truly does, I think people forget that. It’s like exercise.

You're responding to me. I have two teens who thankfully still like to read. We still do weekly library trips, though their piles are much smaller these days my 13 year old prefers graphic novels. Sure I would love them to read full novels, but I'm not forcing it on them. I'm grateful that they consider themselves readers. That's worth more to me than pushing to read more complicated books. But I get the sentiment that they'll have to read more complicated books as they get older, so it could be good practice now. So many angles

[Anonymous]

My son does not like to read books. He is willing to read magazines, so I have purchased subscriptions to Time, Newsweek, the New Yorker, National Geographic, and Scientific American.

[Anonymous]

Op here, thanks to everyone for their feedback.

To clarify, we go to the library weekly. I try to stick a few titles in there, but they mostly pick trash...or things really easy like graphic novels. Think the babysitters club, Rick Riordan, Selection. They are 10+12 (5th and 7th). I do not assign reading or particular books during the school year. I am happy they choose to read instead of watching TV.

They each have a kids kindle, and I use Libby to add books to their accounts (they can also add whatever they want too). They generally don't read what I have added!

I also do take them to plays, as we love theatre. They have seen a few Shakespeare plays and even acted in two at theater camp. However they just generally eschew anything "literary" *and* non-fiction

And yes, I read *all*the*time. So does DH. We talk about what we are reading in front of, and with them. It's rare anything we read sparks their interest.

Part of my concern is that 12 year old's reading speed seems to have gone down * a lot*. She finished the entire HP series when she was 8. There hasn't been anything read at that level in the last 4 years. She's going to be entering an age where learning to be an active, engaged and *fast* reader is important.

[Anonymous]

Only do that if you want your kid to hate recreational reading forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here, thanks to everyone for their feedback.

To clarify, we go to the library weekly. I try to stick a few titles in there, but they mostly pick trash...or things really easy like graphic novels. Think the babysitters club, Rick Riordan, Selection. They are 10+12 (5th and 7th). I do not assign reading or particular books during the school year. I am happy they choose to read instead of watching TV.

They each have a kids kindle, and I use Libby to add books to their accounts (they can also add whatever they want too). They generally don't read what I have added!

I also do take them to plays, as we love theatre. They have seen a few Shakespeare plays and even acted in two at theater camp. However they just generally eschew anything "literary" *and* non-fiction

And yes, I read *all*the*time. So does DH. We talk about what we are reading in front of, and with them. It's rare anything we read sparks their interest.

Part of my concern is that 12 year old's reading speed seems to have gone down * a lot*. She finished the entire HP series when she was 8. There hasn't been anything read at that level in the last 4 years. She's going to be entering an age where learning to be an active, engaged and *fast* reader is important.

Is she the 7th grader? Try a Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want your kids to love to read, right? Please don't make it a chore. Make a weekly trip to the library, combine it with a trip to get a treat if you want to, but please don't force them to read things they don't want.

I believe OP has middle schoolers, not elementary schoolers. But I MISS the days of going to the library and getting a treat! We used to get piles of books…sigh….now most kids don’t read unless forced to by teachers. I think the fear that kids will hate reading if you make them isn’t accurate. They may hate you 😜 but they may eventually like reading if they stick with it. Reading takes practice, it truly does, I think people forget that. It’s like exercise.

Learning the skill of reading takes practice. Once mastered, you can come back to it whenever you want.

Kids can still enjoy reading. Don’t force daily reading. Don’t force them to read “good literature” in place of the “trash” they enjoy. Don’t pay/bribe them to read, turning an intrinsically enjoyable activity into work.

Do let them see you read for enjoyment. Do share things (quotes, news/magazine articles, etc) that you enjoy/find interesting with them. Do read together - pick a fun book to read together just for the pleasure of the experience, or pick an audiobook to enjoy together in the car. Do take them to libraries/bookstores frequently. Do seek out and offer them reading choices (not requirements) that you think they might (not should) enjoy - including magazines, books on topics of interest, really good books (not necessarily classics) that they might not have heard of, new books that are generating buzz, novelty books, etc. Amazon and Goodreads both offer helpful suggestions based on previous preferences to find additional books that might be of interest.

This only partially true. Once you master reading, you will always have the skill. But the skill of reading a full-length novel can absolutely be weakened. This is true for children and adults. It takes focus and self discipline to read a novel if your brain is adjusted to online scrolling, texts, or shorter-format reading.

[Anonymous]

Last summer my kids did this once a week online program: https://readingprograms.org/

My goal was for them to read some grade level material and it definitely achieved that. I think they enjoyed the books. I don’t know how much they got out of the assignments.

[Anonymous]

Horrible, horrible idea.

Take them to the library weekly this summer. Encourage them to get (and read) whatever they want. No judgement or insults about their choices.

And encourage them to throw in a book each time that’s a little outside their usual fare. Not A LOT outside their usual. Not just award-winners or three grade levels above them etc. Just something THEY can choose that is more of a “risk” - something the don’t already know for sure” they’ll love.

Because both things can be true at once: Reading easy, light, predictable, or non-challenging books can be great for them!! It’s a ridiculously healthy and beneficial way for them to relax their brains, entertain themselves with stories, and generally be quiet and unplugged from screens … and the harder work of school and being a good kid at home etc.

Don’t screw up their healthy “Reading to Relax” orientation!!

And yes, in addition, reading CAN serve other purposes too. It can challenge is to think more deeply. Or more carefully. It can expand our world view. It can expand our empathy. It can show us glimpses of ourselves and our life/world/personality that help us feel seen/supported/less alone in the world. It a teach us new words, sharpen our ways of processing information, and model for us how to structure sentences, paragraphs, and more.

These are all wonderful possibilities. If your kids enjoy reading, they will find their way to all of those upsides in time. Take them to the library. Let them explore. Let them choose. Give them autonomy to explore topics that interest them.
Introduce them to book blogs that will suggest new books without you turning it into “assigned reading”.

Google the “What Do We Do All Day” booklists. Amazing resource for all ages, abilities, and interests. My kids love pulling up those lists at the library, looking at covers, reading jacket flaps, and throwing one or two in the bag along with “the usuals”.