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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m forcing my 11yo to read 30 mins a day. She needs to do it to get screen time that day. 
So yes even when she’s 14 I’ll probably still be forcing her. I love reading and read in front of her so have no idea why it’s such a battle. [/quote]

Does somebody force you to do it 30 minutes a day before you do anything else you might want to do?  You want to spend the day shopping, sit down and read first.  You want to have a date with your husband, have you completed your 30 minutes?

It’s like Tom Sawyer’s whitewashed fence, in reverse.  You’ve turned something intrinsically fun into a chore.  At 14, I’m sure you’re right that she’ll have to be forced, because she’ll have had three additional years of resentment to foster her loathing.  You may be able to get her to read 30 minutes a day, but how often does she goes beyond that, much less spends a day curled up with a good book.  Required reading onky makes sense when it serves a specific purpose.  Requiring a child who is learning to read to practice the skill makes sense.  A teacher assigning a chapter to prepare for a class discussion, or having them read a book to write a paper about, makes sense, because those readings have a purpose.  The only purpose of forcing an eleven year old to read daily (assuming she’s a capable reader) is to make her hate reading.

If she does have trouble reading, then by all means get her tutoring, because she’ll never enjoy it until it is effortless.  Otherwise, back off, let her do other things, and just have books that might interest her available, understanding that it may take years of avoidance before the revulsion she has for books starts to dissipate.  (In my personal experience, I had a musical mother who forced piano lessons and 30 minutes of daily practice on me from 1st grade until the beginning of 5th, only stopping because we moved.  While I now enjoy playing the piano, it took years before I would voluntarily approach a piano and play.)

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I know you have good intentions, but reading takes practice. If kids don’t do it regularly their skills stagnate. They don’t have to read daily, but every week they should be reading something. Magazines, maps, atlases, books.

It’s a myth that kids who are required to read end up hating it. Please stop perpetuating it. [/quote]

I agree with you. I have a kid who is intrinsically motivated to read for pleasure, but not intrinsically motivated to do various other tasks. I still encourage her to eat her vegetables, practice her instrument, get exercise, clean her room etc. even if she doesn't feel like doing these things on her own. Sometimes practicing critical skills does lead to enjoyment, but even if it doesn't some things just have to be done for your own good. I think an 11yo still needs to practice reading for comprehension. Their decoding may be fine, but at this stage, their comprehension, vocabulary, etc. still need a lot of development. [/quote]

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