Honestly my kid hated reading until I got him a tutor. He went from crying when I asked him to read at the beginning of this year to now reading Diary of the Wimpy Kid books for hours at a time. So anyway, the answer was my kid struggled and hated to read because it was hard. I got someone who could teach him to read.

Anonymous wrote:How do you make them read for 15min a day? My reluctant reader just looks at the pictures if he's doing it on his own (he hates not knowing a single word so doesn't even attempt to read) and if I try to have him do it outloud he loses patience very quickly.

His teachers haven't expressed any concern about his rate of progression so i'm hoping he's just getting enough practice in school

I would sit with him and read, but have him follow the words. You can slide your finger underneath as you read slowly, or have him use his finger. I did this and sometimes paused at an easier word, and sometimes he’d jump in and read the word. Big praise. Keep doing it. He will build confidence and it will be fun being able to decode more and more. But yes you need to sit with him and it needs to be out loud.

Another suggestion. I used to motivate my son by having him read individual words when I was reading most of them. It taught him to track the words as I was reading which helped he match what I was saying to words on the page. I would tell him you are responsible for all the 3 letter words for example and I’d pause when I got to each one and he would read it. I often used my finger to help him keep track of where I was reading.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you make them read for 15min a day? My reluctant reader just looks at the pictures if he's doing it on his own (he hates not knowing a single word so doesn't even attempt to read) and if I try to have him do it outloud he loses patience very quickly.

His teachers haven't expressed any concern about his rate of progression so i'm hoping he's just getting enough practice in school

Does or did he memorize sight words? Do they work on phonics with him?

I agree that phonics is vital. He needs decodable readers (books that can be read based on letter/sound combinations he knows) until he has learned to sound out words. The Bob books are good for this. Although they start out deadly dull, they get better as more letters are introduced. If he’s been learning phonics at school, you may want to start with one of the more advanced sets.

As someone who struggled learning to read myself, I remember 15 minutes of reading practice seemed like an eternity. I suggest breaking it into smaller chunks. If he’s still struggling, though, his reading practice needs to be out loud to you. DON’T LET HIM GUESS, even if his teacher does. If necessary, cover the picture until he reads the text. Your mantra needs to be “Sound it out.” Don’t worry about sight words. If a word contains a letter combination he hasn’t been taught yet, then either teach him how to sound it out or read it for him so that he can focus on reading what he can sound out. When his time’s up, make sure he finishes the word he’s on - otherwise he may stall when he hits a problem and run down the clock, ending the session feeling he can’t read. He needs to know both that he has to read that word, and that he can read that word, so that he gets to experience success.

If he is able to sound out words, 15 min. intervals are probably reasonable, but you might want to try buddy reading where you take turns reading a sentence/paragraph/page/chapter.

Keep reading to him, apart from practice. Not only is exposure to text that hasn’t been simplified good for him, he needs to experience the joy of books without the stress. It doesn’t have to be just at bedtime, either. While he’s probably old enough to chapter books, he’s not too old for picture books. Just read whatever he enjoys (and hopefully you can find something you can enjoy, as well).

FWIW, I HATED daily reading practice, but my mother insisted. I’ll always be grateful for her dragging me through it, despite my resistance. For me, reading finally clicked the following summer (after having phonics in school) and I eventually became a huge bookworm.

Anonymous wrote:How do you make them read for 15min a day? My reluctant reader just looks at the pictures if he's doing it on his own (he hates not knowing a single word so doesn't even attempt to read) and if I try to have him do it outloud he loses patience very quickly.

His teachers haven't expressed any concern about his rate of progression so i'm hoping he's just getting enough practice in school

Does or did he memorize sight words? Do they work on phonics with him?

Truck Full of Ducks

Amelia Bedelia

Anonymous wrote:How do you make them read for 15min a day? My reluctant reader just looks at the pictures if he's doing it on his own (he hates not knowing a single word so doesn't even attempt to read) and if I try to have him do it outloud he loses patience very quickly.

His teachers haven't expressed any concern about his rate of progression so i'm hoping he's just getting enough practice in school

I would just read to him. Picture books with few words and soon he’ll start to recognize the words.

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you are balancing the 15 minutes she reads to you with lots of you reading with her. The latter is what will build her fluency and her love of reading.

People here are suggesting books well above a first grade level. You want things like

Pete the Cat
The Pigeon books
Elephant and Piggie
Little Bear
Danny and the Dinosaur

Having things that are a series will give them momentum to carry through.

I love Mo Willems
Knuffle Bunny! He’s got two new books coming out. Are You Big? and Are You Small? He uses science in the books and the kids don’t even know.

Elephant and Piggie (split who reads the characters if they are reluctant).

We Both Read series (again the alternating can help with motivation)

Fly Guy

First short chapter books (easier than Kingdom of Wrenly or magic treehouse): Yasmin, Katie Woo, Pedro, and Ali the Great

In first grade my kid really liked The Princess in Black.

It was a really nice transition from the shorter picture books, yet still small enough to be read in one sitting. There are lots of pictures and it’s divided into easy to read chapters. The stories are fun and age appropriate — and best of all there’s a ton of them so it’s easy to get really into it.

How do you make them read for 15min a day? My reluctant reader just looks at the pictures if he's doing it on his own (he hates not knowing a single word so doesn't even attempt to read) and if I try to have him do it outloud he loses patience very quickly.

His teachers haven't expressed any concern about his rate of progression so i'm hoping he's just getting enough practice in school

Oh and the Pig in a Wig series is great for this age too!

Do you know what level? I have found that Rigby readers are kind of perfect for reluctant readers, you can get them on ebay. I'd say level 8-10 is probably good for an average 1st grader. Elephant and Piggy books are also great.

I'd also recommend Fly Guy books (not the fly guy presents ones, but the regular ones), Brownie and Pearl, and Green Eggs and Ham.

Mr. Putter and Tabby/Henry and Mudge might be too advanced, depending on how far along they are. Splat the Cat is good if phonics is a strength, but if they are transitioning out of sight words/context and into phonics, they can be challenging.

Does your kid really like Dr. Seuss? https://pridereadingprogram.com/reading-with-dr-seuss-from-easiest-to-hardest/

Here’s Hank series
Splat the Cat books