Engaging Reluctant Readers

Some children are naturally drawn to books and others are not particularly interested in any books, ever... And it's tough when you'd really love your child to be interested in books, but they just aren't.

Because you're here reading this, you already know reading to children is vital and we know regular reading routines at home foretell future language, speech, intellectual and comprehension capacities... so what are we to do when our children just don't want anything to with books? It can be hard enough to get your reluctant readers to listen to you read a story, let alone get them to pick up a book themselves.

So here is just ONE simple strategy that can ignite a tiny spark for some reluctant readers: get some toys to go along WITH the story.

These can be stuffed animals, puppets, cars, wooden figures, etc. Anything the remotely connects to the story will do. It could be connected to the 'setting' of the story, or the 'characters' of the story, or the 'theme' of the story. I tend to choose toys that connect to the characters - I find that to be the easiest to work with and what my daughter enjoys the most.

So what do you do with the toys? Isn't the point supposed to be reading, not playing? Let me share a few ways to use these toys that encourage playing while reading. Our goal is to build stepping stones towards an enjoyment of reading... reluctant readers are not going to become voracious readers overnight.

Now that you've collected some toys that pair well with a story you think your child will like...

1. Let your child/students play with the toys 'silently' while YOU read out loud to them. The simple exposure to language is vital. This matters. Even if they aren't looking at the book just yet, they're hearing you use words together in forms and context. This is crucial for language formation and speech development.

2. Have your child act out what that animal or item is doing in the story. If the whale is diving in the ocean, get them to make the whale dive. If the whale is gobbling up fish, you guessed it, gobble gobble gobble. You can get as crafty with this as you need to. You can have multiple items for every scene prepared if you want, or it can be imaginative/pretend.

3. Have your child HOLD the story so you can see it and read it out loud while using the toys to bring it to life in a mini-play scenario. Using different voices, actions, and gestures, your child will be keen on watching and listening to what you are doing. Be sure to direct them to turn the page when you're ready to keep going. They'll notice the 'show' stops while the page turns... this reinforces the idea that something 'new' happens on each page of a book, helping them become familiar with navigating a book themselves.

For a few more strategies for your reluctant readers, you might enjoy this article I wrote: Bridging the Million Word Gap. There's a couple different ideas to bring reading to life and more on why it's important.

Good luck with this strategy!! Give yourself permission to step outside of your comfort zone, too! Experiment with it until you're comfortable! It may not feel natural at first, but it is a worthy discomfort for the little reader inside of your child.

-Ashley

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