Supporting a Reluctant Reader: When Reading Feels Like A Chore

Do these sound familiar?

“Do we have to read today?”

“My teacher said I don’t have to read.”

“I don’t have anything good to read.”

We’ve all heard how important it is to have children read every day, but that’s often easier said than done. Reading outside of school time can bring up strong feelings for children, for many reasons. You might notice children avoiding reading, negotiating about it, or acting out when it’s time to read. As adults, we can start by asking ourselves why our child is resistant to reading.

• Are they tired or overwhelmed from their school day?
• Have they been assigned a book that’s not interesting to them or is too hard?
• Do they view reading as a chore or something that’s only for school?
• Is reading a struggle for them?

There are a lot of ways to make reading more fun and accessible.

Give Children Choices

Research tells us that giving children choice in what they read improves their motivation, helps them learn more, and increases the amount of effort and commitment they have to continue to read (Reading Rockets).

In her book The Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller says:

“If we want children to see reading as anything more than a school job, we must give them the chance to choose their own books and develop personal connections to reading, or they never will.”

Balance Their Cognitive Load

Cognitive load theory is a framework for improving teaching and learning that focuses on how working memory functions and its limitations. Our working memory can only do so much – if children are focusing all their attention on sounding out words, they can’t understand or enjoy what they read.

Adults can help take a bit of weight off of children’s cognitive load by doing some of these things:

• Take turns reading sentences or pages with your child.
• Help them sound out words that are difficult for them.
• Have them read along with you.
• Stay patient and keep it positive – avoid pressuring your child.
• Praise effort and small steps (a few words, pages, or minutes).
• Coach and cheerlead their progress to build confidence and stamina.

Read more about supporting a reluctant reader on Oakland Reads.

Focus on Fluency

The Fluency Page on Oakland Reads has a variety of activities to support making reading fun at home, from choral reading to echo reading to readers theater and more.

Watch and Learn

Watch author Erin Entrada Kelly talk about the importance of letting children choose the books they read.

PBS’s show Phoebe and Jay is a literacy focused animated show for young children. It features twin siblings who use “everyday text” (different kinds of texts kids see as they go about their day, like labels on clothes, movie tickets, signs and posters) to help them learn and live. It’s a joy and culture filled way to bring literacy into your young child’s screen time. Read more about “everyday text”.

The more reading feels like a choice– not a chore– the more likely kids are to stick with it. Let’s make reading more like chocolate and less like medicine.