My kids are slowly but surely improving in their reading skills. They can now do quiet reading on their own (yay!), even though I have to assign quiet reading time because they would never do it on their own. ((that's a whole other post)). They will only read a book if it has pictures on each page. If it only has a few like some chapter books or has none-at-all, then they are not interested in reading it (and no, they're not just looking the pictures because I'll periodically ask specific questions you couldn't get from the pictures). So my question is this: How do I get them to actually give these books a try. I know they can handle them, reading level wise, but how do I get them to even try? I have found that my best success comes from letting them choose their own books but should I start occasionally assigning one of these? What would you do? Thanks for any help in advance! **added note** I think it's more of an intimidation thing instead of just because of the lack of pictures. There seem to be so many more words on a book without pictures if you know what I mean.
Couple things you can try: 1. Have them read a chapter to you. Sometimes they need the extra security of having Mommy nearby with the next level of books. They don't have the confidence they can do it themselves even though we know they can. Having Mommy nearby helps build that confidence. 2. You read the book out loud and stop at a crucial point- mid chapter, towards the end- when the suspense is big. Tell them you won't have time to read to them again for awhile and leave the book lying around. Sometimes they'll pick it up and finish the book themselves!
Marking for when I face this problem LOL Great ideas. I love the laying it down as soon as it gets good! Brilliant! LOL
Give it some time... let them get very comfortable reading first and then you will need to introduce them to the wonders of some of the fun reads out there in the not so heavy on the graphics by reading them some.. make sure they are FUN... Magic Tree House, Bailey School Kids (my son loved these), Horrible Harry and Nate the Great and Cam Jenson are some of the ones that just popped into my head as things that make a great next step, also Amelia Bedila, Junie B Jones are fun also.
I used to do this when I taught. It got several very reluctant readers to pick up the book and finish it. Then they started reading other chapter books!!
You can also read a page and then they read a page. Bookadventure dot com has reading comprehension quizzes for books- that encouraged my kids to read different titles. (No idea WHY an extra quiz was an incentive??) but we also didn't use it so much that it was "work". It was more like competing or beating the computer I think. Every once in a while I would mention that I had found a quiz for this book, and that would do the trick. At the library, they get to pick three books to read, and you pick one. (Hint, begin by picking some fairly fun titles, then you can branch into the science reader-type books. Don't pick the big, fat book entitled "Watching Dust Bunnies Migrate" or something!) Give reading rewards. Pizza Hut allows homeschoolers to sign up, local businesses sometimes have programs, or just keep a tally sheet with your own set of rewards. So much reading time = an ice cream cone, or a new book, or a treat. But sometimes YOU get to pick the titles. Just keep encouraging them and it will come! MT3
You might try some of those hardbacked books that are re-writes of classic literature, but there's a page of text and a page of illustration, or maybe two pages of text and a page of picture. Some are written at different levels, some are at a "standard 4.0" level, some are marked as to what level, and some are not. They're "chapter books" but more mature-looking. There's everything from Ivanhoe and Shakespeare works, to Dickens, to the Three Musketeers, to everything you can imagine - but at kids' levels.
Do your children enjoy art? Perhaps you can tell them they can draw, paint, or whatever a picture of the pages that don't have pics, but they need to read it first.
Wow, such great ideas everyone! I'll have to try those. The art idea, my daughter would really get into! I forgot about those classics Lindina, I had bought some maybe a year or two ago and they got put away, I'll have to break them back out. I have recently (since Jan. maybe) started FILLING my house with chapter books. Some are the very easy ones with pics on every other page and some are the really intense, large ones. I just went on an ebay "buying spree" last week so a lot of cool titles are pouring in. Zack Files, Little house on the Prairie, Narnia, Lemmony Snicket, Magic Tree House, The Littles (from that t.v. show because they'd just got into watching that on Netflix), etc. I could literally not buy another book again for the next 2 years or more and if they started reading like mad, they'd have plenty. ((I'm a huge reading fan myself, I'm a book addict if you couldn't tell, lol)). It's just that first step of getting them to cross that bride of wanting to read the chapter books. Thanks for all of the ideas! Can't wait to try them!
I second the bookadventure.com its a good site for the kids to play games answer question from a book they read. Also, What I did with my youngest who sounds just like yours. Is let her read into a tape recorder then she could listen to the tape back when she was done. She loved it. Also, I also agree with you reading a page then them reading a page...
Those are great books, but it sounds like you need the step in between picture books and full-length chapter books like Little House on the Prarie. Scholastic has a database in which you can search books by reading level and interest level and topic. You can also type in the title of a book and find out what reading level it is. (The level is based on grade. 3.8 would be the average level for a third grader near the end of the school year.) My son like these series which all fall in between picture books and full length chapter books: Nate the Great, The Third-Grad Detectives, Hank the Cowdog, Sugarcreek Gang, Chet Gecko.
I must be horrible. Once they got to the point of being able to read books without lots of pictures, I just told them that's what they had to choose.....I'm mean. Ok so another thing I did...I challenged my 2nd grader with a book - for "outloud" reading...to make the point he could read it. Then I told him he HAD to pick a 3rd grade book from the library, and have the librarian help him cuz she would know a 3rd grade book. UNDER DURESS, and with much complaining he did so...or at least he asked. When she asked him what he was reading, she told him that was a 5th grade book (which I knew..I wanted him to see the 3rd grade book would be easy and to feel empowered) so now he chooses from the 3rd grade books with no problem (cuz "I read a 5th grade book already..." Oh, and at one point I did tell them they could have a reward if they just finished a harder book. We went to a movie. It's not permanent, but could be a stepping stone. Oh, and I also picked super fun books (Roald Dahl books, and things like Half-magic...)
I agree with Sommer about giving them some time, dont rush in but get the exciting funnyones, remember it took my son at ten to read Captain underpants and the talking toilets ( YEESH!) to get into reading things that had more words on a page, now cU has a comic strip in the middle of each book , but try the ones like that with pictures in a bunch area and they have to read to it, then go on to the next bunch... have them get a few that are picture books and a coupel of not so much picture chapter books with a pic ever so many pages, and stop now and again and have them draw what they thought would be on that page! Maybe you have budding artists and they are really interested in the picture drawings!
We do the Book it program too, and I was thinking this year when it starts again, I'll give them the reward for reading so many chapter books. Obviously starting small and growing. What do you think is a good starting number per month? 2 or 3? It's funny, but we got a reading program this year which we'd never had before (aside from the ones that teach reading). They HATE it! It's like reading a chapter book because at their level there is probably at least 5 pages with minimal pictures (maybe 1 or 2 for the entire section). I had been toying with the idea of getting rid of it--hadn't mentioned it to them yet though. But I just now thought to maybe have them do it a few more times and after they complain give them the ultimatum that they do not have to do it if they choose something from the chapter book stash instead. That way they'll at least get to pick what they want to read but it'll be one of the ones from the next step up. So they'll be happy not having to read from the curricula and I'll be happy because they'll still be reading "bigger" books. Any thoughts on that?
yes, 2 or 3 per month for first month then increase it to 4 so they are challenged, great idea! Incentives are always good to get them reading! Boarders has one too, if you have one I printed it off someplace here I think but it has a read ten get one free summer reading thing! Its called Dare or something? And always I found that if I let them read some of what they want--ds 12 likes the kids graphic novel types, so I look for those at library and then pick some with practically all words of course cause even chapter books have small pics here and there... if he finds one he likes he will read for days, but I have been trying to get him to read a couple of books for years! lol, abridged is good too! it gets them started then when in higher grades read the regular ones and they are "Oh! I remember this one!" I like to see the diferences in the differnt books of same story line sometimes there really is none!
When my daughter started reading at a higher level I just pushed her to read more "big kid" books. I knew she was capable of more but she wasn't so sure.. I really pushed it though. We chose short chapter books at first with the pictures on every other page or so then I really pushed her to read the "bigger kid" books.. We would read it together. Now she reads all the time. I actually saw her reading one of my books just the other day. She says that reading is fun.. And she encourages my younger dd6 to read because it's "really fun".. She will still read from the easy reader section at the library every now and then and I don't have a problem with that as long as that's not ALL she reads.. As long as she is reading I am happy. Now, If I could only get my ds12 and ds13 to read :roll: Angie
There are some books that are specially made to be read together. One page for the adult, the next for the beginner reader. They're good for the 1-4th grades, I guess, I came across the series at my local library and checked out only one of them. It was a good story and they come in different levels and the books are full color and have pictures on every page. Also, you can try getting a really interesting book on tape. Or maybe reading a book into a recorder for your kids and having them follow along at a later time with the text in hand. Audio books are big in my family but I find that many times the best books aren't available and this summer I'm going to try a few recordings of my self. You might want to wait about 6months before you assign reading, half way through the school year you can assign them a book and give them 2 weeks to finish it. Or just create a reading list for each student and have them be able to do something interesting when they finish to a certain point. Like go for ice cream, rent a new video, or get a small toy. Something to motivate (bribe) with is always good.
