What - Kids - Who - Don't - Like - To - Read - Like - To - Read

"I don't like to read." That statement must be the granddaddy of all self-fulfilling prophecies.

If a reluctant reader lives at your house, a bit of sympathy is in order. The daily dose of assigned reading is definitely medicinal:

Read the story that begins on page 86 called "How Betsy Ross Lost her Thimble." Answer the questions on page 98 that will show what you have learned about this patriotic woman. Do workbook pages 89-92.

Reading of this sort is guaranteed to keep children busy for hours. It is also guaranteed to kill all positive feelings about reading. It - quite literally - kills joy.

Parents absolutely cannot depend upon schools to inculcate love of reading in their progeny. If a parent is lucky, s/he will have a teacher who knows and loves books - but don't count on it.

The responsibility rests four-square upon the beleaguered parent. To be absolutely certain that your youngster develops a love of books, you must do the job yourself.

Every bit of advice that you've ever read or heard about reading aloud to your pre-schooler is absolutely true. Five years is a very short time out of a lifetime (I'm not talking about how long it seems!), and not a minute spent reading aloud to your child is wasted. A blessing on the heads of all parents who read aloud to their older children. It is a bond that will never wither.

In the early stages of reading, any type of reading that a child finds pleasurable is worthwhile. I have a very high regard for trash, and any old trash (clean, of course) that keeps a youngster practicing the skill of reading is a practical, positive help.

The "I don't like to read" syndrome becomes much more serious after children have really mastered the mechanics of reading - but don't read. These children are no longer technically "non-readers," but they are definitely reluctant. I often refer to them as "transitional readers," because they have simply not made the transition from picture books to harder books. Never having found a harder book that they really loved, they remain stuck in a sort of "pre-book limbo." They can remain there forever.

Adults do not always realize the mental effort a young reader must expend in order to read a whole book. The child is involved in a multiplicity of mental tasks. The reader must decode the words, furnish the mental pictures at the instant of decoding, remember what has gone before, and generally respond emotionally to what is read. Reading a book is hard! (Is it any wonder that most children prefer television where both the words and the images are provided? Who among us isn't attracted by what is easiest?)

While "real readers" are making intellectual strides, the passive resisters in the reading department are hurting only themselves. The child who maintains, "I don't like to read," and doesn't …is never going to learn to like it. Not only will this youngster fall behind the readers in plain ordinary skill and vocabulary, this boy or girl will miss the books by the great and good authors.