I was talking with a friend from church a while back, about our “reluctant readers.” We were sympathizing with each other about our second-born children, who were struggling in the area of reading. The cause, for them, is not that they “can’t” read, but that reading is not yet a habit and they have not yet experienced the benefits of it.

Both of these children have older siblings who read fluently, learn readily by reading more advanced material, and are excited about reading. Our second-borns, however, will read during “school time,” but otherwise don’t want to invest much effort.

On the one hand, they tend to compare themselves to their older siblings and feel as though they are reading “baby” books (easy readers) in comparison to what their siblings are doing. On the other hand, because they don’t pursue reading independently, they don’t experience the “success” that would intrinsically motivate them to continue reading at higher levels. It’s a catch-22–at least in our cases.

Whether you have a “reluctant reader” because of his/her birth order, or just because, I thought I would share a couple of things that have worked for me in this area.

One thing I did to combat the “comparison” syndrome (which is part of what discourages my second-born from reading on his own) was to get my two oldest boys each a similar “bag of books” for Christmas. I found some excellent Book Packs of leveled readers from DK Eyewitness that fit my objectives perfectly. Each boy got a set of readers, which although different reading levels, looked alike enough that my second-born didn’t think he got “baby readers.” (Frankly, I think it was intriguing enough just to get brand-spanking-new books in a ZIPPERED CASE!) The pictures in both sets are great, and my sons also loved the topics–one, an animal lover, got the animal series, and the other got a history set–he loves facts and information! The 10 readers also came with a couple of activity pages and a checklist with star stickers so that the child can “star” each book as he reads it.

Now with homeschooling multiple children and juggling older children with younger, I guess I’ve forgotten how much young ones LOVE stickers! DS #2 was thrilled with the star stickers and checklist in this set! Right away he set everything out on his desk and asked to read in bed for several nights in a row. And he dutifully “starred” each checkbox as the books were finished. I was almost dismayed that I had gotten out of the habit of reinforcing good work with such a simple thing as a sticker!

I have now made up a template in MS Word that will allow me to list titles of books (or other school assignments), with space to put a sticker upon their successful completion. If you’d like a copy, just email me via the “contact” form in the side bar and request the “WFMW chart” in the comments section. Note that you’ll automatically receive future editions of our “Values-Driven” newsletter, unless you check the opt-out box.

Another thing we’ve done is to ask DS#2 to spend time reading aloud to Dad after “lights-out.” Not every night, but we try for at least 2 or 3 per week. First of all, he loves being permitted to stay up later than the other kids. Secondly, the time with Dad is generally coveted all around. All of the kids just “glow” with praise from their Daddy! It’s different when it comes from me, because I’m with them everyday, all the time–and I’m the teacher! Dad is different. I can’t explain it, I just know it’s true. So he regularly picks one of his leveled readers and snuggles on the couch to read a book to Dad. If this option doesn’t work for you, is there another person to whom your child could read aloud–a grandparent or aunt, perhaps?

With these two things done together in a short space of time, I can see a marked improvement just in the past couple of weeks since Christmas. Not only is he reading aloud with less hesitation over pronunciation, etc., but he is more likely to pick up a book and actually “read” on his own–or at least try, even if it is a more advanced-level text. That definitely works for me!