Son don't like to read

[Sunburst]

Hi,


My son, 7 yrs old, he don't like to read and poor in recognising words. I tried to read to him many types of books such as Geronimo or Beast Quest but he's not interested.

Is there anyway to stir his interest in reading? Is there any interesting books for 7 yrs old.

Thank you.

[tamarind]

Sunburst:

Hi,


My son, 7 yrs old, he don't like to read and poor in recognising words. I tried to read to him many types of books such as Geronimo or Beast Quest but he's not interested.

Is there anyway to stir his interest in reading? Is there any interesting books for 7 yrs old.

Thank you.

Hi sunburst,
Reading to your son will not help.

I have written a page about how to motivate children to read :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-motivate-your-child-to-read.html

Please feel free to read and comment.

Also, Geronimo or Beast Quest are not the best books for children.

[cnimed]

tamarind:

Also, Geronimo or Beast Quest are not the best books for children.

Not read Beast Quest, but I have to agree with Tamarind on Geronimo. The writing is terrible. There is no sense of rhythm or flow to it at all.

On the other hand, I think not all kids can start reading young. Some like my child, will have vision issues. We read to him from age of 3 and we still do read to him a lot now at 6. He loves books and being read to. Reading is still effortful to him, but he will pick up a book and read a chapter to himself because he loves the story. He's not put off by thick books or classics because we are willing to work through the books with him. I've done the unabridged version of The Secret Garden with him and he knows and loves the story and we've since added that into his collection.

The most important thing is to find a good story that appeals to the child.

[hquek]

Non-fiction books are not considered good english books, I do include these when I go to library or when I buy books.


We have a wide variety at home: classics, adventure, boy books.

I used to give him chapter books with very little pictures. After a while he gets very tired of all the reading. So now I try to get some books with more colours and pictures to pique his interest.

You may like to look for Shoo Rayner in the library - he’s written a lot of books: Monster Boy series, Just So Stories. Terry Deary - for fiction books set based very loosely on what happened in the past. All this under JS section in the library.

or try Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl - action packed and extremely lively story. You may like to show him the show before introducing the book to keep him interested.

[hquek]

My son likes to read English books by himself - I think that’s because he’s quite comfy in that language. On the other hand, he hates reading chinese books. So for chinese, I am choosing only fairly easy books and incorporating this as part of bedtime reading. Hoping that in time to come he will be more comfy with the language and therefore able to start picking up chinese books on his own.


My kids are not natural linguists…I know of some kids who are just comfy with both languages. So I feel the need to work harder by ensuring nightly bedtime stories to introduce them to the words and letting them know that I’m not leaving them to sink in the mess of words and ink.

[tamarind]

deminc,

I absolutely agree with you about reading thick books or classics with children. This is an excellent way to develop a love in reading.

In fact, I took the easy way out. I ask my kids to read thick children's classics out loud to me since they were 5 years old It is so relaxing for me to just sit back and listen to them.

Parents buy books like Geronimo, or even Diary of a wimpy kid, and hope to throw these books to their kids to read on their own. The fact is that a child can read hundreds of these books, and his English will not improve.

It is very important to let children read all the masterpieces of children's literature :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/03/importance-of-reading-books.html

[tamarind]

hquek:

My son likes to read English books by himself - I think that's because he's quite comfy in that language. On the other hand, he hates reading chinese books. So for chinese, I am choosing only fairly easy books and incorporating this as part of bedtime reading. Hoping that in time to come he will be more comfy with the language and therefore able to start picking up chinese books on his own.


My kids are not natural linguists...I know of some kids who are just comfy with both languages. So I feel the need to work harder by ensuring nightly bedtime stories to introduce them to the words and letting them know that I'm not leaving them to sink in the mess of words and ink.

Primary schools do not teach enough Chinese words for kids to be able to read independently. If we depend on the MOE Chinese textbooks, a child can read a long Chinese novel independently probably only in P6 or older.

When a primary school kid reads a Chinese book, he probably does not understand more than 50% of the words. He will naturally dislike to read in Chinese.

I have been teaching my P1 girl to read Chinese story books, she reads every word out loud to me. I help her when there is any word that she does not know. I started in December last year, now she is able to read long Chinese novels very fluently. She knows how to read about 95% of the words, and that is sufficient for her to understand.

I think it is important to use effective methods. Asking a child to read out loud is much more effective than reading to him.

[hquek]

tamarind:

I think it is important to use effective methods. Asking a child to read out loud is much more effective than reading to him.

DS1 is in K2 now. he's able to read if it's a book/text from school. But when it comes to new books/stories, he's more hesitant. I agree that it's useful to have the child read out but then I think I want to get rid of his hesitancy and fear of chinese language - thus 2 fold method. I will read some stories to him, and in turn he will read out some stories to me. At times, i will suddenly stop mid-sentence and say '接' - this will ensure that he's keeping up with my reading.

Mine may not be the most correct/efficient way, but I'm just exploring to see which works in HIS case.

[HyperKiasu]

tamarind:

deminc,

I absolutely agree with you about reading thick books or classics with children. This is an excellent way to develop a love in reading.

In fact, I took the easy way out. I ask my kids to read thick children's classics out loud to me since they were 5 years old It is so relaxing for me to just sit back and listen to them.

Parents buy books like Geronimo, or even Diary of a wimpy kid, and hope to throw these books to their kids to read on their own. The fact is that a child can read hundreds of these books, and his English will not improve.

It is very important to let children read all the masterpieces of children's literature :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/03/importance-of-reading-books.html

agree!
tamarind's blog introduces many wonderful classic books.
my son is very interested in those books with beautiful illustrations. e.g: The wonderful wizard of oz, pinochio...etc. I am also captivated by the books myself...

tamarind,
any update in your blog? i m waiting for ur new recommendations...(i m too lazy to search elsewhere...hehe)

[tamarind]

HyperKiasu,

I am happy to know that your son is interested in those books

I will add in more books when I can find the time. Instead of posting a new article, sometimes I just add the books in the following pages :

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/03/picture-books-from-my-home-library.html

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/03/importance-of-reading-books.html