I just read an article on Yahoo that said one in four americans did not read even one book in 2006. This may sound silly, but that freaks me out! The reason it freaks me out so much is that I was reading fluently at age five, and have read too many books to count. My DD is now seven and she struggles with reading. I don't want her to be one of those people that find no joy in reading! What should I do? Every night we spend at least a half hour reading together. She has improved over the summer, but she still dreads our nightly reading. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I tell her we can quit early because I don't want to yell at her. I feel like I'm not helping her enough. She starts second grade on September 4th and I'm afraid she will be behind the other students. Has anyone else gone through this?

My DD is in 3rd grade. Her teachers have always recommended reading for 15 min. 30 minutes is a long time for a child to sit still and focus. Try cutting the time to 15 min and see if that helps. Take her to the bookstore and let her choose a book. I know if my DD doesn't like the book she's reading, it's a nightmare getting her to finish or stay focused.

Fred, thanks for the advice. We go to the library together and she picks out all the books she reads. We used to read for 15 minutes, but she could never finish a book. If we read only half then she never wants to finish it the next night. I guess I will try for less time again. When school starts we only have time for about 15 minutes anyways.

Do you read to her or does she read to you?

Hint --- even at this age, fluency builds faster if YOU read TO her. (Oh, and silly, fun voices help are of course expected when reading to her!)

It's one of the greatest gifts you can give, this gift of literacy.

Pick a book with lots of dialog and have her be responsible for just one character's words at first. You handle the rest and all the narration/exposition, the hardest part to read.

As time passes and she is more secure, let her do more of the characters and gradually build up to reading the whole thing.

And, when she is reading the whole thing, pick books at or slightly below grade level for oral reading.

It is harder to read aloud than silently!!!! -- much!!!
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Be sure to pick books according to her interests, not yours. Just because you loved ________, doesn't mean she will.

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And again, don't expect her to be you. Ok, you were highly fluent early (I can relate, in 1st grade I was reading 4th grade level material) -- but she may never be as fluent as you or love words as much as you.

Don't get trapped into the dated stereotypes that all girls are highly verbal and great readers who love books, horses, pink, etc.

You could very well have a future math wiz on your hands.

It's an odd, but real thing, highly verbal generally means poorer math skills and vice versa. (oh, don't I know -- my math scores? -- well, ever seen a math teacher cry?!)

Don't fret it; she's sensing your dread, your fear, your anxiety and responding in kind. Just as dogs can sense when you're afraid of them, so too children can easily sense our moods and be affected by them.

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Does she like any of the Harry Potter movies?

If so, she's just at the age where the books will make sense to her if they are read to her, not by her.

Oral literacy far outstrips reading literacy. Average toddlers enter kindergarten with hundreds of words they can say, over a thousand they can understand if spoken by someone else to them, and usually less than 100 they can read. We never catch up; oral literacy remains ahead of reading literacy all your life.

Read to her! It's how language is best acquired, by listening to others use it.

Consider, in total immersion foreign language classes the entire emphasis at first is not on reading, or writing or spelling, but on speaking.

So, if she like HP, grab book 1 and lay on Macduff

And if she doesn't like HP, find a book about something she does like and it just might be a book on biology or chemistry or volcanoes, or some other non-stereotypical "girl" topic.

If she never becomes the reader you are, so be it. She does have special talents all her own to be nurtured.

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And on a side note: reading is an "unnatural" activity if you will; we would much rather see or hear (TV/film, music, radio, etc.) Even in education -- SHOW me.

-----31-year veteran teacher (English, speech, communications, theatre, media) signing off.

Is there a subject she's really interested in? One of my brothers wasn't doing great in reading so my mom took him to the store and bought him books, he reads all the time as an adult.

If your daughter doesn't have her own book shelf full of books get her one and fill it, kids take pride in owning them.

How long to read depends on the child I think, if she's getting frustrated she won't enjoy it and even 15 minutes could be too long at first, other kids will read for hours even when they're really young.

Now that you have kids do you read in front of them? Some people don't take time when the kids are awake and they say seeing YOU read for pleasure will help them understand that reading can be fun.

I'm trying to talk my 3rd grader into NOT reading so much.

How about letting her wright her own story. If she struggles with writing, then let her tape her story and you can type it up for her to read back to you. She could also draw for her book. Just one thought, has she been checked for dyslexia? If the letters are jumbled in her brain, then she will not enjoy it until she learns how she can unjumble the letters.

I have never had this problem with my kids. I have 3. My DH and I are both avid readers. I did as Doug said. I read to my kids all the time. My children are 22, 19 and 10. They have all at some point or another read by flashlight so they could read late. They each had their "favorite" books. I always read them in different voices and with a cadence. I never realized that I read them the same each time, until my kids started reading them aloud to me and it could have been me reading. They read it with the voices and cadence just like me. When I was reading the same old favorites to the youngest, the older kids could be doing stuff around the house, they would stop and come for story time...even when they were in high school, because they liked to hear me read their favorite stories. Some of our favorites are...Where the wild things are..... One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish......Caps for sale.....Chicka Chicka boom boom.....Stone soup...

Good luck Leahbell.

I agree with Doug about reading to them. Last year we started the goosebumps books. My son(then felt overwhelmed because they had 26 chapters (110 pages). He would say I can't read that it 's too big, but as he sat beside me while I read, I guarantee if I missed a word he corrected me. Didn't even realize he WAS reading that big book. Now he's reading them on his own.

PS....

and I DO read to my students.

Hardest book I ever read aloud to a class:

Night by Elie Wiesel

I always tell my boys, "If you like to read, you'll never be bored". Luckily, I've always been a lover of reading. I know I inherited it from my dad, who liked to read. My mom is not a reader at all. I used to walk down the street reading a book, and I had to take a train to work, so that was more reading time (Yay!). My older son, who is now 19, didn't like to read, but loved it when I read to him. When he was 3 yrs old I must have read the age appropriate version of "The Rescuers Down Under" to him what seemed like a hundred times. One night, he pulls out the book, sits on Grandma's lap, and starts "reading" the book to her, word for word, with no mistakes. By listening to me, he had memorized it, and he also knew when to turn the page. He even did the accent that one of the characters had. My mother was totally blown away and thought that he could read! He didn't actually know how, but by hearing me read, he was able to learn the story. To make a long story longer, he gradually got more into reading for pleasure, and now likes fantasy science fiction books. Of course, school textbooks are another story! I've been encouraging my younger son, who's nine, to read more. Maybe it will take him longer to enjoy it, like my older son (fingers crossed!)
I agree with the others - read to your daughter, and maybe have her pretend she and her friends are the characters in a book. Don't give up, she may be a late bloomer to the joy of reading. She may wind up with her nose always in the latest bestseller!

Thanks evryone for helping me with this. Yes I do read to my DD and she loves it. That's the easy part. We usually start the night with me reading to her and then she will read a level 1 or a level 2 book to me. The level 1 books are easier, so she doesn't mind reading those. When we go to the library she tries to get all level 1 books. As some of you suggested, I think I will lay off a little. Doug, she is wonderful at math. She started doing math work books when she was two. I can't work out a math problem to save my life.

I read in front of her all the time. Just last week I got the first HP. (I waited to start the series when the last one was out so I wouldn't have to wait to see what happened!) She was excited, and asked if I could read it to her. It took a lot longer reading it out loud, but she loved it. We returned it today and picked up HP and the Chamber of secrets.

I just want to thank you all again. I realize I expect a lot because I love reading so much. Tonight was better because I let her decide when to stop. Wouldn't you know, she didn't complain as much when I wasn't being the 'book nazi'.

My DH doesn't like to read, and I can't imagine a world without books!

When my twin sister and I were little, our mother would read comic books (we picked out) to us.

We always thought it was wonderful when we could buy books through the school's scholastic reading program - and we wore out our library cards.

HTH

Glad things seem to be going a little better now that you are no longer the "book nazi"

Just wanted to add a couple more ideas for your consideration as well...

1) Have you tried reading classics with/to her? We often think children will prefer reading books they selected, or the most popular recent release, but classics (especially in children's literature) have usually endured for good reason --> They are good books and they appeal to many children! Often they are well-written with decent plots and likable characters. I'm thinking of Winnie the Pooh (classic, not Disney), Beatrix Potter, Paddington Bear, Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, Little House on the Prairie, etc.

2) How much exposure does she get to the tv (or even the internet)? Watching tv requires noooo work and is thus MUCH easier to do than read a book. Plus these days the scenes on tv change so remarkably fast (especially during commercials) that it essentially trains a child to have a very short attention span. Taking a child that has been in the loud, fast-paced multimedia world all day and trying to get them to settle down and quietly focus on a book (read by you or by her!) can be really, really difficult. They find it too slow paced and boring (and it is, in comparison with what they are around the other 95% of their day). We have turned off the tv in our house entirely (shut off the cable so we don't even get reception anymore) and it has made a HUGE difference in how much reading ALL of us get done. We also just plain talk a lot more to each other. And the peace and quiet is so calming

JanH, I've never thought of reading comic books with her! I didn't read them as a kid so I don't know much about them. We do have a comic book store close to us, so it would be worth going to see if that would excite her.

Maggie, I have read some of the children's classics to her. She is a big fan of Beatrix Potter. She loves how the characters get themselves into trouble. She also loves Shel Silverstein's books.

I think you're right about tv. I do let her watch a couple of her favorite cartoons everyday. When school starts, she has very little tv time. She is gone for school from 8:30am to 5:30pm. Then we eat dinner, do homework, sometimes watch a family movie or do something together, get ready for bed, and do our nightly reading together.

I hope tonight goes well again. My DD seemed more relaxed last night because I let her have more control over how much she got to read.

I could read at the age of 3 and I am a natural speed reader. One year for Christmas, I got 10 novels and had them all read before New Years.

My husband is also a voracious reader. We own more books than some small town libraries. Once, we cleaned out our bookcases, got rid of over 300 books and STILL had more than some libraries. I am a trained adult literacy instructor.

I taught my kids "If you can read, you can do ANYTHING!"

I detest anything that promotes illiteracy ... cash registers with pictures; text messaging shorthand; business names that intentionally misspell (i.e. "Kiddie Kollege" daycare).

Hubby and I read an article once that children who just OBSERVE their parents reading alot ... not kids who read, not kids who are read to, but kids who just SEE their parents reading a lot ..... will have better reading skills than those who don't.

It bothers me SO much when I walk into a home and dont' see any books or magazines anywhere. That is so sad!

Agree with the advice of "find a subject they are interested in". My oldest daughter (FINALLY!) caught the reading bug in jr. high and her first book she loved was Stephen King's "Carrie". Her Lit teacher hated the book choice but said "As long as it gets her reading!"

And set the example of reading a LOT!!!!!

More ideas from a teacher (and one whose sister didn't like to read-- fortunately Mom had some good ideas)-

Try magazines on topics she likes. Articles are shorter than books, and if you buy several, choose one she likes and subscribe, she will LOVE getting them in the mail addressed to her.

Does your newspaper have a kids' section? That would also have short, high-interest stories.

What my mom did for my sister: Give her book dollars for every book she reads. She can spend them only on more books. (You might need to wait until she's older so they are chapter books and don't cost you too much.) My mom didn't have to do it for long, and my sister loves to read as an adult-- and she's now an attorney.

Glad to see you are trying to help.

More ideas from a teacher (and one whose sister didn't like to read-- fortunately Mom had some good ideas)-

Try magazines on topics she likes. Articles are shorter than books, and if you buy several, choose one she likes and subscribe, she will LOVE getting them in the mail addressed to her.

Does your newspaper have a kids' section? That would also have short, high-interest stories.

What my mom did for my sister: Give her book dollars for every book she reads. She can spend them only on more books. (You might need to wait until she's older so they are chapter books and don't cost you too much.) My mom didn't have to do it for long, and my sister loves to read as an adult-- and she's now an attorney.

Glad to see you are trying to help.

My DH and I are both avid readers and our 7 y-o DD is a great lover of books, also. Our son learned to read at the age of 3, and is now 5 with very little interest in reading. We read to him, which he loves. He really enjoys it if we make a deal, "I'll read this page and you read that page" or in some books (particularly Dr. Seuss) where there are a lot of all caps used, we'll read the regular print and he reads the caps. I think he's overwhelmed by reading a whole book. Our elementary schools also have a program to promote reading. Kids read books, then take a comprehension test on the book, and earn a certain number of points for each book based on comprehension. At the end of the year, they get prizes with their points. This might be something you could implement at home.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

indydebi, I also find it bothersome when I see people who don't care much about reading. I love to read, and grew up with parents who felt the same.

tchrmom, the book dollars sound like a great idea! I think I'll give that a try.

shelbur, I wish my daughter's school had a program like that. This will be the second year her school is in operation, so they really take what the parents have to say in consideration. I will bring this idea up at the next PTO meeting.

leahbell, when my kids were younger, their schools partnered with Pizza Hut. The kids kept a reading log that parents had to sign. They listed each book they read (for larger books, they got credit for so many pages read) and when they got 10 or 15 (or whatever the number was) they got a coupon for a free personal pan pizza. It was a REAL motivator!!

indydebi, that sounds like it would be a great motivator! Although I have one of the only children in the world that can't stand pizza! I wonder if any of the restaurants around here would be interested in something like that? Anything that gets children excited about reading is great!

What Indydebi said reminded me-- Six Flags has a reading program too-- usually for 6 weeks in the Spring that earns a free ticket-- Is there a Six Flags near you?

And someone mentioned Accelerated Reader (AR)-- the read books and take tests for points program. It's good if kids like it, but if there's pressure it turns kids off. If you get to help implement, be sure it isn't used for grades or in a stressful way.

Good luck.

I think that 25% figure is quite appalling but we shouldn't assume that people aren't reading because they don't want to. Granted, many people don't like to read but there are those like myself who just don't have the time. Before I had kids, I would read ALL the time. I read instead of watching TV, etc. I read 600+ novels in 10+ book fantasy series. Now, I haven't finished a book in a few years. I picked up Lord of the Rings about 3 years ago and am still struggling to finish it (2/3 the way through). I just don't have uninterrupted time to read. I can't concentrate on the books when the kids are around and if I try to read after they've gone to bed, I fall asleep.

My eldest is now going into 2nd grade and is a great reader. His 1st grade teacher said he was the best reader in the class and he really can read just about anything. It's hard to get him to sit down and read a book at home though. He does read everything else that he sees though: signs, cereal boxes, what I'm writing on the computer, etc...

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the responses! I just wanted to let everyone know that the last couple of nights have gone very well. I've been reading HP and the Chamber of Secrets to my DD. We're almost done with it and she absolutely loves it. After I read to her, she's been reading her Junie B. Jones books to me. They are beginner chapter books about a little girl. My DD thinks they are really funny. She finished the first one last night. I was very proud of her and I could tell she was pretty darn happy getting through a book without all the tension.

Another thing I wanted to let everyone know was that I went to Big Lots today and found a Charades for kids game on clearance. I've been playing it almost all day with DD. She has to read the cards all by herself. She's been doing great, and kicking my butt!

Try the Magic Tree House series too, it's just a little harder than Junie B.
If she's reading those with help she shouldn't be too far off what she should be, those are considered 2nd and 3rd grade reading I think (they say on the back of the book). If you were an early reader you might have no real idea of what they should be reading. I'm like that, when my oldest was in kindergarten his teacher started sending home rhyming games, I finally asked if he was having problems with that and she looked at me like I was nuts and told me he was the only one in the class who could do them. I was an advanced reader too (not as good as my son though) so that hasn't helped me figure it out.

My son, now 20, was read to at an early age. Some of his favorites were the Shel Silverstien books "Where the Sidewalk ends" and can't recall the other titles - - - they are so cleverly written, very entertaining to read and listen to. Also, going to the library is much cheaper, and more variety in the selection. All in all, everything will work out okay!!!

Thanks everyone for suggesting books! I'll have to check out the Hank the Cowdog books. I've never heard of them.