Boys & Reading

[Karrie]

My ds in 11 and he's always had problems with reading and writing. However, he has improved greatly over the last year but he just won't read a book. We always used to read at bedtimes when he was younger and he would love it. I love reading and just want him to enjoy it too but he hates it. I don't push it at all. I know he has no confidence with his reading and writing ability even though he has got better. He finished Toe by Toe a few months ago too. Has anyone else had this problem?

[bonar]

I have two boys, and went through the same experience as yourself. the key was to find an author the boys loved, my oldest (he's 22 now) liked adventures and willard price books were best for him , and although not keen once he started I got to the stage where I couldn't keep up with him (eventually he was going through two in a week) he's recently gained a law degree in scotland (lots and lots of reading involved there)

now my youngest is 9 he likes laughing and fooling around , so horrid henry was the key to his problems, he has now progressed, slowly mind and has just started reading harry potter.(recently assessed as having a reading age well above 9) my nephew is 7 doesn't like reading but I have just bought him "captain underpants and the wrath of the wedgie woman" he loves it.

just keep persevering and it will all work out, I do feel that girls have so much more choice though

[Karrie]

Thank you. I bought mine Captain Underpants last year which he read so I bought him another one. He started it but never finished it and hasn't picked up a book since. He can manage Match magazine though :rolleyes: It's as though he gets bored early on and just can't be bothered to stick with it. He has all the Harry Potter books but would rather sit through the films than make the effort to read the book.

[FZwanab]

Could you bribe him with something if he reads x amount of books??? I am trying this at the moment and so far so good. Don't know if it is such a good idea though.

[abbecer]

Why books? Could he not chose a magazine each week that ties in with any of his other interests, ie football? Tell him if he reads it he can have one the following week. This obviously will depend on your budget.

Rebecca x

[Savvy_Sue]

I agree, many boys don't actually enjoy fiction, and many men don't read 'books', but will read a newspaper or magazine. And does it matter if he doesn't read books, as long as he can read what he needs to read?

Getting non-fiction books from the library which match his interests may also work for him.

[Nenen]

Despite both me and dh being avid readers and our home being stuffed to the brim with books :o as a child our oldest son was never interested in reading (much to my dismay at the time). He was reasonably bright and learnt to read steadily but only ever did the bare minimum required by the school, to the point where when they asked parents to sign a diary each week to say that ds had read for a total of 60 minutes over the week he would time his 60 minutes using a stopwatch and stop on the exact second the alarm went, even if he was in the middle of a sentence!:eek: :eek:

We tried all sorts of authors (youngest son went for Alex Rider spy stories in a big way) but nothing really motivated oldest son. We did find that all through primary school he (very stereotypically) much prefered reading non-fiction but even that was fairly erratic and never seemed to give him the great pleasure dh, dd and youngest ds got from books.

I felt a real failure, especially as I'm a teacher myself and pride myself on engendering a love of books in children I teach! :eek:

By the time ds was ten years old, I decided that, as he could read adequately for everything he wanted/needed to do, putting any more pressure on him was only likely to have the opposite effect to what I wanted so I gave up completely and resigned myself to the 'fact' that he would never want to read for pleasure. I consoled myself with the thought that we are all different and just because dh and I love reading doesn't mean ds has to love it too! He did have plenty of other interests and I thought that was that.

Fast forward a few years... Whilst in the 6th form at school, oldest ds suddenly developed an interest in reading history books for pleasure (History wasn't even one of his 'A' level subjects so don't understand why really)! Then we 'caught' him reading a few autobigraphies of people who intetested him and then he gradually started to read the odd fiction book.:j :j

He has just graduated from Nottingham university with a good honours degree (not English though... :rotfl: science) and is never without a book to read... in fact we often swap books! So, the moral of this story is... never lose hope... there's plenty of time for your ds to develop a love of books! :D

[Nenen]

Just another thought... a little boy I taught recently has really taken off with the 'Horrible Histories' and 'Horrible Science' series of books so maybe they'd be worth a try.

[Karrie]

Despite both me and dh being avid readers and our home being stuffed to the brim with books :o as a child our oldest son was never interested in reading (much to my dismay at the time). He was reasonably bright and learnt to read steadily but only ever did the bare minimum required by the school, to the point where when they asked parents to sign a diary each week to say that ds had read for a total of 60 minutes over the week he would time his 60 minutes using a stopwatch and stop on the exact second the alarm went, even if he was in the middle of a sentence!:eek: :eek:

We tried all sorts of authors (youngest son went for Alex Rider spy stories in a big way) but nothing really motivated oldest son. We did find that all through primary school he (very stereotypically) much prefered reading non-fiction but even that was fairly erratic and never seemed to give him the great pleasure dh, dd and youngest ds got from books.

I felt a real failure, especially as I'm a teacher myself and pride myself on engendering a love of books in children I teach! :eek:

By the time ds was ten years old, I decided that, as he could read adequately for everything he wanted/needed to do, putting any more pressure on him was only likely to have the opposite effect to what I wanted so I gave up completely and resigned myself to the 'fact' that he would never want to read for pleasure. I consoled myself with the thought that we are all different and just because dh and I love reading doesn't mean ds has to love it too! He did have plenty of other interests and I thought that was that.

Fast forward a few years... Whilst in the 6th form at school, oldest ds suddenly developed an interest in reading history books for pleasure (History wasn't even one of his 'A' level subjects so don't understand why really)! Then we 'caught' him reading a few autobigraphies of people who intetested him and then he gradually started to read the odd fiction book.:j :j

He has just graduated from Nottingham university with a good honours degree (not English though... :rotfl: science) and is never without a book to read... in fact we often swap books! So, the moral of this story is... never lose hope... there's plenty of time for your ds to develop a love of books! :D

Great story! He's done well. I just needed to know that I wasn't doing anything wrong. It appears it is a boy thing. :rolleyes:

[Karrie]

Thanks everyone :D

He does read Match magazine every week and will tell me which footballer is doing what etc etc. I guess I am worrying about nothing and will just let him go at his own pace.

[ceewash]

keep reading to him. This way he will still have an interest in stories.

[shopndrop]

My son used to love bedtime stories as a young child then lost interest in any novels, but eventually started to like factual books starting with Guinness Book of Records, which I still buy for him every Christmas. He is now 21 and is permanently reading something but still doesn't read any novels. Just let him read what he wants when he wants.

[boo81]

My boyfriend didnt read story books as a child but loved things like facts. He knows an untold amount about sport and history and music as these were his interests. Pick something he is already interested in or maybe a movie he likes and find a similar story in a book.

I used to like things that made me laugh and I was always a bit ahead for my age. I hated serious books though and thats a big reason I dont read much now as an adult, I have gone back and read kids books time and time again I hate anything too heavy.

Roald Dahl was my favorite especially georges marvellous medicine

[LizD]

My younger brother (18 this year), was rarely known to pick up a book for pleasure during school years. Supposedly he had Dyslexia according to his school: in fact he's just lazy and couldn't be bothered with books. He's now reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.

[gentlepurr]

my ds is exactly the same. he is 14, and a bright lad, but just hates reading with a great passion. he does get some pleasure out of factual books though that are for things he is interested in, loves guiness book of records, and manuals for any hobby.

the only book i really saw him enjoy was mark haddon, the curious incident of the dog in the night, bits of factual stuff thrown in,a very off the wall book. dont know if that helps.

xx

[Karrie]

I got a shock last night. I went for my run and when I walked back into the living room my son was on the settee reading a book!!! :D:eek::T
I said to him "Have you seen my son anywhere?" He just gave me THE look. I said "You can't be my son, you're reading a book."

He read it for hours. And when I went to bed to read mine he joined me!! I am so gobsmacked.

I didn't make a big thing of it. Let's hope it carries on.

[Nenen]

I said to him "Have you seen my son anywhere?" He just gave me THE look. I said "You can't be my son, you're reading a book."


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
That line made me laugh so much I spat tea all over my keyboard! :eek:

I'm dying to know... what was the book he was so engrossed in?

[Karrie]

:D

It is the first Harry Potter book. I've bought them all for him in the hope that he will read them and FINALLY he is!! :D He was reading in bed last night. Miracles do happen.

Hope your keyboard didn't get too wet.

[Nenen]

Strangely enough it was the first Harry Potter book that got my youngest son hooked on reading when it first came out! :T

Once my ds had realised he could read a huge book like that (and enjoy it immensely) all by himself there was no stopping him! Mind you, as he read them as they came out, there were natural breaks in between which encouraged him to try other authors too. You might find (following experience of children I teach) that your ds will read the first one or two and then need a 'Potter break' or he'll be all Pottered out! :D In between you might want to try some Alex Ryder or Philip Pullman. For shorter stories my youngest ds really enjoyed Lemony Snickett too. Obviously, if he is keen to read HP books one after the other from 1-7 then encourage him to go for it!

I was talking to my headteacher recently about the hype surrounding the lastest HP book release (queues outside bookshops at midnight etc) ... saying whatever the critics might or might not say about J.K. Rowlings writing style it is just wonderful to see so many children (and adults) turned on to reading. He told me on a recent air trip almost everyone on the plane had a copy!:T :T :T

[Kimitatsu]

I just needed to know that I wasn't doing anything wrong. It appears it is a boy thing. :rolleyes:

No you are not it is definitely a boy thing! DS1 is currently engrossed in HP but he has always been known to read anything, DS2 however is a different matter. He is 8 and has a really high reading age but would not read a book so I can appreciate your frustration.

Gradually though he is starting to pick up different things having read every horrid henry book and Captain Underpants book he is now reading all the Tracy Beaker books. It takes them a while to get out of books with pictures I have realised! I was worried until my sons teacher told me that all she ever got her son to read was the latest magazine and the sports pages but he is now at University so I stopped stressing :rolleyes:

I loved THE look! I think we all know which one that is!!!!!:rotfl: :rotfl:

[DKLS]

I wouldnt worry too much, I was similar, Hated novels with a passion, but read magazines & Non-Fiction avidly, Although I did pass my English Lit GCSE, thank heavens for study guides.

Even now, if a novel hasnt grabbed me by the first chapter its put down and never picked up.

[Savvy_Sue]

DS3 is still not really a reader, but he started to catch the bug when we were on holiday in France one year. He was horrified to find that the TV was broadcasting in French rather than English! And there was NOTHING else to do in the gite (well there was but he didn't want to do any of it) so when the rest of us settled down with our books he had to go and pinch one from his brothers! Fortunately they never went anywhere without a stack of books!

I am sure he would read again now if it wasn't for the TV, his CD player, and the computer.