Encouraging Children to Read Chapter Books
It's thrilling when our children begin reading on their own and are no longer struggling with every sound or phonogram or phonic blend as they read aloud. Sometimes, a parent will think that now any reading difficulties have been conquered.
However, sometimes, there are other bridges to be crossed before that child is considered an excellent reader. Some children have great difficulty in comprehending what they read; others can read well enough but just don't like to read very much, or they don't want to sit still long enough to read a good book.
I just found a free list of books on the "Institute for Excellence in Writing" website, and I loved the title of the list:
Book List for Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Be Building Forts All Day
Isn't that great? !!!
I don't have any boys, but I do have an "Other Children" who would fall into this category. She began reading at age 4.5, fluently, as in picking up my Bible and reading easily from it (thanks to Spell to Write and Read that we were using with older sister), but it took her literally five years to develop enough "sit still long enough" to be able to begin and finish reading a chapter book, finally due to my insistence.
I looked at the list on the IEW website, and sure enough, some of those book titles are what I specifically used to help her become interested enough in reading an entire chapter book. Her reading comprehension was a couple of years above her age/grade level, but she just preferred picture books for years and years. I never got upset about it, but I prayed a lot and encouraged her.
Finally, I started putting the girls to bed 20 minutes earlier each night (or most nights), but they were allowed to read in bed for those 20 minutes, as long as it was a chapter book, and then they needed to turn off the light. There was something about her reading in bed that made it fun and special, and she loved it!
Anyway, here's the link to the book list. There are some great books listed here. I found that sometimes with this particular daughter, I would read aloud the first chapter, get her hooked into the characters and plot of the book, and then require her to go read a chapter every day or read for 30 minutes, until the book was finished.
We made a big deal out of it when she finished reading her first chapter book, and from then on, it wasn't a problem getting her to read. She reads a lot now! But it did take some prayer and some great adventure stories to get her over the hump.
Here's the link to the free book list:
However, sometimes, there are other bridges to be crossed before that child is considered an excellent reader. Some children have great difficulty in comprehending what they read; others can read well enough but just don't like to read very much, or they don't want to sit still long enough to read a good book.
I just found a free list of books on the "Institute for Excellence in Writing" website, and I loved the title of the list:
Book List for Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Be Building Forts All Day
Isn't that great? !!!
I don't have any boys, but I do have an "Other Children" who would fall into this category. She began reading at age 4.5, fluently, as in picking up my Bible and reading easily from it (thanks to Spell to Write and Read that we were using with older sister), but it took her literally five years to develop enough "sit still long enough" to be able to begin and finish reading a chapter book, finally due to my insistence.
I looked at the list on the IEW website, and sure enough, some of those book titles are what I specifically used to help her become interested enough in reading an entire chapter book. Her reading comprehension was a couple of years above her age/grade level, but she just preferred picture books for years and years. I never got upset about it, but I prayed a lot and encouraged her.
Finally, I started putting the girls to bed 20 minutes earlier each night (or most nights), but they were allowed to read in bed for those 20 minutes, as long as it was a chapter book, and then they needed to turn off the light. There was something about her reading in bed that made it fun and special, and she loved it!
Anyway, here's the link to the book list. There are some great books listed here. I found that sometimes with this particular daughter, I would read aloud the first chapter, get her hooked into the characters and plot of the book, and then require her to go read a chapter every day or read for 30 minutes, until the book was finished.
We made a big deal out of it when she finished reading her first chapter book, and from then on, it wasn't a problem getting her to read. She reads a lot now! But it did take some prayer and some great adventure stories to get her over the hump.
Here's the link to the free book list:
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