Motivating My Reader

I know I have mentioned before that teaching Logan to read was so very frustrating…for all parties involved. Now that was some time ago and he reads well now, but he is not a bookworm. Not that he has to be a bookworm, but both Michael and I really want him to have a love for reading and to enjoy it. And when each month this Book It form gets sent home and it is still sitting empty on the 20th of the month, I am beyond frustrated. So without harping constantly, what can I do to get him to read because he has to and read because he enjoys it?



My solution…the book box. 




I used his box from last year and I filled it with some chapter books, some small fun books, some non-fiction, a poetry book and the two magazines he gets each month. This way he has a choice of what to read, but it is not overwhelming for him staring at the tons of books on his shelf and trying to decide what looks good. 


Also, as he reads them, he writes them down and puts them back on his shelf. This way the box gets less full and he can see his progress in more than 1 way. So far this seems to be working. He has read a couple books so far this month and right now he is very into the chapter book he is reading….so much so that he stayed up until he fell asleep with the book on his chest last night. And he wants to take to to school with him to read when he has extra reading time.

The other thing that will make him a successful reader is choosing right fit books. If I make him read books that he is not enjoying he will not love to read. If let him just read easy level 1 or 2 books to get through them, that gives him no sense of self confidence and pride that he has done it. And some of it has to do with personal taste and preference too. If he enjoys the subject matter he is more likely to read more. Just because I think he would like to read about helicopters, doesn't mean he really wants to read about helicopters right now. And it will take him forever to finish a book if he's not into it….but isn't that the same for us? So it may be trial and error and we may change our books, but thats OK.

I am hoping too by showing him how much I love to read and making time to sit down and have family reading time, that will help him develop a love for reading that will last a lifetime.