Learning to read can be overwhelming for young children. There’s a lot to learn: 26 alphabet letter names, 52 upper and lower case letter shapes, ~44 letter sounds, and thousands of words. Reading takes effort and many years of practice before it becomes automatic and effortless. 

So, how do you motivate a reluctant reader? Learning to read is like most other things we learn to do in life. It begins with support and encouragement from others and gradually shifts to self motivation. 

The beauty of learning to read is that reading is a reward in itself. It carries a sense of accomplishment. The thrill of having all of the knowledge in the world, past and present, accessible to you is exciting. 

To help your child experience the thrill and joy of being a reader, we’re sharing three practical strategies with you:

1. How to make reading desirable
2. How to make reading fun
3. How to make reading achievable 

The better your child becomes at reading, the easier it is, the more enjoyable it becomes, and the more confident they become. Just like sports, or dance, or any other activity, reading becomes a circle of achievement. Practice to get better and get better through practice, which leads to more enjoyment of the activity.

When reading is fun and your child sees themselves making progress, it becomes something they want to practice. 

Before you read our suggestions below, we encourage you to ask your child how they feel about reading and what would help them want to read more. Listen and absorb the valuable insights they share with you and use that information to help them navigate their unique path to becoming a strong, confident reader.

Now that you have your child’s input, here are some ideas that have worked for us. 

How to Make Reading Desirable for Your Child

Your child needs to feel that the effort they put into learning to read is worthwhile. Help them see a purpose for reading by talking about why reading is an essential lifelong skill. Show them how you and other adults use reading every day. 

For example, signs help us when we are driving or shopping. We communicate by sending notes and texts to family and friends, We learn about interesting topics and find out how other people live their lives. We read about magical, imaginary worlds that spark our own imagination and creativity. 

Help your child find books that appeal to their interests (dinosaurs, vehicles, animals, construction, growing things, sports, oceans, farms, jungles). Read magazines, picture books, graphic novels, information sheets, audio books, closed captioning, game instructions, comics, and other written material about topics they enjoy. Introduce them to a series of books, so they get to know the characters and want to read more books in the series.

Also, make sure your child knows that it’s okay to abandon a book that doesn’t speak to them.

Make books easily available by leaving them in various locations throughout the house, in the vehicle, and in an easy to carry backpack. Get your child involved in choosing a reading location or helping you design and make a cozy reading corner.

Choose books that will engage your child’s heart and mind and give them books as gifts for special occasions or for no particular reason. Have them help you choose books to give to friends for gifts. This shows them that books are desirable and should be valued and appreciated. 

How to Make Reading Fun for Your Child

Use reading as a bonding time to build a strong relationship with your child. Choose a time when you can avoid distractions and give them your full attention. Use funny voices for reading and suggest silly ideas to change the story or characters.  

Discuss what you are reading. Ask them what they enjoyed about the book or something they learned that they didn’t know before. Find out who they might recommend the book to and why. Encourage your child to discuss the book with family and friends. You could even help them start their own kid book club or invite friends or family to read with them. 

Turn reading into a playful game by having them set a timer and seeing how many pages they can read before it rings. Use positive language, stickers, privileges, and other incentives to encourage them until they develop confidence and self motivation. Telling your child that their hard work is paying off and that you are seeing progress in their reading helps them see that they have control over their own effort. 

How to Make Reading Achievable for Your Child

Find simple, achievable reading tasks that help your child build confidence and enthusiasm. For example, make reading easier by taking turns reading alternating pages. For beginning readers, have them choose a high frequency word such as the or and, then pause whenever you get to that word so they can read it. Encourage them to read familiar parts of the book, words that rhyme, or repetitive text. 

To become a strong reader, your child needs to know letter sounds and the shapes that represent them. Our Alphabites Game Pack has 26 playful games and 32 hilarious tongue twisters that make learning to read a joyful experience. The games use items you already have in your home and it only takes 5 minutes a day to build the skills that quickly lead to reading. 

Choose decodable books that contain words with sounds your child has already learned. Many early readers are too challenging for beginners which makes it exhausting to try to read them. Your child needs to feel the joy of reading success early on. This helps them develop trust in using what they know about the alphabetic code (sounds are represented by letters) to decode words rather than guessing at words.  

Keep reading practice short and always leave them wanting more. For example, when you are reading to your child, stop reading at an exciting part of the story. Leave the book available, and your child may decide to continue reading on their own rather than wait for you.

It takes time for a child to build confidence in their reading ability and choose to read on their own. Every child learns to read at their own pace, so be patient, don’t compare, and focus on what you know about your child to motivate them to keep going even when it’s hard. 

And, if you’re finding that reading is turning into a power struggle, take a break and get someone else to practice reading with them. Plan a reading date with friends - you read with their child and they read with yours. Let other family members become their reading buddy. Have your child read to a favorite toy animal or sibling. Your goal should be to make reading a ‘want to’, not a ‘have to’ experience.

Summary

Learning to read should be a part of everyday life, like learning to dress oneself, eat independently, and contribute to family life. Reading should be playful and fun, like sports, music, and dance. Reading opens a world of possibilities and sparks creativity and imagination. If you make reading desirable, fun, and achievable, your child will learn that the effort they give to reading is worthwhile and rewarding. 

We’d love to hear about your reading journey. Please contact us with your questions or comments. 

Sources

Cameron, J. (2001). Negative effects of reward on intrinsic motivation—A limited phenomenon: Comment on Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (2001). Review of educational research, 71(1), 29-42. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=18b211ae33023b030073426f91ac5eaa5145d7b3 

Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (2000). Reaching reluctant readers. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d9500003-cbb2-4054-829b-9ce6344eee81/content 

Jansen, T., Meyer, J., Wigfield, A., & Möller, J. (2022). Which student and instructional variables are most strongly related to academic motivation in K-12 education? A systematic review of meta-analyses.Psychological Bulletin, 148(1-2), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000354

van Bergen, E., Snowling, M. J., de Zeeuw, E. L., van Beijsterveldt, C. E., Dolan, C. V., & Boomsma, D. I. (2018). Why do children read more? The influence of reading ability on voluntary reading practices. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(11), 1205-1214. https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.12910