Encouraging a 10 year old to read

[Guest]

My 10y.o daughter hates reading....I literally have to threaten her with no gadget time etc to get her to read even the smallest amount of pages of a magazine.

It's so frustrating.

[Nichola]

Is there an underlying issue. My daughter has dyslexia and Irlens and finds it hard to read so avoids it and wouldn't read for pleasure plus it's tiring and uses up much more energy due to needing more concentration than someone without her conditions. X

[Nicola]

My son absolutely hated reading so we used to take it in turns to read a page, at bed time

[Kirstie]

Have you tried reading on an iPad/tablet? It’s not ideal but a lot of kids now just prefer everything on a screen and it may get her interested enough to read books.

Also maybe try letting her watch a film that’s based on a book and then read the book and ask her questions etc

[Mary]

I think punishing children for not reading has a negative effect on them. I'd say reading gains her extra time on gadgets rather than losing them. X

[Kate]

Why don’t you turn things around and let her decide how she uses her time, but with limits set. Maybe she could do some reading online together with you, or research and read about a project that interests her?

It’s worth speaking with school too and ensure that she has books to read that inspire her. Good luck!!

[Lyndsey]

Buy her a factual book about something that interests her or a magazine. My daughter loves dogs so we bought her a dog encyclopaedia. She read it cover to cover and it really triggered her love of reading x

[Harriet]

Tell her your give her £1 for every book she reads... it got my 10 year to read 4 books during half term for £1.50 a book, which she's then spent on buying a new book

[Belinda]

Have you tried having a silent conversation with her? You write notes to each other. I can’t understand why, but children often seem to love it. This was no less true for children with dyslexia and other barriers.

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