Blogging A to Z: Reading Endurance
Picture trying to run a mile without any practice or training. It’s not a fun experience. It’s the same type of situation for kids who haven’t built up their reading endurance or stamina. They’ll do everything in their power not to read. The feeling of reading isn’t a good one, so they’ll avoid the activity altogether.
So, how do you increase a child’s reading endurance? It’s an easy answer, but can be difficult to put into practice. You get them to read. But, here’s where we need to make changes. Kids can’t magically sit down for 20 minutes and read if they haven’t built up their reading endurance. So, we can’t expect them to do it.
How To Get Started
The first step – start off small. Try reading for 5 minutes at a time. Then move to 10, 15, 20, etc. The goal is to reach 30 minutes, where a child can sit and read without getting distracted or giving up. But, if they’re already reluctant, how in the world do we get them to read for longer periods of time?
This is where you can pull out all the stops. First things first, and I’m going to sound like a broken record, reading choice. Let your kids pick out something that interests them! Check out the Letter C post for the many reasons why reading choice is so important. Visit the local library, bookstore, Amazon, Target, wherever you can to pick out something that excites your reluctant reader.
Then, find a comfy place to sit – it can be in bed, on the sofa, in a hammock in the backyard, wherever your child is comfortable and won’t easily get distracted. And speaking of distractions, if the TV’s on, a parent is helping a sibling with homework, and the dog’s barking, it’s going to be really difficult to focus on reading. Finding a little quiet is also really important as you build reading endurance.
A Few More Tips
I’d also watch out for times when your child can better focus on building reading endurance. If you’re asking your active child to sit down and read for 30 minutes as soon as school ends, it’s not going to end well. You might try reading after sports practice when your child has used up some energy. Maybe reading in the morning before school starts works for your family or maybe have quiet time while dinner is getting finished. Find time in your child’s schedule that makes sense.
And finally, some kids love to achieve goals. Set up a reading goal for the month and make sure your child can track and see their goal every day. Be prepared that you might require to have a prize at the end of the month, but if it gets kids reading, it will be well worth it!
Try these tips for building your child’s reading endurance, which in turn will show kids that reading really can be a fun activity!
For the month of April, I’ll be sharing tips for reaching reluctant readers as part of the Blogging A to Z Challenge. There are dozens of reasons why a child might be considered a “reluctant reader.” As summer nears, continued reading practice helps students to keep the reading skills they learned while reading for fun. But, that’s not easy when a child doesn’t want to sit down and read. I’ll be sharing 26 tips to meet reluctant readers where they are. And hopefully find a way to make reading bearable, if not even something they want to do!
