How To Motivate A Reluctant Reader

How To Motivate A Reluctant Reader

How To Motivate A Reluctant Reader

How do you motivate a reluctant reader to put forth the effort become a better reader?

One way to motivate a reluctant reader is to reward his efforts big and small. Rewards can be very motivating to children as long as the reward is something that interests them. Find ways to reward small efforts like learning a new sound or sight words, and also bigger efforts like reading through an entire book (or several pages) depending on the child's reading proficiency. My son gets a small treat for reading the several pages that I make him read every day, but when he finishes a whole book, he knows he will be rewarded with some toy that he really wants.

You can also capitalize on your child's desires in the opposite way to motivate a reluctant reader. If your child is not responding to rewards as motivation, try using as leverage something he DOES NOT want to happen. You know your child the best, so you will have to base this suggestion on your child.

For example, my son always wants to be where the action is. If he is not cooperating when it is time to read, then I tell him he can either read now or go to his room and come out when he is ready to read. I only use this if I know he is not hungry or tired. Inevitably, if he chooses to go to his room, he will come out three minutes later saying he is ready to read now. My son also always tries to procrastinate when it is time for bed. If he hasn't already read to me that day, he can choose either to read to me and get another bedtime story or to go to bed right away.

We all want our children to be intrinsically motivated to read, and some may be concerned that tying rewards or consequences to reading efforts will cause their children become only externally motivated to read.

Remember that you are not going to be rewarding them for reading forever. You are only rewarding them until they master a difficult skill and then the reward will become less and less necessary. In addition, the reward will cause them to regard reading as a positive and pleasurable experience, which is the basis for the intrinsic motivation to read that will eventually take place within your child.

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