# Do the children in your life like to read?



## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

It's a very interesting question I'm asking here this evening. I have a second cousin who despises reading; he would much rather play video games. His little brother, now 6 years old, read a kiddie book to me a few weeks ago without prompting; he idolizes his older brother and never read before going into kindergarten. Now he says he loves reading.

My nephew is a good reader, but he also does the video game thing.

So I ask the question again: Do the children in your life like to read? And if not, does it frustrate you to no end like it does me?


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## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

Given the choice, no, my three boys would take video games over reading any day. Two of the three avoid reading as a general rule. The third one will read from time to time but it really needs to engage him. Finding good boy books (middle grade) can be difficult. That said, they devoured Captain Underpants. So I guess it depends on whether it really grabs their interest. We set up the option to have ten extra minutes of video game time each day if they read for ten minutes. I interview them after they read to make sure they're comprehending, as well as actually reading.  Sometimes they choose to read, sometimes they don't.

I heard the How To Train Your Dragon series is quite good so I'm going to give that a shot.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

my 2 read lots, the also play video games. they will tell you that video games cant go to bed. they have seen the parents go every night to bed and read before lights out and they do the same. gaming sometimes takes too much of the time in my opinion but reading swings around again. the only thing my 2 fight over is who gets to read the new book first. 5 years apart and similar reading levels  don't know if I am lucky but family reading aloud time and modeling behavior helps.
Sylvia


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

My two daughters (grown) have always loved to read (and are Kindle owners), but I teach reading and see many kids now who would rather be entertained than put forth the effort required by the reading process. (Of course, if they were to read more, the amount of effort required would diminish.)  When I ask parents to read with and to their children, as well as to model reading for enjoyment and information, I seldom see any follow through with promises that they may have made. To any of you who have influence over kids, I hope that your love of reading will be noted by the kids in your lives.


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## dpinmd (Dec 30, 2009)

My oldest (11) loves to read.  We have pretty strict limits on video games -- I'm sure that if he had the choice between reading or playing Wii, he'd choose Wii, but since he only has limited access to the Wii, he spends a lot of his free time reading.  He hasn't always loved reading, but it seemed to "click" when we found books that really interested him -- for him it was the "Bionicle" series, which I think is total drivel, but hey, it got him reading!  He still loves those books, but now I make him alternate between them and books that I consider higher quality!

My middle child (7) is becoming more and more of a reader each day.  He still isn't as voracious a reader as his brother is, but I'm sure he'll get there as his reading skills improve.  He also loves to be read to, which I think is a great "gateway" into the love of reading (as well as just a nice way to spend time together).

My youngest (3) doesn't read yet, but I'm hoping she'll turn out to be another bookworm.  She also loves to be read to, so I think we're on the right track!


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## CaroleC (Apr 19, 2010)

I am 61 years old and retired, and have no grandchildren (yet?) so there really are no children in my life right now. 

BUT - - I just wanted to post and mention that personally I love certain video games and play them myself. I play "Animal Crossing" on the Wii about 10 hours a week, I suppose. I read a lot on my Kindle too, and I watch TV a reasonable amount and I don't think that any of these three activities interferes with the other two. 

My point is that if the child does not like reading, maybe something else is responsible, not just the video games. Maybe he doesn't have any books that appeal to him. (?)  I don't know, just a thought. When I was a kid, my godfather gave me a gift certificate to the bookstore every year for Christmas. I still remember that it was for $5, and in those days that meant 5 Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books to me. My parents did not care for those series but allowed me to buy them anyway. I think that those stupid series may be responsible for my development into a reader because they were books that I wanted to read.


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## dpinmd (Dec 30, 2009)

Cindy416 said:


> My two daughters (grown) have always loved to read (and are Kindle owners), but I teach reading and see many kids now who would rather be entertained than put forth the effort required by the reading process. (Of course, if they were to read more, the amount of effort required would diminish.) When I ask parents to read with and to their children, as well as to model reading for enjoyment and information, I seldom see any follow through with promises that they may have made. To any of you who have influence over kids, I hope that your love of reading will be noted by the kids in your lives.


Cindy, I think that you and I must have been posting at the same time. What age kids do you teach? That's too bad that you don't see much follow-through from their parents.

I see "love of reading" as a wonderful gift that I can give my children, so I do a lot of reading to them as well as showing them how much enjoyment I get from reading.


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## planet_janet (Feb 23, 2010)

My younger child is too little to read on her own, but she loves being read to and looking at books.  My 6 y old is an avid reader who started reading chapter books about 6 months ago (Junie B. Jones and the Pixie Hollow books are her favorites), which thrills me beyond belief!  I have been an avid reader since I was a child and I adore books, so I am really enjoying watching my children develop a love of books!  

*edited to fix a typo


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

I suspect that more kids would read if they saw it modeled by their parents and/or if their parents read to them and/or if they had access to sufficient books that really interested them.

When DD and I are at the playground, I usually have my Kindle along, and often she'll take a break and ask me to read something to her (because she doesn't bring her own books to the playground, and I won't hand over my Kindle).  Whenever I do that, within five minutes we're surrounded by other kids (whom we don't know), all listening to the story.  Makes me think they don't have anyone reading to them regularly.


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

My DD (11) reads all the time and got her own Kindle last year. She reads all the books I get for her and gets even more from the library at school to bring home. She has to get ready for bed an hour before lights out and then reads till she falls asleep. I often have to go turn out her lights and put her books away for her. She goes through about a book a week. My son (2) loves it when I read to him. We get books all the time and read them together. His sister even bring home books from the library for her to read to him! 
I have always been a reader and so is my huband. He plays video games in his down time at home, but reads when he is on the ship (he's Navy). I love that we can all enjoy our books!


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

dpinmd said:


> Cindy, I think that you and I must have been posting at the same time. What age kids do you teach? That's too bad that you don't see much follow-through from their parents.
> 
> I see "love of reading" as a wonderful gift that I can give my children, so I do a lot of reading to them as well as showing them how much enjoyment I get from reading.


I work with kindergarten through 6th grade. I agree about the gift of the love of reading. It's a passion of mine, and I am able to pass that along to quite a few of my students, but the ones who don't receive encouragement outside of school and who don't like to read concern me a great deal. I've taught reading for 30 years now, and have seen a big change in attitude among kids and their parents. (I get along well with my students and their parents, but it's still very difficult to convince some of them to place a high priority on reading. I'm even teaching children of my former students (as well as a couple of grandchildren of students....yikes!), and I know how my former students liked to read. Unfortunately, many have given up the habit. I think they've let the hectic pace of raising children and working get the best of them. I never give up, and I'll be giving my pro-reading pep talk many more times in the next few years.

As for video games, CaroleC, I, too, love them. I'll still never give up my passion for reading, though, as you probably won't, either. (I love to cook and love nearly all things technological, so I really have to work hard to fit them all into my schedule. )


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## imon32red (Jun 15, 2009)

Interesting question.  I started devouring books in Kindergarten.  I remember having read the entire Hardy Boys books in second or third grade (about 50 books) along with many others.  My oldest is ten and has read very little.  The last couple of years he has read about 10 books which is quite an improvement.  I found that he reads if he finds something that interests him like Eragon, Avatar etc.  Yesterday we passed a library on our way home so of course I stopped.  Strangely his eyes lit up like mine always do upon visiting a library.  He found a book which he is currently reading. 

My six year old is autistic and cannot read.  She has an excellent memory and has probably a hundred books or more memorized or close to it.  She turns the pages in these books and quotes the words perfectly as she does so.  She loves picture books especially the coffee table type.  She is also extremely hard on books, so we often spend Saturday mornings looking for books for her to devour at yard sales.

My other two children are 4 and 1.  They both love having books read to them and will be readers more likely than not.  The strange thing is that my wife rarely reads.  We have been married over ten years and she has read less than a dozen books during that time.  I can read that in two months or less.  My wife doesn't play videogames either.


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

My 15 year old daughter loves reading almost as much as I do. Her appetite for books is voracious. She likes the standard tween stuff, but she also enjoys King and Max Brooks.


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## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

I was the only one in my house who ever read books regularly so I'm not sure how it happened.  I still remember my first trip to the library and also how happy I was when I realised I could read my favourite book all by myself so I must have had some kind of fascination with books.  Anyway, not the point.

I have four children who can't read yet.  The older two love being read to but the twins aren't too interested yet.  Although they will sit next to me while I'm reading and "pretend" to read one of my books.  My eldest loves games and sports and lego and toys but he will ask me on a daily basis to read him a story.  I love that because I think he will be a reader himself.  He may even be a writer because we make up little stories together.  He loves to use his imagination.  Their Daddy doesn't read and doesn't really get why I love to buy books for the kids but I'm hoping that they too will get as much enjoyment out of books as I did when I was a child.


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

My youngest (9) loves to read , but my teen only reads books she needs to get through for school.


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## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

My 14 yo loves to read.  His preferred genres are adult non-fiction, current events, biographies--he has no patience for the "silly" (his word) books typically aimed at young teens.  He usually has at least two books in progress at once.  My 11-yo . . . not so much.  He's a very proficient reader, but he just doesn't enjoy doing it for pleasure.  He might pick up a newspaper or magazine now and then, or spend an afternoon reading Wikipedia articles about subjects he's interested in.  But he's just not into reading books.

Both boys love video games.  So I'm not sure the correlation between liking video games and not liking reading books holds true.  I love to read, but I don't do crafts.  It would be erroneous to say I don't do crafts because of the time I spend reading.  I likely wouldn't do crafts if there was nothing else on earth to do, because I just don't enjoy that type of thing.


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## egh34 (Jan 11, 2009)

I come from a long line of readers, parents, grandparents, etc. however my children don't seem to think so. My husband is a non-reader, and I totally blame him! My 16 yr old son will read if 1. he has an amazing book. 2. he is not on his computer 3. not on his phone with his girlfriend 4. nothing is on tv 5. not too tired from weight training/football practice. My 18 yr old daughter will read if she isn't too busy, and she has a very active social life.

I pretty much read all the time, and my husband watches t.v. Hopefully the reading genes will take over in my children soon.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

2/3 of my Teens LOVE to read. The 3rd, only reads what hits his interests. but he works almost full time, goes to school full time, walks his boss's dog nightly, and is in training for a triathalon (someday~no specific one in mind.)


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

My three children, ages 24, 23, and 14, all love to read, which pleases me to no end.  We read to them all as children, long after they were able to read for themselves, and they saw me read for pleasure.  The house was full of books.  Other than that, we didn't do anything special.  

My middle child was extremely premature and had a serious brain hemorrhage at birth.  She has some significant residual learning disabilities, but is doing well now--married with a small child and finishing up pastry chef school.  I think her love of reading was the primary reason she was able to continue her education.  And now she reads to her son.  

One of my favorite memories was in 2004, during the rash of hurricanes that hit Florida.  We're very far inland, so were in no real danger unless a tree fell on our house.  The girls' bedrooms were smack-dab under a huge live oak, so we put them on the hide-a-bed in the living room for the night.  My husband and I were sitting on the screened porch, watching the storm.  He was playing the guitar and we were singing.  The electricity went out.  I turned to look through the window at the girls, and they had both whipped out a flashlight so that they could keep reading.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Good question, John, and some interesting responses.  We have five grandkids; the three girls in one family are all readers, though the oldest one (in college now) spends more time on Facebook these days than reading, I think.  The middle one is never without a book.  I think she would love an eReader.  The two boys in the other family are not avid readers, though the oldest one loved the Percy Jackson series I started him on several years ago, enough to write the author to see if more books were coming out, and the younger one does read for pleasure a little.  Their parents are not avid readers.

Reading was a big deal in my house growing up, trips to the library and the used bookstore were treats.  My parents were both the children of immigrants and education and knowledge were highly treasured.  My brother and I are neither ever without a book (or a Kindle).

Betsy


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## austenfiend (Nov 17, 2009)

My 13-year-old son has learning disabilities and has struggled with reading his whole life.  He's always loved being read to, but I feared that he would never want to read for himself because of the difficulties he's always had.  Well, this year he's really come into his own and made great strides in his reading.  We've also found a series of books that he LOVES - Cirque du Freak (12 books in the series, thank goodness!).

I was sitting on the couch reading the other evening and he brought his book in and sat with me and said, "Mom, we need to have our own reading club and sit together and read."  I almost cried it made me so happy!


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I grew up in a family of readers and passed that down to my children. Both my son and daughter love to read and they seem to be passing that down to their children. My 2 stepdaughters also read and read to their children. I have 9 grandchildren and 8 of them boys. They range from 18 to 18 months. The 18 year old love music and is dyslectic and it is hard to get him to read, but audio books have been great for him. Once he hears it, he will read it. He did tackle all of the Harry Potter books, but my daughter started reading the series to all of her boys when they first came out. Here 14 year old likes to read, but he is more into sports and video games. The 11 year old loves to read. He always has a book and I'm still thinking about getting him a Kindle.

The younger children which starts at 7 years old to 18 months love to be read to, but only one of them so far seems to be a reader. We will just have to wait and see if any of them pick up the love of reading.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

Pawz4me said:


> Both boys love video games. So I'm not sure the correlation between liking video games and not liking reading books holds true. I love to read, but I don't do crafts. It would be erroneous to say I don't do crafts because of the time I spend reading. I likely wouldn't do crafts if there was nothing else on earth to do, because I just don't enjoy that type of thing.


Oh yeah, I don't believe that stereotype holds true at all. I love playing video games (both by myself and with my friends), but I also love to read and write, and go hiking outside and experience nature. It's not one or the other in my opinion.  In fact, I find video games can be pretty inspiring. Some of them have amazing stories and characters that make me think about writing in new ways.

I don't have any kids in my life right now, but my last job before I went back to school was working at a daycare as a toddler teacher and those kids loooved to be read to. If they had it their way, I would be sitting with all 5 of them in my lap at once, reading the same 5 stories over and over. I can still recite most of them by heart.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I have two GK's, a boy, 11 (almost 12) and a girl, 6.  They both love to read.  

It took a while for the boy to love reading, but I kept buying him books until he found something he really loved.  That was the Jack Sparrow as a teen series.  Since then, he devours books as if they were McD's fries.  He gets in trouble at school for reading when he's supposed to be listening.  

The little one is just beginning to read and she loves it.  She gets a little lazy sometimes and wants to be read to, but I think she's going to be just as addicted as the rest of us.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I have four kids.  Two of them have aspergers syndrome, and one with ADHD, and reading is hard for them.  Not surprisingly, they don't like to read.  The youngest, in kindergarten, is excelling in reading, and she loves it.

It's very difficult to teach kids to love to read when they struggle with it.  I did read to them when they were young, and they really enjoyed that.  But picking up a book and reading on their own... well not so much.  My middle school aged child with ADHD will read more than the two with aspergers syndrome.

It's sad because I absolutely love to read, but I can't get them to like it.  But I understand, if it were a struggle for me to read I might not do it so much.

Vicki


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## Laurie (Jan 9, 2009)

John Fitch V said:


> It's a very interesting question I'm asking here this evening. I have a second cousin who despises reading; he would much rather play video games. His little brother, now 6 years old, read a kiddie book to me a few weeks ago without prompting; he idolizes his older brother and never read before going into kindergarten. Now he says he loves reading.
> 
> My nephew is a good reader, but he also does the video game thing.
> 
> So I ask the question again: Do the children in your life like to read? And if not, does it frustrate you to no end like it does me?


My two oldest kids (now 25 and 26) always loved reading. When they were little we read together every night, and we spent more time in book stores than in toy stores. My youngest child (now 19) never enjoyed it too much - but I think it was because she's far too active to stay still long enough. That's never changed. It's never frustrated me because she wasn't much into t.v. or video games either. She all but lived on a bicycle from the time she was 3. She even got her license much later than normal because she preferred biking instead. She finally got her license only after there was an issue getting her motorcycle license at 17 and not having a regular license first. She doesn't bike too much anymore, she's too busy snowboarding, bowling, swimming, etc.... - so the lack of reading doesn't bother me.


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

My biological child doesn't really like to read, but he's curious and loves educational TV. On the other hand, my two stepsons both read. One likes only nonfiction, and the other is my biggest fan. He loves all my novels and once called me at one in the morning because he had just finished The Sex Club and wanted to talk about it. 

When my kids were young, I used to turn over discarded versions of my manuscripts and put them in a recycle box for scratch paper. I later learned my oldest son was reading my unpublished novels instead of doing his math homework. So he's my longest-standing fan.  
L.J.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

> When my kids were young, I used to turn over discarded versions of my manuscripts and put them in a recycle box for scratch paper. I later learned my oldest son was reading my unpublished novels instead of doing his math homework. So he's my longest-standing fan.


Oh I love it! What a great story.

I'd much rather read your unpublished novels than do math too.



Vicki


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Victorine said:


> I have four kids. Two of them have aspergers syndrome, and one with ADHD, and reading is hard for them. Not surprisingly, they don't like to read. The youngest, in kindergarten, is excelling in reading, and she loves it.
> 
> It's very difficult to teach kids to love to read when they struggle with it. I did read to them when they were young, and they really enjoyed that. But picking up a book and reading on their own... well not so much. My middle school aged child with ADHD will read more than the two with aspergers syndrome.
> 
> ...


Wow, Vicki, you have your hands full. Asperger's Syndrome is enough to make it difficult for kids to like to read, as is ADHD. Glad to hear that your daughter is loving to read, though. As a teacher who works with children for whom reading is difficult, I can attest to the fact that it makes loving to read an uphill battle. Over the years, however, I've had lots of students with less severe problems than Asperger's and ADHD who have learned to love to read. I think learning to cope with Asperger's and ADHD require enough energy and thought that those children have to put their focus where it is most needed, and that isn't always reading. Good luck and best wishes with your children.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

I don't know any children, but most of the adults I know don't read.  They prefer to watch TV or play video games.  They refuse to even read short stories.  I sometimes try to recommend great books to them, and they refuse to read fiction as if on principle.  If it were only their loss, I could shrug it off, but I worry about this attitude, which seems more common every year.  If enough people stop reading, we'll see many authors go out of work.  Literature is important for our society--its our artistic legacy for future generations--but it can thrive only in societies where books are loved, not neglected.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Amen, Dan.

L.J., I think that's fantastic!

The second cousin I mentioned has Asperger's. The only books he reads are sports biographies, really, and anything forced on him by school. Although when I was writing the third Obloeron prequel last summer, he was looking over my shoulder and seemed to like what he was reading. And I made him the main protagonist in a novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo, so I'm hoping him being a character in a book will trigger an appreciation for the written word.


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## pearledgar (Dec 27, 2009)

My 9 year old daughter is an avid reader and my 7 year old son is finding his way (not in love with reading...yet...but loves his books)!  As a matter of fact we just got home from a book signing by Johnathan Rand the author of American Chillers and Michigan Chillers (and much more  SO COOL!


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Were they star-struck?


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## pearledgar (Dec 27, 2009)

John Fitch V said:


> Were they star-struck?


Completely I have to admit...so was I


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Some of my friends can't believe I've published my own stuff. They think it's cool, too.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

> Wow, Vicki, you have your hands full. Asperger's Syndrome is enough to make it difficult for kids to like to read, as is ADHD. Glad to hear that your daughter is loving to read, though. As a teacher who works with children for whom reading is difficult, I can attest to the fact that it makes loving to read an uphill battle. Over the years, however, I've had lots of students with less severe problems than Asperger's and ADHD who have learned to love to read. I think learning to cope with Asperger's and ADHD require enough energy and thought that those children have to put their focus where it is most needed, and that isn't always reading. Good luck and best wishes with your children.


Thanks Cindy! My oldest with Asperger's is 14 and he is the neatest kid. So nice and very helpful with the younger kids. And I agree totally with you, learning to cope with the Asperger's does require a lot of energy. He's old enough to know that twirling his favorite object while walking in circles isn't socially accepted... so he does it only at home. My other one with Asperger's Syndrome is only in 2nd grade, so he isn't aware of what is accepted or not yet. He's a hoot though. He collects 'sequins'... teeny tiny sparkly things smaller than I can hardly see. Later on I realized he was picking up GLITTER pieces from the carpet at school. LOL!

Vicki


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## vsch (Mar 5, 2009)

My parents loved to read, my inlaws did not. I'm the reader in the house. 

My oldest (age 25, a girl) can't read enough books and is at present in a  PhD program after finishing a double masters last year. My middle child ( age 19, a boy) will read for school only but is doing very well in college, and my youngest (age 15, a girl who hated to be read to as a young child) doesnt even like to read for school.  She reads as little as possible.


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

I have another bittersweet story. That same young boy who read my novels, later also swiped my disks for his own use. I didn't know it until my hard drive caught fire and I lost every file I had, including a 90,000-word novel. I thought I had a backup on a disk, but no, those were gone too. Fortunately, I had a printed version. I'm not a fast typist, so I paid a transcriptionist to retype my printed manuscript into a Word file. When she finished, she told me she hadn't read a book since high school, but she loved my story so much, she decided to start reading again. It took some of the sting out of the whole painful episode. That novel, by the way, will finally be published next year as The Baby Thief. 
L.J.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

> When she finished, she told me she hadn't read a book since high school, but she loved my story so much, she decided to start reading again.


I'm sure that made your day!

I had someone tell me they don't read but read a little of my book... bought it... and really liked it. Always is nice when someone likes what you write, especially when they don't read much. You know it was enjoyable then!

I really hope my daughter grows up to love books. At only six, she's got a good start! 

Vicki


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## sheltiemom (Dec 28, 2008)

I have 2 grown boys.  The 26 year old has ADHD and loves to read.  I am currently reading The Hunger Games based on his recommendation.  He discussed getting a Kindle, but he should probably get a DX or an iPad because of the pdf files he has to read for the grad classes he is taking.  On the other hand, the 24 year old does not like to read.  He did well in college, but I think he regarded the grades as a contest and he loves to play games.  Both boys love video games.  Since I have been a single parent for 20 years, it amazes me how one loves to read and one dislikes it a lot.


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

austenfiend said:


> My 13-year-old son has learning disabilities and has struggled with reading his whole life. He's always loved being read to, but I feared that he would never want to read for himself because of the difficulties he's always had. Well, this year he's really come into his own and made great strides in his reading. We've also found a series of books that he LOVES - Cirque du Freak (12 books in the series, thank goodness!).
> 
> I was sitting on the couch reading the other evening and he brought his book in and sat with me and said, "Mom, we need to have our own reading club and sit together and read." I almost cried it made me so happy!


Reading that almost made me cry. That's so wonderful!


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

My son loved to be read to until he learned to read, and then chewed through books mercilessly until puberty hit...then it just wasn't "cool." Where he read a book a week  (we're talking long adult books) before, he meandered through one in about a month...until he was 17 or 18, and didn't care if it was cool or not. Now he reads when he can, usually has a book going, and loves his Kindle.

Some people are readers, some aren't, and some are just taking an extended break. I want to poke nonreaders with a stick, but I'm sure they think I'm just as annoying with my inability to play a video game or compile data stacks.

Fine, honestly, I just want to poke people in general with a stick....


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

*Hands Thumper a 2x4*


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## planet_janet (Feb 23, 2010)

Thumper said:


> I want to poke nonreaders with a stick


This made me LOL! My husband isn't a reader (I should say he doesn't read for pleasure very often--he's had the same book sitting on his nightstand since December), and I just can't understand it. I mean, how can one not like to read?!


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## Rye (Nov 18, 2008)

I have a 4 year old daughter and 1 year old son and they love books. My son loves his little Blue, Backyardigan, Dora picture books. My daughter loves going to the bookstore to pick out a new book. She's starting a new thing where she's hoarding newspapers and looking at them because I like to read them. She's just starting to spell and have no doubt that she's going to be a big reader. My wife and I take time out to read to them and look at books. We want them to like to read and have thought about starting a 1 hour "book time" where everything gets turned off and we all read for an hour.


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## Casse (Oct 16, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> I suspect that more kids would read if they saw it modeled by their parents and/or if their parents read to them and/or if they had access to sufficient books that really interested them.
> 
> When DD and I are at the playground, I usually have my Kindle along, and often she'll take a break and ask me to read something to her (because she doesn't bring her own books to the playground, and I won't hand over my Kindle). Whenever I do that, within five minutes we're surrounded by other kids (whom we don't know), all listening to the story. Makes me think they don't have anyone reading to them regularly.


Why I disagree.... Both of my parents are readers - many hours of my childhood spent in our living room all three of us with our nose in a book . Then my DS came along and he struggles with reading and IMO due to a horrible teacher believed for awhile that he couldn't learn to read - reason I HATE the word tenure and teacher in the same sentence... Anyways... at 16 he now reads at grade level but reading is definitely not something he would choose to do as a recreational activity. Both of us from "reading homes" but only one of us loves to read


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I agree, when a child struggles with reading it really can turn them "off" to reading.  (Hurray for the success stories of children with disabilities who love to read and learn to overcome them!  That is wonderful!)

Then there are people I know who read just fine but don't like to.  (Huh?)  That confuses me.  There are sooo many different styles and types of books, there's got to be something they would like if they tried.

*Scratches head*

Maybe I'll borrow your stick Thumper.  *poke poke*

LOL

Vicki


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## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

Casse said:


> Why I disagree.... Both of my parents are readers - many hours of my childhood spent in our living room all three of us with our nose in a book . Then my DS came along and he struggles with reading and IMO due to a horrible teacher believed for awhile that he couldn't learn to read - reason I HATE the word tenure and teacher in the same sentence... Anyways... at 16 he now reads at grade level but reading is definitely not something he would choose to do as a recreational activity. Both of us from "reading homes" but only one of us loves to read


I agree that there are no guarantees no matter what the parents do. I remember being punished for reading too much. As much as I was terrified, it still didn't stop me. If you really love or hate something, it can take a lot change your mind.


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

My boys (now 27 and 24) have always loved reading, just like their parents. (I always had a book hiding inside my school books, and can still be found reading while waiting in line, stirring a pot on the stove, etc.) I used to joke with the reading teacher at school - "I appreciate your mission in life, but how do you get them to STOP reading when they're supposed to be doing something else?"

They both still read a lot. I taught them well.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

My 2.5 year-old cousin is being encouraged to read and I hope it catches on. She at least chooses books sometimes now, over watching something on TV. (Although she hasn't discovered video games yet! That's going to be the challenge.)

I was the reader in the family too, and feel some pressure to pass it on to the next generation.  I don't mind though. I tend to be the cousin/aunt who gives books instead of toys.


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## RhondaRN (Dec 27, 2009)

I have 2 daughters, now aged 20 and 24.  They were always read to when small by me and their daddy, and both grandmothers and were given books always. My youngest always saw me reading, with nursing books up to my neck until she was 4, the oldest just saw me running around trying to learn to be a mother with little reading for myself at that time.  They began to read when in school and always read well beyond their reading level for grade they were in.  They both loved and still do love reading very much.  I love to read, so do most of the people in my family except for my husband, so I guess they come by it naturally.  I also believe, it helped them so much in school as both did very well, with my youngest graduating valedictorian.  So yes, both my children love to read and can consume a book in no time.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Victorine said:


> Thanks Cindy! My oldest with Asperger's is 14 and he is the neatest kid. So nice and very helpful with the younger kids. And I agree totally with you, learning to cope with the Asperger's does require a lot of energy. He's old enough to know that twirling his favorite object while walking in circles isn't socially accepted... so he does it only at home. My other one with Asperger's Syndrome is only in 2nd grade, so he isn't aware of what is accepted or not yet. He's a hoot though. He collects 'sequins'... teeny tiny sparkly things smaller than I can hardly see. Later on I realized he was picking up GLITTER pieces from the carpet at school. LOL!
> 
> Vicki


Sounds like your boys are great kids. I need your 2nd grader here. My daughter was married last JUNE, and I'm still picking up glitter from my sparkly dress! Every once in awhile something will catch my eye, and it's another piece of glitter from 10 months ago! Your son would love it! ;-)


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## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

Reading this thread was so fun.  So many great stories!
DS would rather play video games than read a book, although he is a good reader.
DD1&2 love to read, and devour books.  DH is an avid reader.  Our house if full of books.  The garage is full of books.  My K2 is full of books!


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

All three of my kids read.  My oldest son even has a Kindle.  It helps that they see their parents reading a lot, I think.  There are definitely a lot more distractions than when we were kids.  I read a ton when I was a kid but if we'd had all these newfangled video games, who knows?


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

maryannaevans said:


> My three children, ages 24, 23, and 14, all love to read, which pleases me to no end. We read to them all as children, long after they were able to read for themselves, and they saw me read for pleasure. The house was full of books. Other than that, we didn't do anything special.


That's pretty much our experience, 3 kids aged 21, 19 & 17, not a day goes buy where they aren't reading a book for pleasure. We read to them all the time when they were little, bought them their "very own" books for every birthday and Christmas, took them to the library when they were little, combined with books everywhere in the house and Mom and Dad always reading it's no surprise they picked up reading.


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

Forster said:


> That's pretty much our experience, 3 kids aged 21, 19 & 17, not a day goes buy where they aren't reading a book for pleasure. We read to them all the time when they were little, bought them their "very own" books for every birthday and Christmas, took them to the library when they were little, combined with books everywhere in the house and Mom and Dad always reading it's no surprise they picked up reading.


Cool.

One thing I failed at where you succeeded was in teaching my kids to love the library. When I was a kid I'd walk out of there with so many books that my peers actually razzed me, like something out of Christmas Story. It was just a great place to be. I tried to instill that in my kids but somehow I couldn't pull it off. They pretty much read books they own, or have to own the books they read, depending on how they look at it. But at least they're reading.


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## mom2karen (Aug 15, 2009)

My 10yo loves to read.  Unless she's in trouble she has unlimited tv/computer/video game access and still reads 5-10 chapter books a week.  I recently made a list of the last 10 books read for her school so thought I'd add it here:

NERDS
Wayside School is falling down
Outcaste
Wayside school Gets a Little Stranger
Warriors: Moonrise
Warriors: The New Prophecy
Warriors:  Midnight
Warriors:  Starlight
Warriors: Dawn
I, Jack


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

> Sounds like your boys are great kids. I need your 2nd grader here. My daughter was married last JUNE, and I'm still picking up glitter from my sparkly dress! Every once in awhile something will catch my eye, and it's another piece of glitter from 10 months ago! Your son would love it! ;-)


Ha ha ha! He would love it. I carry a ziploc baggie in my purse because he won't let them go unless I promise to save them. He'll be walking around with tight little fists and I know it's time to get out the baggie! LOL!!

My niece likes to read, she's 8 years old too, and she's doing very well in her reading classes.

It's so wonderful to see all these kids reading!

Vicki


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Casse said:


> Why I disagree.... Both of my parents are readers - many hours of my childhood spent in our living room all three of us with our nose in a book . Then my DS came along and he struggles with reading and IMO due to a horrible teacher believed for awhile that he couldn't learn to read - reason I HATE the word tenure and teacher in the same sentence... Anyways... at 16 he now reads at grade level but reading is definitely not something he would choose to do as a recreational activity. Both of us from "reading homes" but only one of us loves to read


The struggle to read (combined with a bad teacher) probably turned him off it... quite understandably..... but perhaps that will still change as he grows older!


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

My 6 year old finally starting asking to read at night rather than it being a constant struggle to get him to sit down me. Now he'll read two or three books with me at a time.    My 3 year old also loves to "read." It never ceases to amaze me how quickly he can memorize a book.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

ScottLCollins said:


> My 6 year old finally starting asking to read at night rather than it being a constant struggle to get him to sit down me. Now he'll read two or three books with me at a time.  My 3 year old also loves to "read." It never ceases to amaze me how quickly he can memorize a book.


No kidding! My kids would do that too... memorize whole books.

I can remember song lyrics from 20 years ago, but I can't remember what I walked into the room for... what's up with that?

Vicki


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## vickir (Jan 14, 2009)

Must share with you, my nephew is severely autistic, rarely speaks, but reads books and on his Kindle. So it can happen!


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

My daughter is 10 and she reads all her books multiple times--it's hard to keep finding good stuff for her and also find age-appropriate books for her advanced reading level. Nice challenge to have! I don't buy the conventional wisdom that kids don't read--they just don't want to read bad books!

Scott


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

@ Scott

Has you daughter tried Night Camp by LC Evans? She might enjoy that one.


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

scottnicholson said:



> My daughter is 10 and she reads all her books multiple times--it's hard to keep finding good stuff for her and also find age-appropriate books for her advanced reading level. Nice challenge to have! I don't buy the conventional wisdom that kids don't read--they just don't want to read bad books!
> 
> Scott


Have you got her going on the Little House on the Prairie books yet? My daughter (and actually my boys too) loved those books when they were about that age. It was one of the series I actually read out loud to them when they were little... that and the Narnia series and The Hobbit and the LOTR. They were all close enough in age that I could kill 3 birds with one stone so to speak. I liked the books anyway.


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

Victorine said:


> I can remember song lyrics from 20 years ago, but I can't remember what I walked into the room for... what's up with that?
> 
> Vicki


Oldtimer's disease.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Forster said:


> Oldtimer's disease.


Are you saying I'm old??

LOL!

Vicki


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

Victorine said:


> Are you saying I'm old??
> 
> LOL!
> 
> Vicki


Okay... maybe _early onset_ Oldtimer's disease? 

I got it too, lol.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

*Snicker*

Yes, _very_ early onset. *wink wink*

Vicki


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## MCM (Apr 20, 2010)

My two daughters (7 and 10) love reading to the exclusion of everything else.  They've been like that since they were little (my younger one's first big "I'm too young!" meltdown was about not being able to read books herself).  It's a little scary, actually, the way they're rather be reading than watching TV.  I got suckered into shifting their bedtimes later so they could squeeze in a full 90 minutes before sleep.  If they didn't tell me every single detail of every single story they'd read, I'd think they were faking it.  I don't think I ever read that much as a kid, and I certainly didn't expect it in this day and age.

I think one trick we did that may have encouraged this was to treat book-buying as a special treat when they were younger.  When we went out for the day, we'd end up in a book shop and let them pick something to buy.  Created an addiction that I think stuck with them.  Even when they couldn't read, they WANTED to read.


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## blackbelt (May 4, 2010)

The kids in my life love to read, but that's because they've had books read to them since very young.  Best way to instill love of reading is to read "fun" books to the kids before they are able to read them themselves: i.e., don't wait until the kid is old enough to read Harry Potter himself, read it TO him/her.  If he/she is always reading "up" about things that "big kids" like, it makes reading into a much cooler adventure.


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

I'm excited to report that my one son who until now has read mostly nonfiction, contacted me yesterday on FB to say he was reading THE SEX CLUB and really liking it. He went on to say, "This suspense stuff is new to me and I see why you like it. Gotta get back to reading. Jackson just found Kera on the floor." 

Two out of three kids as fans isn't bad.  
L.J.


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## AlexJouJou (May 16, 2010)

Well I don't know how common my story is but it's what happened with us.

I have a 13 year old. We homeschooled until she was in 2nd grade (I got divorced and had to go back to work). She started reading at age 4 and read voraciously until we put her in school. The teacher was nice but 2nd grade was a joke. My daughter ended up tutoring a little boy who spoke no English (we live in San Diego and he had just moved from Tijuana). The teacher was making them read Magic Tree House -- a series she read when she was 5. So, at home, she was reading Harry Potter and at school forced to read "age appropriate" books. That really started the downfall of reading enjoyment. She's in 7th grade and now, through school, has read Anne Franke 5 TIMES, The Giver 4 times, Maniac Magee 3 Times -- well you get the picture. Flatly school has practically beaten the love of reading out of her. Constant re reads of the same books year after year have made her despise, to some level, reading. I seriously cry over it. It is not that she is not interested -- she is...but added to this is that she is in a seminar program for highly gifted kids and they get (from 3rd grade on) about 2-5 hours of homework a nite. Plus often she'll just say "I'm so tired of reading..I just read Anne Frank agan..I don't want to read anymore. Yeah try recommending a kid to read when she's just spent 5 hours on homework. Add in a HORRIBLE teacher who told me she was lazy (because she was struggling with math and he thought all seminar students should be little Einstein's and refused to help her..."she's gifted" he told me "she shouldn't need help". I reported him to the district) and there you have it. 


I tried -- I always read to her, often hours at a time when she was younger, and her vocabulary is out of this world for her age. 

I have hope though because my sister hated to read..hated it. I would read a book a day (neither of my parents are big readers BTW) or more and loved it. Now my sister (shes 40) loves reading too. So maybe that will happen with my daughter.

My son is autistic (with many other things as well as he has a chromosome deletion). He reads the same books over and over and over but he can read pretty well. Its just variety. He reads daily. 

I think had I been able to home-school her longer or continue she would have remained a reader. She does play video games. The consolation for me right now is that she loves to draw and spends what little free time she has doing thatso at least shes exercising creativity.


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## StevenPajak (Apr 11, 2010)

My daughter loves to read. She's in first grade and they've just begin reading. They bring home a book each day that they have to read and we have many of our own that she plows through each day. I think she finds it empowering that she can now pick up a book and read herself. If I'm busy and say, "In a minute honey" when she asks me to read, no she just grabs up the book and goes.

My son is desperately trying to learn (he's four) as he sees his sister reading and he wants to copy her. I also never have a book far from my side. Some nights my television shows are on (well Lost will be no more after tomorrow night) but on the other nights I prefer to read or do my own writing.


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## PhillipA82 (Dec 20, 2009)

No, from my world...


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## Felinefine (May 21, 2010)

My eleven year old boy, Alex, bought his K2 with his own money a few months ago. He reads 2-3 books a week in addition to his schoolwork. The reading bug didn't bite until late in third grade when the discovered the Erin Hunter series. 
Until then, I was desperate to find a way to get him reading as it has been such a huge part of my own life. I read to him for years, but it took finding the right books to grab his interest and off he went (finally!). Now I can't slow him down and I'm so grateful!!

Elizabeth


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