My heart hurts for the readers that don’t think they can read or don’t like reading. Reading doesn’t have to be everybody’s most favorite thing to do, but disliking, hating, or avoiding it completely is not okay.

What can we do to help readers that have learned not to like it or don’t see themselves as readers?

Here are a few ideas:

CONFIDENCE is typically my first priority when working with readers. The child (young and old) need to first see themselves as a reader. What is the child currently reading? This can be anything from the dialog, clues, and alerts on video games, text messages, web articles, cereal boxes, street signs, directions, etc. Capitalize and celebrate the reading that is happening.
Encourage shared reading. Is there a book you and your child could “read” together and discuss? For older readers, this doesn’t have to mean sitting next together and literally reading the same book, but rather reading it like a book club. You might not even read the same book, but one that shares a similar topic, character, or event and your conversations could be about the similarities and differences.
Let your reader pick out books and magazines that are of interest. It might not look like the reading you want them to be doing, but sometimes you have to start small and slow to go bigger and faster.

What have you done with your reader to encourage strong reading habits? What reading does your child see you doing?

As always, keep reading. Let me know how it goes.