Reading - Livonia,MI

At the risk of stating the obvious, children are all different. If they see you reading and you make it pleasant, they will read when they're ready.

To be frank N. it completely depends on the child. My 2 yo used to not sit still long enought to read him a book and there was nothing I could do to change it at the time. Recently though we had a break in so we have been out all electronics including our tvs. He now gets books himself and brings them to me to read. A couple of other things you could try is to read to him before he goes to bed, if given the option to stay up a little longer to listen is given he may jump at it. Also, another thing to try is keep a book box on the floor where he can reach to explore on his own. We keep one next to our 2 yo's toy chest and he is in there all the time playing with the books (good to use durable books). Anyway, good luck!

B.

so let the wiggly one wiggle while you read to him! some littles are just too kinetic to sit and listen quietly to a story, but will absorb way more than you think if you let them build legos or construct a fort while you read to them.
also, keep the sessions short. don't turn 'being read to' into an ordeal. make sure it's a book about something he loves (eg dinosaurs or trucks) and don't make it painful.
one thing i did when mine were little was 'breakfast stories.' while they ate their breakfast i'd read to 'em. it was a nice addition to bedtime stories.
3 is very very young. i know many kids love reading from before mobility, but squirmy ones can also grow up to be great book lovers. just operate within the parameters of his personality.
khairete
S.

I agree with Ben R. about maybe trying to take any other distractions out of the picture... tv's ect. and keeping books in his play area even if he just wants to rummage thru them and not read them it's a start. My 2 yo son is always so hyper that it's hard to get him to sit and listen to a book. When we would get one out he would let me read a page and then take it from me. One day I started reading Dr. Suess books and I think all the rhymes and funny words caught his interest. Now those are pretty much the only books he will sit thru. He will sometimes sit and listen to an Elmo book just because he loves Elmo so maybe try getting one that you know he will love. If nothing works then just let him come to it on his own all kids find interest in things at their own pace. Im sure when he starts school and see's other kids enjoying book time he will want to see whats so interesting about them!! :)

I think you should continue reading out loud to your 3 yr old regardless of whether he is paying attention to you. Turn off the TV, radio. Set the timer and tell him it's 10 minute story time. He doesn't have to sit down, but he needs to be quiet and stay in the room until the buzzer sounds. Even if he's playing quietly with a toy, he's still listening to you.

The other thing is how often do your kids see you or your husband read for pleasure? And I don't necessarily mean magazines. How often do they see you pick up a book for yourself? Do you guys talk about books? Do you have conversations where you say, "I read something the other day..."

In other words, you need to model the behavior you want to see. I can't tell you how many times my kids have come up to me while I was reading a book and then grabbed their own book and sat down next to me. They see me enjoy books. They see me rave about books and want to hear about the books that I'm reading. We talk about what they've read.

Don't expect miracles right away, but eventually, your child will come around.

N.,

When our now 8 year old son was 3 he didn't want to sit and read a book either. I went over to a neighbor's house and her son would sit for 30 -40 minutes asking his mom to read him a new book. It was amazing.

Now, we have to tell our 8-year-old to turn off his reading lamp at night because he forgets. He gets so wrapped up in the story. =)

Boys on average start to read at a later age compared to girls because the boys are more focused on large-motor movements rather than fine-motor movements. Reading is a fine-motor activity.

Try reading to your son while he is doing something. For example, you could read a short story about cars while he is playing with cars. Just make sure he understands that he needs to listen quietly while you read and only read one story at a time. He will need a break to process what he has heard. Also 3-year-olds have a very short attention span and you need to watch him as you read to make sure you aren't pushing him to sit quietly when his body and mind just can't. Over time and practice he will be ready for longer stories and may even want to sit next to you to see the pictures in the book.

Also, make sure you are reading to your son every night before bed. Pull out two or three different books and have him choose which one he wants read first. Give him a bit of control over what he "reads" and his interest will start to take off.

Finally, make sure you and your husband are reading each and every day. You want your children to see how important reading is to you. Share what you have learned with them so they see that interesting and fun ideas can be discovered through reading.

Happy Holidays,
C. J.

Does he have a favorite cartoon or show? Sesame Street, Curious George, Toy Story, etc? Maybe you can find books on topics and characters he likes to help piqué his interest, as he may like to hear the stories. Make sure you let go and really ham it up for him too...lots of expressive emotion and different voices.

You might also want to try story time at the library, as seeing lots of other kids sitting down to listen to a story might be beneficial to him.

Get books about things he LOVES whatever it is...cars, trains, animals, an activity he LOVES would be helpful. Keep in mind he IS 3. Most 3 year olds don's sit still for long. How are his speaking skills? Does he talk like a typical 3 year old? I only ask because if he doesn't speak as clearly as you think he should, he might not be hearing well and doesn't see the point of reading a book. Just throwing it out there as a possibility.

My son is now 8, and he has ADHD. But even when he was 3, he liked when I read to him, but he had to want to sit and read with me when he was in the mood. If I tried when he wasn't, I couldn't get his attention even if it was to save my life. When he was in the mood, he was impatient and would try to flip the page, even if I wasn't done reading the current page.

I think what might have helped is that I'm a huge bookaholic myself. While the kids played with toys, I'd sit and read one of my own books while they played, so they constantly saw me reading if I wasn't down on the floor playing with them. He'd interrupt my reading so I could read to him. One way was he'd either bring me the book he wanted me to read. Second, if it was reading time, I'd let him choose the book.

When your son's ready, he'll let you know. I read outloud even while they played. Sometimes that got his attention and he'd stop what he was doing. Even when you think they're not paying attention, they'll surprise you.

My younger daughter didn't show much interest in reading when she was that age. She wanted to go, go, go all the time. She was too busy putting crayons in the dryer and conditioner in my shoes to bother with sitting still for books.

Then, my mom home-schooled my older daughter (then in 2nd grade) for a year (my youngest was 4). Suddenly my little one wanted to keep up with her big sister. She began to learn how to sound out words, and then my mom gave her little cards with simple words on them (at, cat, hat, fat, far, man, dog, hog, log, etc etc). She would have my daughter arrange the cards to make sentences and then draw pictures of her sentence (The fat man sat on the cat!) Once my daughter realized she could read and write on her own, there was no looking back. Now she is in first grade and loves to write (I don't bother correcting her spelling on the first draft, I just let her put her ideas on paper and then we go back later and fix the spelling). Anyway, with some kids, they don't really enjoy being read to when they are 3. But later when they have the ability to read simple words, it becomes a lot more fun for them. Some kids, like my daughter, would rather write than read at first. For now, see if you can help him understand letter sounds and shapes. Keep it within his attention span. He will be fine!

Perhaps a trip to Barnes and Noble is in order! Let him explore all of the cool things that they have and see what peaks his interest!

I think sitting and listening to a book depends on what I call the "stimulus level" (a totally made up term!) My SD needs to be stimulated a LOT in order to enjoy something. She likes loud movies with lots of action, roller coasters and action sports.

I've also noticed she's a very visual person. She's not good with listening to a story and picturing it in her head. She needs lots of pictures or she doesn't "get it." I could describe a room in detail and she could never picture it.

I'm not sure if it's her personality, or the fact that her parents sat her down in front of the TV a LOT when she was younger. Probably a combination of both!

We homeschool, and I have to focus heavily on vocabulary. Children lose interest if a book has a lot of words they don't know the meaning of. How can you understand what's going on if you don't know the words? Even simple children's books often have a word or two that she won't know. I also make her read a lot since reading is a skill. Now that her vocabulary is bigger, her phonics is better she enjoys reading more. But I don't think she'll ever be a big reader.

So just go with it with your son. When he gets into school they'll help him with his vocabulary and skills. In the meantime--keep trying! You never know when suddenly he'll become interested!

Some kids are more naturally inclined to cuddling and reading, others to moving. Keep at it, he'll get interested. 3 year olds have a ton of energy. It might help to wear him out physically, and maybe let him have a special drink while you're reading to him. Don't get too big on the bribe part, but as an incentive it might help to get started.

Is your 18 month old a girl? Sometimes I think that girls are more willing to sit and listen to stories than boys. My 4 year old never would really want to sit and hear stories but more recently he has enjoyed it more. Some kids boys in particular are just really active and dont want to sit down for longer than a couple minutes if that. Try having a quiet time with him where you read books I do storytime before bed and at naptime and my son enjoys that.