Books are everywhere and still, many kids do not like reading. The key is to figure out why, do they have a learning disability.  Do they struggle to find books that fit their interests? Do they look at a book and panic about getting through the whole thing?  

An article from PBS says many kids do not want to read because of distractions. They have other school work, want to play outside, want to play video games, have chores, etc. Another article from Understood says if kids aren't interested in the topic they may struggle to find books that interest them. 

Research suggests that reading to a reluctant child may help interest them. If the book is long, take turns reading so they don’t have to read the whole book themselves. When a child sits down to read, lead by example and read as well.  This will show them that they will continue to read their whole lives. 

I have this problem.  I had no interest in reading and couldn't find a good book.  Most kids in elementary school are required to read for 10 to 30 minutes per day as homework.  I

struggled with this year after year.   I couldn’t find books that would hold my attention and felt overwhelmed by the number of pages in the book. I would much rather play video games, watch TV, or do pretty much anything. My parents tried everything to get me to read.  They would suggest that I read for 10 minutes and then take a break for 10-15 minutes to play a game and then go back to the book.  My mom would read to me. We read a lot of books that were also movies, so my reward would be watching the movie after we finished the book. This idea worked,  but I still didn’t enjoy reading. My attention span was short and still is today.  

One trick I have used myself, and will use on my kids in the future, is when watching a movie, turn the subtitles on. It showed me the words and I could read along. I would also go to the library with my mom and get books on tape. It was fun to hear someone else’s voice reading the story. It makes the story more interesting and full of adventure. I believe that playing games can also be beneficial. Skill-based games work on children’s hand-eye coordination, and reflexes. They use their minds to develop strategies to win those games.  Often kids play games with other players and they learn how to play together, how to win, and how to lose. They learn patience and how to be responsible and respectful. 

This is a graph from pew research canter showing the percent of kids that still read for fun.

Determining why kids don’t enjoy reading is different for everyone. Ask kids if they would rather read a book or watch a movie I think we all know a large majority of the kids would pick a movie.  Movies are full of color, action, and adventure and have different voices.  So, make reading an adventure. Use different voices, and talk about what the scene might look like so the child can imagine it better. 

Attention spans vary for every child. Many kids have short attention spans because unlike adults they get distracted easily and their brains need frequent breaks.  Kids take longer to process the information per BrainBalance.com. Another factor causing kids to have short attention spans is the internet.  Kids no longer sit through 2-hour movies, they can watch short video clips on apps like YouTube or TikTok. Apps like those record the type of videos kids watch and continue to suggest videos with the same themes. It's like a trap. Video after video will continue on their feed and the child can scroll and scroll for hours watching them.  These apps do

have parental controls.  The parents can set timers for needed breaks. 

Some kids also have reading-related disabilities such as dyslexia or comprehension problems. These disabilities affect the child's reading skills causing them to dislike reading. 

Dyslexia is difficulty reading due to problems such as identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words, dyslexia affects 20% of people or 1 in 5 

“I found this information at the “University of Michigan .com.”

Reading comprehension is understanding what you read and some kids simply need help understanding. Another factor that I wouldn't have thought of until reading this article by Reading by Phonics says “Children are being taught the incorrect pronunciation of phonic sounds”

I did some more research and they backed up their statement by saying how parents and teachers sometimes add an “uh” sound at the end of many sounds like

/c/ - “cuh”

/d/ - “duh”

/v/ - “vuh”

/m/ - “muh”

This makes annunciation hard for kids to understand and use because of the way they speak.

Reading is confusing and I have a feeling reading will change in the next 30 years reading will be almost fully digital if not removed fully, in 2023 Oregon removed reading as a requirement to graduate, could this mean more schools will remove it as a class entirely?

Resources: 

Great School.org

Understood.org

Scientificamerican.com

Pewresearchcenter.org

brainbalence.com