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5 Reading Strategies for Your Reluctant Reader

  • Writer: Miss Rae
    Miss Rae
  • Nov 15, 2018
  • 2 min read

“My new reader can read but when it's time to read, it's like pulling teeth.” If your kiddo is anything like mine, you've probably said this more than once in your lifetime. Over the past 2 years, I've tried countless strategies to build his confidence around reading.


These 5 turned out to work the best for us and we still use them to this day.


1. Alternate who reads aloud. - He reads the cover and first page, I read the next page, and so on. Depending on his confidence with the chosen book, some days he reads 2 pages and I read 2 pages.

2. I mirror him. - I allow him to take lead and almost “parrot” him while he reads.

3. Underline challenging words. - If I helped him to pronounce a word or reminded him of the reading rules, we underline that word. This works out well when you read the same book for the entire week.

4. Read books in chunks. - We read a 60-page book over the course of 5 days. For example, Day 1 - We read pages 1 - 12, Day 2 - We read pages 1 - 24, Day 3 - We read pages 1 - 36, and so on.

5. Choose interest-led books. - This one is kind of a no-brainer but I noticed when we read books that he’s genuinely interested in, there is a lot less push-back.


Fast forward to now, he is more confident and reading fluently.


I hope this helps.


Leave a comment below and let me know which strategy you’re going to try or have already implemented. I would love to hear about it.

3 Comments


marialammi2
Jan 28, 2019

As an English teacher myself, these are great tips! Following your child's interest can be the most effective. :)

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m-dunn1986
Jan 28, 2019

Love this! I have found that picking things in their interest is always helpful. My son and I read together all the time, taking turns definitely takes the pressure away. Great post!

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info
Nov 19, 2018

Love this post! Thanks for sharing these tips!!

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