Anyone that has read this blog for a while probably realizes my darling daughter, at the age of 8, does not read. I have been agonizing over this lately... well, if you call at least a year lately. I imagined learning disabilities, vision disorders, and so forth. But the answer (or at least I believe it to be the answer) popped out of her, clear and precise, yesterday. I asked why she wasn't working harder on reading, didn't she want to read? Her answer..
"Mommy, I don't want to read. It just isn't interesting to me right now."
Okay, maybe this is too simple. Maybe there are underlying issues. But I have to think that her total lack of interest plays a big part in her lack of reading ability. After her (stunning) comment, her brother and I tried to convince her of the joys of reading, of transporting oneself through a book. She didn't seem convinced :(
I am still determined that she will continue trying to learn. I can at least give her the basics, the tools, while I wait for her to develop an interest. At least now I feel like I have more of the puzzle pieces that make up my daughter!
both our boys were not taught how to read , they learned how to read .
ReplyDeleteOur ds15 learned or rather staring reading whole books when he was 11-12 yrs . ds10 learned earlier when he was about 7 yrs.
We've 4 other children who are now adults and they went to school for early grades and were taught how to read. these two boys have never been to school, we unschool mostly and they read just as well as the other siblings. I've 3 girlfriends and each of them have had a reader not read until around age 11-12 yrs too.
our ds15 was very self conscious about it as he has friends who are in public school and he would always say " I can't read " he felt he was less then and not the same therefore dumb . so I had to point out to him many adults do not learn to read until they are adults . if everyone did not go to school people would all learn at different age levls .
Then I had to tell him it is actually a lie that he cannot read because he in fact could read . Just because he was not reading novels and he still to this day does not read to read fiction . However he could read , I pointed out to him does he read the signs on restraunts as we pass by , how about the birthday card gramma just gave him , he actually was reading . Just because it wasn't a dr. suess book or a leveled reader did not mean he was not reading . He then began reading mags he had intertests in , he reads all types of field guides etc.
I think it is actually not true that most when labeled they can't read , when they probably can read at some level .
then I had the struggle because clearly yes, this ds would prefer not to have to rely on the written word . he barely writes as it is a struggle. why have we created a world where we need to be dependent on the written word anyway ? It is the European way . many cultures survived being oral not a word written down what so ever . I'm not sold on this is how it should be that everyone should read . I'm more not sold on this is how God would want it either , as I certainly do not beleive it was the intention to make the world European ;-)
My son had no interest in reading until he was about 7 1/2, and then he just sort of took off with it. He enjoyed being read to (and still does), but just did not really care about reading on his own.
ReplyDeleteFor some children, it just takes time. Gavin ultimately became interested when he realized that I was not always available to read new and fascinating stories to him. So he took matters into his own hands and gave himself another source of entertainment.
Ultimately, he found that he loved to help me by reading shopping lists to me, reading manga, and reading favorite funny books.
Sending positive thoughts; I'm confident your daughter *can* read, even though she chooses not to.
My daughter *could* read but was totally NOT interested in reading until about age 9. What a change from our first child, who read 500-page novels at age 8!! What ultimately go her reading was American Girl magazine. She absolutely loved those. She still doesn't read tons and is extremely selective about reading material. She wants contemporary novels, not the classics I wish she'd read. And more than anything, she wishes for magazine subscriptions.
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