{"id":1892,"date":"2013-11-21T06:30:55","date_gmt":"2013-11-21T13:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2013-11-15T15:48:26","modified_gmt":"2013-11-15T22:48:26","slug":"5-tips-for-encouraging-middle-schoolers-who-hate-to-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/21\/5-tips-for-encouraging-middle-schoolers-who-hate-to-read\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips for Encouraging Middle Schoolers Who Hate to Read"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Written By:\u00a0Stephenie McBride<\/a><\/p>\n

\"5<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When I taught kindergarten back in the BK (before kids) days, I handed out a parent pamphlet every year with the title, \u201cHow to Raise a Reader.\u201d As a young mom armed with this advice, I set out to ensure that my child would\u00a0enjoy reading. I was sure it would be easy. I had visions of sharing all of my childhood favorites with her. After all, one of the most important steps, according to the pamphlet, was to make sure that we as parents read in front of our children. Another was to have\u00a0books around the home.<\/p>\n

Growing a Love of Reading<\/h2>\n

My husband and I are both voracious readers. Add to that the fact that our families have threatened never to help us move again if we don\u2019t get rid of some of our books, and you can see that we have those steps covered. Somehow, however, the formula didn\u2019t work for us. My daughter is, I affectionately say, a \u201creadingphobe.\u201d Mind you, she\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0read\u2014beautifully, in fact. It\u2019s just that she ranks reading right up there with having a tooth pulled or getting a shot. So, what do you do when you homeschool a middle schooler who can\u2019t stand to read?<\/p>\n

Here are a few tips I use to make her homeschool reading time more palatable for both of us:<\/h3>\n

1. \u00a0When appropriate I allow her to read about subjects that interest her. For my daughter, that means she reads about softball and fashion, rather than the\u00a0Little Women<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Jane Eyre<\/em>\u00a0that are so dear to my heart.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0For the occasions when I do assign classical books\u2014which I believe is a very necessary part of her homeschool studies\u2014I often let her watch the film version of the book either before or after she reads it.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0I offer choices whenever possible. When my daughter began working at a sixth grade level, I made a list of good literature appropriate for her reading and maturity level. Then I assigned a point value to each book based on both the number of pages in the book and its reading level. At the beginning of each semester, I set a goal for her. Meeting this point goal is figured into her language arts grade.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0I read the book with her. Sometimes she reads aloud to me, while other times she reads a page, then I read a page or two. She enjoys that one-on-one time with mom, and we get to have wonderful discussions about the book. At the same time, because I do half of the reading, she sees it as less work than when I ask her to read independently.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Sometimes I offer rewards. Finding a reward that makes the challenge exciting for my middle schooler is not as easy as for my elementary age son. While an ice cream cone or a trip to the park is good enough for him, my daughter is motivated much more by a trip to the mall or a new bottle of nail polish!<\/p>\n

If you happen to have a \u201creadingphobe\u201d like I do, I hope these tips will inspire you to find ways to make reading less of a chore and more fun for you both!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

– See more at: http:\/\/hedua.com\/blog\/middle-schoolers-readers\/#sthash.r8SQJKS5.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written By:\u00a0Stephenie McBride When I taught kindergarten back in the BK (before kids) days, I handed out a parent pamphlet every year with the title, \u201cHow to Raise a Reader.\u201d As a young mom armed with this advice, I set out to ensure that my child would\u00a0enjoy reading. I was sure it would be easy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classroom-help"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1894,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/1894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}