I have had to come to the conclusion that he isn’t a reader. It is a part of him that I don’t fully understand, but he comes by it genetically.
Blog-Stedman isn’t a reader. As a teenager he read the first Lord of the Rings and it must have worn him out because the second book never got finished and I can’t recall the last time I saw him with a book or magazine.
It isn’t that they CAN’T read. Ryan tests at grade level or above. Blog-Stedman made it through medical school just fine.
Their hearts are just not in the written word.
The last few summers have been a challenge with Ryan. His school assigns a few books to read over the summer. Up until now they have been a little heavy for both of our tastes. I might even admit to abandoning one I was reading aloud to the boys mid-book last summer because I got bored. I always feel compelled to read several of the books aloud with him because I can never be sure that Ryan is ACTUALLY reading. He has the tenacity to sit for 30 minutes holding a book and turning pages rhythmically instead of reading even though that probably takes more energy.
Thankfully, they re-evaluated the summer reading list and the new books are books that they can read themselves. Each morning the boys are responsible for reading 1-2 chapters in their book along with a page in a workbook before any summer fun can be had. They are both pretty sure that I am the world’s meanest mommy, but I just don’t want to get to August and have to have 2 weeks of reading 8 hours a day to catch up.
Reid, for third grade, has several books by Beverly Cleary, Dangerous Journey and the Magic Treehouse Books on his list. No problem. He appears to be in the pro-reading camp and has already started Harry Potter which is not on any official summer reading list.
Ryan’s list for fifth grade was brief with just two books: Snow Treasure and Old Yeller.
Old Yeller?
I couldn’t even bear to have the boys watch the movie! It is so sad.
Ryan started it first and is over half way through the book. I was lamenting to blog-Stedman how sad and disappointed he will be when he gets to the end when he made a really good point…
at least we will know if he read it.It has been a struggle to get Ryan(10) to read. It is unlikely in his 10 years he has read ONE WORD that wasn’t required, requested or assigned.
I have had to come to the conclusion that he isn’t a reader. It is a part of him that I don’t fully understand, but he comes by it genetically.
Blog-Stedman isn’t a reader. As a teenager he read the first Lord of the Rings and it must have worn him out because the second book never got finished and I can’t recall the last time I saw him with a book or magazine.
It isn’t that they CAN’T read. Ryan tests at grade level or above. Blog-Stedman made it through medical school just fine.
Their hearts are just not in the written word.
The last few summers have been a challenge with Ryan. His school assigns a few books to read over the summer. Up until now they have been a little heavy for both of our tastes. I might even admit to abandoning one I was reading aloud to the boys mid-book last summer because I got bored. I always feel compelled to read several of the books aloud with him because I can never be sure that Ryan is ACTUALLY reading. He has the tenacity to sit for 30 minutes holding a book and turning pages rhythmically instead of reading even though that probably takes more energy.
Thankfully, they re-evaluated the summer reading list and the new books are books that they can read themselves. Each morning the boys are responsible for reading 1-2 chapters in their book along with a page in a workbook before any summer fun can be had. They are both pretty sure that I am the world’s meanest mommy, but I just don’t want to get to August and have to have 2 weeks of reading 8 hours a day to catch up.
Reid, for third grade, has several books by Beverly Cleary, Dangerous Journey and the Magic Treehouse Books on his list. No problem. He appears to be in the pro-reading camp and has already started Harry Potter which is not on any official summer reading list.
Ryan’s list for fifth grade was brief with just two books: Snow Treasure and Old Yeller.
Old Yeller?
I couldn’t even bear to have the boys watch the movie! It is so sad.
Ryan started it first and is over half way through the book. I was lamenting to blog-Stedman how sad and disappointed he will be when he gets to the end when he made a really good point…
at least we will know if he read it.
I have had to come to the conclusion that he isn’t a reader. It is a part of him that I don’t fully understand, but he comes by it genetically.
Blog-Stedman isn’t a reader. As a teenager he read the first Lord of the Rings and it must have worn him out because the second book never got finished and I can’t recall the last time I saw him with a book or magazine.
It isn’t that they CAN’T read. Ryan tests at grade level or above. Blog-Stedman made it through medical school just fine.
Their hearts are just not in the written word.
The last few summers have been a challenge with Ryan. His school assigns a few books to read over the summer. Up until now they have been a little heavy for both of our tastes. I might even admit to abandoning one I was reading aloud to the boys mid-book last summer because I got bored. I always feel compelled to read several of the books aloud with him because I can never be sure that Ryan is ACTUALLY reading. He has the tenacity to sit for 30 minutes holding a book and turning pages rhythmically instead of reading even though that probably takes more energy.
Thankfully, they re-evaluated the summer reading list and the new books are books that they can read themselves. Each morning the boys are responsible for reading 1-2 chapters in their book along with a page in a workbook before any summer fun can be had. They are both pretty sure that I am the world’s meanest mommy, but I just don’t want to get to August and have to have 2 weeks of reading 8 hours a day to catch up.
Reid, for third grade, has several books by Beverly Cleary, Dangerous Journey and the Magic Treehouse Books on his list. No problem. He appears to be in the pro-reading camp and has already started Harry Potter which is not on any official summer reading list.
Ryan’s list for fifth grade was brief with just two books: Snow Treasure and Old Yeller.
Old Yeller?
I couldn’t even bear to have the boys watch the movie! It is so sad.
Ryan started it first and is over half way through the book. I was lamenting to blog-Stedman how sad and disappointed he will be when he gets to the end when he made a really good point…
at least we will know if he read it.
True. He may never want to read again, but…Old Yeller seems a little heavy for summer reading. Yeesh.
I’m a librarian and I ended up with a son who absolutely refused to learn how to read. Some how he must have picked it up along the way because he made it through school. I was sooooo very frustrated him. But I read to him all the way through high school, first thing in the morning while he was eating breakfast…he was grumpy and it helped move him along. I also made sure that he had access to magazines that were about anything that interested him, non-fiction for boys is a good thing, at one point I think we owned everymagazine about bicycles and music that were printed. 🙂 Then one wonderous day when he was 23 years old he called me out of the blue and said “I think I’m going to read a book”!!! I couldn’t believe it but I gave him a coupld of ideas and he called me two days later and said that he had read a book and he loved it!!! what!!!?? I don’t know what made the change for him but now he makes a point to always have a book that he is reading. I always tell kids who come to the library that if they don’t like to read, it’s because they haven’t gotten the right book yet. There’s always hope 🙂