I discovered a very simple trick that seems to glue my reluctant reader to his book, and I hope that by sharing it with you, it will help another child discover the love of reading.
For his 8th birthday, we bought my son an iPod. I’ve discovered that when he can both listen and read along he will read for much more dedicated periods of time. I can often watch his lips moving, so I can see that he is reading. The unabridged audio playing in the background helps the fear of missing words, and has really improved his pace and comprehension of words.
I found that iTunes often carries unabridged classics for around $5, and some online resources have free mp3 recordings that can be downloaded into iTunes and added to an iPod or mp3 player. Hopefully, as his confidence grows and he discovers the joy in the stories in the books, he won’t need the audio accompaniment. But for one little 8 year old, this simple thing has increased the number of hours he holds a book exponentially.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
That is a great idea to use the ipod with reading!! Our boys are completing the Old Testament this year in their studies. I know they are reading it because of our discussions but this would probably make it easier for them in reading — especially with some of the name pronunciations
Thanks!!
I really like this idea. My son is dyslexic and his reading has come a long way, but this idea might get him reading longer passages and at a bit higher reading level. I really think that at this point it’s the reading practice that will bring the fluency. Thanks for the great idea!
This works really well with older children who struggle with reading and little ones reading picture books too. My son has a little bear with an MP3 player inside, and my 2 daughters each have nice Mosic Zens. They love to listen to books while doing chores, and my younger one struggles to read (dylexia) and this has really helped her. We get books from Librivox.com for free. Sometimes the quality is not great, but they have thousands of books to choose from – all public domain. For a teen, perhaps they could sign up to read books as a volunteer. We also get free books from LearnOutLoud.com
Oh YES! I do this with my 15 year old too! I get ALL of our books and curriculum I can on CD, including History and Science. He reads along. Frees me and my voice up and lets the pro get the pronunciations right! Hee hee! My kids both love it!
It’s so important to draw attention to reading, and attract reluctant readers to it,especially boys. In fact, I’ve recently completed a feature magazine article on this subject that came out in October, “Help for Struggling, Reluctant Readers.”
I grew up as a reluctant reader, in spite of the fact that my father published over 70 books. Now I write action-adventures & mysteries, especially for tween boys, that avid boy readers and girls enjoy just as much.
My blog, Books for Boys http://booksandboys.blogspot.com is dedicated to drawing attention to the importance of reading.
Keep up your good work.
Max Elliot Anderson
I know our local library system carries many books in free MP3 downloads (instead of say, loaning the CD), so that might be another place to look!
Great tip Darcy! We’ve also been using iPods to augment our reading/listening for the last couple of years! I love librivox.org, where I’ve been able to download so many of our (Ambleside Online) school books as podcasts. The kids especially love having great books to listen to on road trips, or while doing dishes, etc.