Getting a child to read well in the primary grades is not easy. The child needs decoding, comprehension, and retention skills, all of which are difficult to attain in the face of all the distractions there may be in the child’s environment. But the first step to getting children to read well is to get them to read at all. Certainly most children will read in school, where it is assigned and monitored. However, getting them to read at home, especially independently, is a wholly different challenge. How do you get them to pick up a book and read without making reading a task they dread? How do you make reading something they want to do?

1. Make Reading a Real Responsibility

Try this: make reading independently a part of their assigned tasks around the house. By the time most children are ready to try reading - independently or with a partner - they are also ready to have some household tasks that are their responsibility: brush their teeth every night, pick up their toys, put their clothes in the laundry hamper, and so on. There is no reason reading can’t be a part of this. If you give them a reason to read, and attach reading to a positive outcome, they will be more likely to open up a book. Now, do not attach a direct reward to the reading. Don’t say: “If you read three chapters you can have a cookie.” This strategy is counter-productive, because once the direct reward ceases, so will the motivation to complete the task. Instead, make a certain amount of reading one of several things the child must accomplish during the week in order to qualify for benefits, be they monetary or otherwise. “Did you complete all your tasks for the week? Yes? That’s great, here’s your allowance. Good job!”

2. Make Reading A Structured Choice

Later, you can even make the reading one of a number of optional tasks every other week. If the child does the reading one week, he or she does not have to select it as a task the next week. On the task chart, the child does not check the box next to the reading task for that week. This will help the child develop planning and recording skills. Be sure to specify to the child what reading materials will fulfill the reading task requirement, such as non-school reading, or not comic books, or chapter books only. You and the child can select a reading list, basing it on favorite themes (monsters, fairy tales, animal stories, etc). Also, the librarians at your child’s school or the local public library will probably be overjoyed to help.

3. Let Money Play A Part

If the child’s allowance is the positive outcome attached to the tasks, allow the child to purchase a book of their choice – again, from an approved list or genre or price category – once per week. Tell them to keep the receipt, and attach it to their completed task chart. If they do so correctly, you will reimburse them the amount of the book in the next week’s allowance. This will help teach the child careful shopping and record-keeping, and he or she will be thrilled to complete a transaction with a bookstore clerk just like grown-ups do. In short, make reading a real part of their responsibilities, and children are more likely to respond with real effort.