We’ve always been a family of readers and take turns reading aloud together for a half hour every evening. This couldn’t be more painful for our eight year old. He’s bright but loves just about everything else better than reading. Are we pushing too hard?
By third grade, children develop their own learning style, drawn from their early patterns of exploring the world. Some explore by looking, others by listening, tasting, moving, or touching. The favored mode of exploring shapes later preferred learning styles. Your child may resent reading because it draws on one of his less-preferred exploration modes. Give him a break and let him strut his stuff instead. Can he teach the family a game or share a discovery? We can’t all be bookworms – we’re simply not born that way.
