Reading Habits

Dads (and uncles) are welcome here, too. I had this discussion with my sister about my nephew about a year ago. He's 11 now and was really not into reading at the time. Skateboarding was his thing. And baseball. And, well, anything but reading. We got him interested in books by pointing out that if he enjoyed the Harry Potter movies so much, he ought to read the books. It's still not his fave thing to do. Skateboards still rule. But he's reading more than he was. Try linking reading to a movie he enjoys

Stacy Sullivan is an editor for arizonamoms.com, pets.azcentral.com and The Republic whose single mom sister is constantly asking for advice as she raises two great kids.

Welcome! I'm so glad you found us. We love to get all parent opinions and questions here.

I have a son who doesn't care for reading. Part of it is a learning disability, and part of it is he isn't so much into fiction. He'd rather read a science book or info about rocks online.

Maybe you can get him interested in biographies of his favorite skateboarders/BMXers. Have him go with you to a book store to pick out a book on stunts or other interesting topics.

I find my son will put in his reading minutes if I'm flexible and don't force the chapter books. Frankly I think it's better than nothing. I know kids have to get used to reading fiction to hone their skills on predicting what will happen, but I don't want my kids to think of reading as a must-do punishment at home.

Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.

- Definitely encourage him to choose anything he wants. Maybe start with something that is also activity focused, like "Wizardology" and that series of books (my son loves those!).
- Watch this site for announcements soon about the summer reading program, it is a good incentive to get kids to read and he could win tickets to the Diamondbacks.
- You could also come up with incentives of your own, maybe reward him for reading books on his own with something that is really valuable to him.
- If he doesn't like books as much, try magazines.
- Let him see you reading, too. We our models for our kids behavior and habits!

Susan & Neil Hampton have three spectacular children, Alexander, Isabel and David, plus one amazing teenager, Eric. Susan does community outreach for arizonamoms.com.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” - Margaret Atwood

I only have daughters, but I've discovered the trick to getting my almost 14-yr old to read something is to bring the book in the car with us. I'll tell her something like, "I heard this book is really good/funny, but I haven't had a chance to read it. Can you read me some of it while I drive you to [wherever]?" Most of the time it only takes about 15-20 minutes before she's hooked on the book and she starts to read it on her own.

As far as "boy" books go, hmmm. I'd say Harry Potter or Eragon. I haven't read any Spyderwick (sp?), but I've heard those books are good, too.

Good luck!

Thought of something else my son enjoyed. It is a book and "kit" called Owl Puke. You get a book with instructions on how to dissection the sterilized owl pellet that comes with it. It is like a little archeology experiment. You pull the pellet apart and put the bones together to see what kind of animal your owl had eaten, and you have to read in the book to find out what the bones are, etc. It was pretty cool! You can get it at Barnes and Noble.

Susan & Neil Hampton have three spectacular children, Alexander, Isabel and David, plus one amazing teenager, Eric. Susan does community outreach for arizonamoms.com.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” - Margaret Atwood

I just saw an article about it in Parents magazine. There is a guy that works as a Children's Literature spokesperson that created a website called guysread.com. It is supposed to have some search engines and activities that can help you find books that your son would be interested in. He encourages kids to read anything - even comics because they can progress from there.

Hope you can find something there!

P.S. Forgot to add - welcome to Arizona Moms! It's so 5nice to hear from dads too!

Lattemom is the mother of three energetic kids ages 6, 8 & 11 and a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com.