In the education world, there are three types of readers: literate, illiterate, and aliterate. Literate children are those that can and do read. They may not read voraciously, but they will start and finish a book regularly. Illiterate children are those that struggle to learn how to read. Perhaps they have a learning disability or maybe they need more time figuring out the rules of the English language. Whatever the reason, they cannot read yet. Illiterate readers may be a cause of concern for parents and teachers, and if your child is illiterate, there are interventions and programs your child’s educator can employ to help them.
Aliterate readers though are the most troublesome for teachers and parents alike. Aliterate readers are those that know how to read but choose not to.* Children that fail to read a single book in a year, or children that can’t think of a book to read. Perhaps your child is more occupied with browsing the books on the shelves of the library rather than actually picking one up and getting through the first few pages. Maybe your child has started a billion books each year but never gotten very far before they abandon it. You might have purchased countless books for them hoping to spark a love of reading, but when all is said and done, they get donated at the next book drive or sold at the next yard sale completely untouched.
These children need intentional help learning to enjoy reading books. Thankfully, there are several ways that parents and teachers can help them develop a love for reading that can help transition them from aliterate to literate.
First, your child might not be a reader because they do not know how to set aside time to read.
Good readers recognize that reading takes time and a book usually can’t be finished in one sitting. What some aliterate readers don’t realize though, is that reading doesn’t have to happen in half-hour or hour-long chunks despite what their reading log says. Good reading can happen during “edge times”. Edge times are those 10- or 15-minute blocks of time where you have nothing else to do. Perhaps you are sitting in the car driving to pick up dinner. Maybe you are waiting in the office for an appointment. It could be the bus ride to school, the ride to soccer practice, or the 10 minutes after dinner before their bath. Perhaps there is a chunk of time between their piano lesson starting and when they get dropped off. Either way, these edge times are still valid reading opportunities.
Help your child recognize these edge times by encouraging them to bring the book they are reading with them to places where these edge times might occur. Better yet, encourage your child to always bring a book with them.
I’ve realized that most of my family’s edge times happen in the car. In our young family, we keep a bag of picture books in the car and bring “special books” that we don’t get to read very often on extra-long road trips. By doing this from a young age, my boys have learned that books are valuable parts of our time. I’ve also seen that we have extra time when I am cooking dinner and they are waiting around watching me. My boys are encouraged to look at books while I cook if they aren’t doing something else. If your child is older, start by reminding them to bring their book just like you would remind them to grab their jacket. These loving nags will hopefully translate into more reading and a habit of bringing a book.
Second, your child might not have developed reading stamina.
Reading stamina, just like running stamina or holding-your-breath stamina, has to be developed. Reading stamina is how long your child can read without needing to take a break or feeling bored. Children can practice reading stamina quite easily when you learn to take advantage of edge times. Perhaps your child comes home from school each day with a reading log and the expectation to read for 20 or 30 minutes a night, but they can only seem to get through the first five minutes before getting bored out of their mind. Have your child try reading for six minutes next time, or seven minutes the time after that. Set reasonable goals for your child. Allow them to do their reading in chunks of time until they’ve flexed those reading “muscles” and can do all 20 minutes in one sitting.
As your child develops more and more reading stamina, their stamina for pushing through the information-loaded beginning chapters of a book will also increase. Once their stamina has increased to about 20 minutes, begin challenging your children to get through the first few chapters before giving up a book. If they are still struggling, have them read those beginning chapters out loud to you or a younger sibling. You could also take turns reading those chapters and then turn the book over to them to read independently.
Third, your child may not have found their niche yet.
Aliterate readers know how to read, so why aren’t they reading?! Children need the privilege of choosing books that interest them, even if they are graphic novels or audiobooks. According to a 1998 research study concerning reading and its’ correlation to student performance on reading tests, students that read for .7 minutes a day read up to 21,000 words a year. Students that read for 21.1 minutes per day read over 1,823,000 words a year and are much more likely to perform better on tests (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998). If your child is reading a book for only a few minutes a day, but devouring graphic novels, wouldn’t you rather they read almost two million words a year while seeing the beautiful storytelling and art that graphic novels feature? Graphic novels are becoming much more prominent and accepted in the education community. They are a gateway book, hopefully leading children to find more books that interest them because they’ve been hooked.
Perhaps your child is interested in Kobe Bryant, horses, or engineering. Finding books on these topics rather than trying to get them to read a book off of a Pinterest “Must-Read” lists could also be beneficial. Allow your child to choose a book, even if it isn’t their AR level, even if it looks to be below their grade-level, even if it is chock-full of pictures. Take your child to the library to select books that have no strings attached. Stop spending money hoping that you’ll find the right book and allow them to browse and pursue books without worrying about prices.
Fourth, your child may not know how to select a book.
Isn’t it crazy that year after year, we tell students not to judge a book by its cover? But that is exactly what many aliterate readers need to do in order to get hooked. Looking at the art, reading the blurb on the back, skimming through the pages, all of these things are okay and should be used to help children choose a book of interest. Even the forbidden reading of the last chapter could be helpful for some aliterate readers.
Think about the books we use to get children started in reading. They are bright, colorful, and artistic. The characters are loud and proud on every page. The front cover and the back cover are filled with graphic information. It is silly that we then transition to these “big kid books” and expect children to not judge a book based on the cover art when that is exactly what they’ve been trained to do since day one.
Help your child determine their interests and then help them look for books. Make suggestions, make recommendations. Allow them to spend time looking at books. If needed, give them a stack of books that you looked at and think might fit their interests. You can even help them develop a plan for selecting a book. Maybe a friend recommended a certain book. Maybe they are interested in learning more about mummies that week. Perhaps they want to read a book that the librarian at their school read a chapter from. Ask them what they are looking for in a book and make a plan for what they might look for at the library. Allow them to deviate course if they find something else, but creating a plan can make the long rows and aisles of a library feel less engulfing.
Fifth, your child might not recognize the importance of reading.
Your child might feel that reading is only important if there is going to be a grade attached, a project afterward, or a worksheet to accomplish. Encouraging your child to read without having to worry about taking an AR test, answering questions, or getting an ‘A’ for their reading is important.
Children do not develop a love for reading when they feel that the end goal is only to please the teacher and make the grade. How many times has your aliterate child read just enough of a book to create the diorama of their ”favorite” part, and that “favorite” part happens in chapter two? How many times has your child selected the easiest, thinnest book to read so they could reach their reading goal?
Perhaps in your child’s mind, reading has no real value outside of school.
I am in no way, shape, or form trying to point the finger and make you feel guilt or shame. However, I recognize that I kind of am pointing the finger here. These questions are meant to be reflective, and hopefully, they don’t make you defensive towards helping your child read.
Are you providing an example to your children about the importance of reading outside of school? It is hard to feel like reading is important when you haven’t personally connected with a book and don’t see the adults in your life reading either. It makes it seem like reading stops after school.
When you have edge times, do you pick up a book and read, or are you on your phone? The way you fill your time will more than likely be the way your child expects to fill their time. While they may not have a phone, they might want to watch videos on yours, play games, or sit around and stare at the wall.
Do you talk to your children about the books you are reading? Reading, believe it or not, is a communicative process. The author is communicating with the reader. In turn, the reader has motivation to communicate about their reading towards others. Have you ever read such a good book you feel like you have to share it with others?
Does your spouse or significant other read? Studies have shown that your children will most likely follow in their father’s footsteps concerning the amount of reading that they do. Creating a family of readers is a family effort. My children have already learned early on that their dad does not enjoy reading. And when they want to be just like dad, it can be hard to convince them that reading still has a place in their lives.
When talking about reading books, or reading in general, is your goal for reading pleasure? Are you only talking to your child about their reading to ask if they’ve read their 20 minutes or taken that AR test yet? Do you speak about reading in a pleasurable way and hold general, no-strings-attached conversations about reading?
Do you take home a book when you go to the library? Are you showing an interest in trying new books and reading during your free time? Are you modeling how to select a book, and then start and finish it?
Children are sponges, soaking up everything around them. But reading is not always a natural act, especially when it is an investment of our time. Getting your aliterate child to read is not going to be a simple process, but by better understanding why they may not be reading, you can better help come up with solutions.
Do you have any other ideas as to why your child might not be reading? Perhaps you have a solution to add to the mix here? Add them in the comments below!
*Please note that some aliterate children may actually be illiterate children in hiding. They may have developed enough coping mechanisms that they appear to be a good reader, but may not feel completely confident in their reading ability yet. This makes helping them find the right book for them even more important.
Cunningham, Anne & Stanovich, Keith. (1998). What reading does for the mind. American Educator. 22.
