• 3 year old doesn't have interest in books
• 4 year old's huge interest in reading
• related page: Reading Problems

3 year old doesn't have interest in books

My 3 year old daughter ( she will be 4 in October) still doesn't show much interest in books. The only times we can read to her is right before bed time and even that is sometimes a drama. If I pick the books out she screams. When I let her pick the books out it' usually picture books or baby books. She is growing up billingual ( German /English) and does pretty well in both languages. She also attends a German preschool. Usually I read the German books ( I am German) and my husband ( the english speaker is reading the English books). We never mix languages. I only speak German to her and her dad only speaks English to her. She actually doesn't want me to read English to her. Since it gets harder to translate her books the older she gets I thought I read her some Books in English but of course she hates that. I do have German books too but sometimes I want to pick something new. When I go to the library with her she doesn't want me to read to her the books even when I translate it into German. She wants to look at it herself. When I tell her '' let's go read some books'', she sais no right away and takes the book out of my hand. At preschool she also doesn't show interest in books. After lunch the kids have reading time and the kids who don't want to be read to can go outside. Of course she never sits in the reading corner and instead runs outside with the 2 year olds. Since she is almost 4, I am starting to worry about it. She is an active child but not hyperactive. I am worried that she is going to have problems in school if this continues. All the other kids in her preschool ( except some 2 year olds) show interest in books. I know that reading to a child is important but how can I read to her when she doesn't let me. I am seeing myself fighting homework with her in the future. anon

Your daughter has clearly decided that reading is an area of her life that warrants her control. The reasons for her decision may range anywhere from feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities she associates with reading to feeling that it is simply the one area of her life she has the greatest opportunity to control. It is normal and healthy for a child of her age to want control over her life. And, at her age, it will be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to change her mind. However, that does not mean that the issue cannot be resolved successfully.

My professional recommendation is that first, you take one month to completely let go of any and all emotional investment you have in her reading related behaviors. This step is absolutely crucial to successful short- and long-term resolution of this issue. During this month, do your best to not mention her reading in any way, shape or form. As a matter of fact, if she (by some miracle) chooses a book at bed time and asks you to read it, make sure to BE VERY MATTER OF FACT about agreeing (maybe even asking her to wait a minute while you finish what you are doing, before sitting down with her.)

When that month is over, get hold of some books that are the closest thing to picture books you are comfortable having her read. DO NOT OFFER TO READ THEM TO HER. Instead, at bed time (or any other convenient time), settle down in a cozy chair and read them to yourself (genuinely enjoying them.) If she asks you to spend time with her, let her know that she is welcome to join you in what you are doing, and that you are going to finish what you are doing (reading) before doing anything else. Take a couple of weeks to establish this patter of behavior.

If these steps bring about change in her attitude, you are on your way, and it would be fine to gradually and gently (with no pressure) begin offering to read to her. If these steps do not change her attitude at all, my guess is that there are some deeper reasons that she is resisting books. She may have had what felt to her like a traumatic experience around reading, or she may somehow have the idea that if she never reads, she won't ever have to go to 'real' school (which she may, for some reason, fear having to do.)

I hope you find this helpful.
nechama

4 year old's huge interest in reading

My four year old daughter has recently developed a huge interest in letters and numbers and spends much of her time pretending to read. She also enjoys learning to ''draw'' letters of the alphabet. What should I be doing to encourage her? Should I be doing anything? (I hear there are pitfalls to ''forcing'' academics.) I have two younger children so I'd love to know what I can do to channel this interest in the most efficient way possible. My husband or I spend about 15 min. per day reading to her. Is that enough? She's my oldest and I'm pretty clueless about how (and when) kids learn to read and write and what I should or should not be doing to make it happen. Thanks very much! Katherine

Here are some good things you can ''play'' at home: Sing the alphabet while pointing to the letters Find letters - Can you find a 'b'? Name letters - What's this letter? Work on learning to write her name Ask questions when you read to her - What happened? Who....? Where...? What do you think is going to happen next? Why...? General ''when'' questions like day or night, winter or summer... Play rhyming games - you can get flashcards for this and play games like ''memory'' and ''go fish'' to find rhyming pairs Talk about words that start with the same sound - ''let's think of words that start with the *sound* 'buh'. Bat, ball, big, boy...'' (It might start out as mostly you, then eventually can ask her if she can think of one - or you can give choices - Which one starts with 'buh', boy or girl? Or play ''I spy'' -I spy something that rhymes with... Your turn. or I spy something that begins with 'buh'. Help her learn to trace letters in textures - popcorn kernels in a tray, beans in a tray, sand, shaving cream, finger paint, etc. Hope this helps! These ought to keep you busy for a while. Kristin