Why do kids hate reading?

Most kids know how to read, but only a few love reading

Hi everyone,

Have you ever wondered why most kids grow up hating reading?

This week we are diving into why most people hate reading despite knowing how to read.

Cheers,

Aimen

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Read the right stuff - Leon’s Story

Leon, a 17 years old, young black man was a student in an upward-bound summer program. He was officially labeled almost illiterate after his continuous poor performance in tests and judgments.

Once, in a meeting, all students were invited to talk to their teachers about their learning experiences and feelings.

John Holt was also in that meeting.

On his turn, Leon stood up, holding a  copy of  Dr. Martin Luther King’s book “Why we can’t wait”,  which he had read during the last summer session. He turned from one to another adult in the room, holding and shaking the book for emphasis, and repeatedly said angrily, “Why didn’t anyone ever tell me about this book? Why didn’t anyone ever tell me about this book?”

“What he meant”, Holt says, “was that no one in all years of schooling ever   mentioned or showed a single book that had any reason to feel worth  reading.”

Why we can’t wait is not an easy read. It is full of intricate sentences and challenging comprehension. But Leon, whose standardized reading achievement test score proved that he had the reading skills of a second grader, had managed to find his way and read the book.

“The moral of the story is twofold”, Holt says, “that young people want, need, and like to read books that have meaning for them, and that when such books are put within easy reach they will sooner or later figure out, without being taught and with only minimal outside help, how to read them.” [1]

The Goal of Reading

The primary role of reading is to connect the idea on the page to your life & learn from it. You won’t retain much information if the topic you are reading is not attractive.

If you like technology, anything related to technology will be fun to read. You will have the motivation to understand and retain the information you read. The more you read, the more your reading comprehension will improve.

But schools ignore this crucial point and force kids to read and comprehend dull and complex literature that does not interest them.

If teaching reading is the goal, then why can’t kids choose what they want to read to learn reading?

How can a body of educators decide what text kids need to learn reading?

Every child is different, has different interests, and wants to read something that interests him. Why do we force the same topic and ideas in the name of education?

For most kids, it kills motivation and love for learning. 

It is probably why most kids know how to read, but only a few love reading.

We make it even worse when we test their reading abilities. In a typical classroom setting, a teacher asks a kid to read, then the teacher and the rest of the kids never miss any opportunity to pick up the mistakes, making it the worst possible place to read.

With loads of assignments and exams, we judge kids and shame them if they don’t meet their grade reading requirements.

It takes away all the joy and brings discomfort, shame, and negative association with the reading.

What study says?

How to help your child love reading?

4 minutes | theconversation

Isang studied a group of kids between the ages of 9 and 12 and uncovered a few ways that make kids read for pleasure. Studies reveal that kids who read for leisure tend to perform well in academics and professional life.

👉 Read the post

Fewer kids read for fun anymore

5 minutes | latimes

Packed with research and personal observation, in this article, Karin Klein talks about why the number of kids who read for fun has dropped by more than half, to 17% during the 2019-2020 school year.

👉 Read the post

How children learn to Read

7 minutes | newyorker

Between 2008-2009, Dr. Fumiko Hoeft recruited a group of five to six years old to study the fundamental neuroscience of reading development.  

She found one thing that consistently predicted how well a child would read is the growth of white matter in the left temporoparietal region of the brain.

The development of white matter at a crucial stage is central to reading abilities. She adds, “it’s also likely that the dorsal white-matter development is representing the environment the kids are exposed to between kindergarten and third grade. The home environment, the school environment, the kind of reading instruction they’re getting.”

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Typical behaviors of emergent readers

13 minutes | readingrockets

How do most kids start making sense of written symbols naturally as they grow up? Derry and Ray talk about the role of play, storytelling, communication, and connection in helping kids develop a love and understanding of reading.

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Quote of the week

“Read what you love until you love to read.”― Naval Ravikant

Resources:

[1] Learning all the time by John Holt