For Parents

Scholastic's 10 Best Ways to Keep Your Middle Schooler Turning the Pages

Amidst the flurry of back-to-school friends, homework, and sports, your pre-teen may not feel like reading. Here are my 10 tips for keeping your child hooked on reading:

1. Let your child choose what to read. While you may cringe at his preferences, he may never touch a title if it's force-fed.

2. Talk about what she reads. Even better - read a book with your middle schooler! Then, ask her what she thinks of a book and make connections with ideas or issues that are relevant to her life. Talking about books creates life-long readers.

3. If he's struggling or bored with a book, let him put it down. Forcing him to stick with a difficult or dull book that's intended for pleasure will reinforce the idea that reading is a chore. My rule: give it 30 pages. If you're not hooked, it's time to abandon ship!

4. Subscribe to magazines that will interest her. Ask her to choose one or two titles and put the subscription in her name. This is a great birthday gift idea! With the Common Core having a major focus on nonfiction, magazine reading is key.

5. Encourage your middle-schooler to read to a younger sibling. Letting him take over ritual reading at bedtime once a week will ensure he reads something, and he may find his sibling's enthusiasm for stories contagious.

6. Visit the library together. Try to make it an event where you share some quality one-on-one time and both choose a few books. Our HMS school library is a great resource for all students to use this school year!

7. Model reading, and try to read every day. We are busy people, but your pre-teen will still follow your reading habits. Let her see you reading daily in a nice space (well lit, inviting), make comments about your book, and share interesting passages with her.    

8. Give positive praise for reading. When your reader finishes a book, give them some praise! If your child is a reluctant reader, a special treat may not hurt to keep him reading. Books are becoming movies more and more, so ask your child to read the book first. Seeing the movie together could be an excellent reward.

9. Promote audio books. Listening to audio books can help with reading fluency. Have your child follow the text with their eyes, if possible. If you're heading on vacation, or even back-and-forth to school, try listening to a novel that will appeal to everyone. 

10. Use the web to find new books. If your child likes a certain author or genre, use the web to find more potential books to read. Even popular sites like Youtube, Scholastic, Pinterest, and Twitter are some examples. Amazon.com is an excellent search tool.

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