Developing a Desire to Read in 6Th Grade Boy

Not sure if they still have them, but my brother used to love the Choose Your Own Adventure series of books. You make the choices along the story and it has different endings based on what you want the character to do.

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I had the same problem with both my boys. I keep hoping they will come back to reading at some point. Neither has become a great reader. However, I have found if you can find an author they like they will be willing to read through those books. So, you just do the best you can. My youngest loved Gary Paulsen and read them all. He also loves sci-fi, but the book has to really grab him or he won't take the time.

Also, find books with video game characters. Even comic books. Anything to keep them reading.

One other idea. A bookclub. Start a bookclub with some other guys. Get the moms involved and rotate houses and recruit kids. Make the club fun so they will want to come. Let the kids vote on the book they will read, etc...could be a written vote to avoid feeling like you might pick the "wrong" book. 6th graders are already worried about popularity. once a month or even every other month is okay. don't make too much pressure because that will turn it into work instead of fun.

Good luck.

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I second the vote for Rick Riordan's series, and would like to add a suggestiong for Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Alex Rider books. Also, if you just sit down and start reading a book aloud, chances are he'll stay and listen.

In terms of getting his eyes checked, I agree with the other post. Go to a specialist. Two of my kids had 20-20 vision, but had reading issues - it was called convergence insufficiency. Be sure to get a second opinion, though, because therapy is expensive!

E.
www.votrevu.com/glow

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The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan was really fun for our whole family, and the "Among the Hidden" series was an easy read, too. I have a 14 yr old now, and he was the same way. Those two series sucked him right in. Have you had his eyes checked recently? Turned out that my son actually had a vision problem that needed some correction.

Good luck!

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The vision thing IS a possibility. Sometimes it causes a mild ache that makes reading "annoying" (often not recognized as a pain).
My brother is SO smart, but I remember when he was in 5th grade we truly thought something was WRONG with him b/c everyone else in the family (both parents, me, grandparents, etc) were voracious readers and had books on every subject in our house. Mom, in desperation, started giving him comic books, particularly the old heroes (where you know the content isn't R-rated). He read them all...then got onto his own themes (for him it was comics to Star Wars to Sci-Fi to (somehow) classics. By the time he was in 11th grade, he'd read more than the average college student (everything by Oscar Wilde, Dante, Homer, etc). It was just the starting him up...
Good luck!

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