My son is very active and loves to move and play. He has very little interest in books. We try to read at night, but it doesn't last long. We try during the day and he just takes off. I am a teacher and know how important it is so I of course will keep trying. But if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it. My daughter LOVED books since she was about 4 months, so this is new for me. Thanks!
How about books that involve doing something. Like open-the-flap books to get at the story. Maybe pop-up books. My daughter loved those kinds of books because she knew she got to do something with them besides just sit there.
Hi,
I too, am a teacher, and had similar problems with my son, after my daughter (they're 19 mos. apart....) Although we found that my son has SPD, we also discovered that he really prefers nonfiction, especially topics that interest him. We've been through construction vehicle books, went on to firefighters and police officers, then volcanoes, tornadoes, earthquakes, the solar system, and now black holes. (He turned 5 yesterday....) He just eats them up, but it IS a different experience than with my daughter-for a while she wasn't interested at all in ANYTHING factual. When he was younger, we read the nonfiction board books (very little print) but he liked knowing the names of things in the pictures, and the parts. I really liked Usborne nonfiction books-they worked very well for my son.
There is hope! Don't give up, and just go with his interests!
If he wakes up sleepy, try to make it part of the wake up routine. My son has always loved books, but one of our biggest hits is the "Big Truck Book". Does he like singing? You could try to sing nursery rhymes in lieu of reading & I think the effect is the same.
I just wanted to let you know I went through the same thing and asked my moms group for some ideas. I finally just sort of let it go for awhile but then he got into them. Now we read before nap time and bed time and he really enjoys it. Just try various types of books and it will happen eventually. Boys are just SO ACTIVE and it takes awhile. I was so envious of my girlfriends with girls and how they would just sit and read book after book. It will come along though!! Try singing songs in the meantime, I believe that is just as important and helpful.
I don't buy that this is a boy issue. My son is now 23 months, and loves to read, though being read to is harder. Siting for the duration of a book doesn't work very well. Here's what we did when he got to this stage.
We keep all of my sons books on a low reacheable shelf, enmeshed in his toys. He has a bookshelf in every room in our house. Yes many have been destoyed, however I only allow him to have the board books, so he can be harder on them. I've created a world where books are toys in a sense and we use different voices and sounds as well as act out the stories. He rarely sits for me to read to him, though will sit and turn the pages himself. It makes it hard, but I just ad-lib so we can get through it fast. We live in a split level home, so on the main level there are no toys, only books, so he will sit and read on his own there. He has a fun beanbag chair right next to his shelf so its more fun. In the play room he has 3 shelves of books intermingled with the toy shelving, and will often bring books to the couch.One of the shelves is kind of out of reach so he has to climb up on a stool to get to them. This challenge he really enjoys, as well as watching 15 books tumble around him when he tries to pull only one out.
Patience is key, because if you make it a control issue he can turn away from it completely. Let him lead the pace. When he's ready he will get more into it.
Hi Jenni~
I have the PERFECT book for you! My son was exactly the same way! Busy, busy, busy and definitely did not want to sit still to look at a book. This was new to me as my daughter (like yours) LOVED books from the time she was itty bitty.
"There's a Mouse About the House" is the book that I credit for bringing a love of books to my son. It is a busy, active book for busy, active kids. It is a "slot book" with a little mouse that moves through a slot on each page. When you turn the page, your son will discover the mouse waiting for him and then he can make it disappear through the next slot.
As a teacher, you will appreciate the pre-reading built into this book as well. Kids learn to go top to bottom as they follow the path with the mouse, they learn to turn one page at a time (otherwise the mouse isn't there waiting for them), they learn to go left to right and they learn all kinds of directional words-over, under, through, around, etc....
This is a GREAT book that I guarantee your son will love! I truly do credit this book with sparking a love of reading in my now 4 year old son. He LOVES to be read to now!
You can purchase this book through www.GetUsborneBooksNow.com as it is only available through an Usborne Books consultant. There is also another slot book about a squirrel called "A Squirrel's Tale"
Let me know if you have any other questions....
K.
really good tape :)
my son loves these british books called "oh no anna" he sat for them waay before anything else. my daughter was the same way and we wondered if he would ever like books. he loves them now and just turned two
My older son never sits still and never has. When it came to books, we got the ones that were more interactive (touching/flaps) or the ones that had animals in them (we have dogs that he LOVES). Those seemed to hold his interest. We also had the small ones with one object on each page and the word underneath it. We would go through those over and over again. Way before he could talk, he would point to the "shoes", "cow", "truck". And when he did, we would clap for him and he loved it. He's three now and still will pick up one of those books and just tear through it naming the objects as fast as possible. Lol.
Those books really did help get him started on reading. He LOVES books now and we have to limit him to 3 at night or else we would be reading bedtime stories for hours. (He suckered Dad into 6 one night this week!).
So, just keep trying - without forcing and it should be fun. Maybe your 3 y/o can "read" to her brother. I know Jacob loves to do that for his 11 month old brother.
T.
I went through this with both my boys. My now 3.5 year loves reading, but my 19 month old can take it or leave it. He sits awhile and then is up and about. I just keep reading, and hope that he's absorbing some of the book. That's what I did with my older son, and he got it eventually. My oldest, a girl, loved to read from early on, so I guess it's a boy thing!
