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Catherine, annotated

From Catherine, Annotated · sauerannotated.com/posts/what-to-say-when-reading-is-boring/

Dinner Table Literacy2 min read

a What to Say When… post

What to Say When Your Kid Says Reading Is Boring

"Reading is boring" is almost never about reading. Here is what it usually means, and what to say instead of "but it's good for you."

Welcome to What to Say When…, short scripts for the moments parents freeze. Today’s moment is a classic: your kid tosses the book on the couch and announces, with their whole chest, that reading is boring.

Here’s the secret from someone who hears it every single school year: “reading is boring” is almost never about reading. It usually means one of three things.

What they mean

“This book is too hard.” If they’re working so hard to decode the words that there’s nothing left over to enjoy the story, of course it’s boring. It’s a chore.

“This book is too easy, or too young.” Nothing kills interest faster than feeling talked down to.

“This isn’t my kind of book.” They haven’t found their thing yet. Some kids are mystery kids. Some are fact kids. Some are “a 400-page fantasy series with a map in the front” kids. Some are graphic novel kids, and that counts. It completely counts.

What not to say

  • “But reading is good for you.” (So is broccoli. Nobody has ever been persuaded by this.)
  • “When I was your age, I read all the time.” (They do not care.)
  • “You can have screen time when you finish.” (Now reading is officially a punishment.)

What to say instead

To find out why: “Boring how? Like, nothing happens, or it’s confusing, or it’s just not your thing?”

To hand them control: “Okay. You don’t have to finish that one. Let’s go find something you actually pick.”

To find their thing: “What’s the best show or game you’ve been into lately? Let’s find a book that feels like that.”

To lower the stakes: “Read me the first page. If it’s bad, we’ll roast it together.”

One thing to try this week

Take them somewhere with a lot of books, a library or a bookstore, and give them twenty minutes and zero rules. Don’t steer. Don’t say “how about this one?” Let them pick the weird one, the “too young” one, the comic. Choice is the single best motivator for readers who think they hate reading.

Three questions for dinner tonight

  1. What’s the best story you’ve ever heard, in a book, a movie, or real life?
  2. If you could make the teacher assign any book, what would you pick?
  3. What makes a story boring to you? Let’s make a list of rules.

That last one is sneaky. Once they can explain what makes a story boring, they’re thinking like a critic, and critics read.