May 12, 2025 • 18 mins
Reading battles don't have to be your nightly reality. Behind every "I hate reading" declaration, focus struggle, or mechanical page-turning lies an opportunity for transformation.
Remember that little girl who proudly announced she hated all books? Two years later, she left my classroom as an enthusiastic reader. What changed wasn't her ability—it was her experience. When children resist reading, they're rarely rejecting stories; they're avoiding feelings of inadequacy or failure. The shift begins when we respond with "I get it, reading can feel hard sometimes" instead of frustration or disappointment.
This episode walks you through practical solutions for three common reading frustrations. For the reluctant reader, we explore how offering choices (graphic novels, joke books, audio books) creates low-pressure wins. For the fidgeter who can't sit still, learn how breaking reading into micro-chunks, allowing intentional movement, and changing environments (reading forts, park visits, trampoline bouncing) can dramatically improve engagement. And for children going through the motions without connection, discover how makerspace thinking transforms passive reading into creative adventures.
The beauty of these approaches lies in their simplicity. You don't need special materials or educational degrees—just a willingness to shift perspectives and prioritize joy. Try tonight's challenges: read anything your child chooses with zero corrections, build a reading fort with a flashlight and snacks, or turn a story into a hands-on project using the free Communication STEM Story Station resource.
Reading struggles aren't roadblocks—they're invitations to try something different. Your child deserves to love books, and you deserve peace at story time. One small change today could spark the reading breakthrough you've been waiting for.
🎁 Grab my FREE Communication STEM Story Station to Bring a Book to life!
👉 https://trina-deboree-teaching-and-learning.kit.com/280adbdf11
🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe for weekly tips to help kids love reading—for life!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 244.
How to help kids who strugglewith reading.
Three frustrations you can fix.
Does your child say things likeI hate reading or give up as
soon as the words get hard?
Do they lose focus?
Do they fidget?
Do they seem totallyuninterested in books, even ones
(00:22):
they picked out themselves?
You're not alone and you arenot stuck.
In this podcast I'm walking youthrough three of the most
common reading frustrations thatkids and their parents face and
how to gently shift thosestruggles into
confidence-building wins.
Hope you stick around.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hope to stick around.
Welcome to One Tired Teacher,and even though she may need a
nap, this teacher is ready towake up and speak her truth
about the trials and treasuresof teaching here.
She is wide awake.
Wait, she's not asleep rightnow, is she?
She is awake, right, okay, fromTrina Debery, teaching and
(01:06):
Learning.
Awake, right, okay, from TrinaDebery, teaching and learning
your host, trina Debery.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Hi, I'm Trina Debery, and this is reading readers in
the making.
In today's video, you're goingto learn how to respond to your
child when they say I hatereading, without a power
struggle.
You're going to learnstrategies to help improve focus
and help keep your childengaged.
And you're going to learn howto move from passive reading to
(01:30):
active reading active, joyfullearning, with a makerspace
mindset.
So let's get started.
So let's deal with frustrationnumber one I hate reading.
This is a big one for me, andlet me just tell you it's a hard
one.
Let me tell you this littlestory first, before we get
started, and that is about thislittle girl that I had.
(01:52):
Actually, I didn't have her atfirst.
I was teaching second grade andI was at the time I was just
doing remediation for secondgrade in my grade and we had
like 13 second graders, so Imean 13 second grade classrooms,
so I had a lot of kids thatwere struggling.
Unfortunately um, I meanunfortunately, they're
struggling.
Not that I had a lot of kids, Iloved those kids anyway, so
(02:14):
they would come to me throughoutthe day and we ended up
participating in a project withApple and Full Sail University.
It was a project-based learningproject and my challenge to my
students was how to transformapathy into engagement in
reading.
So I was going to take thesechildren that were already
(02:34):
feeling apathetic about readingand they were going to help
figure out how we couldtransform that thinking.
Meanwhile, they weretransformed as well.
It was really cool.
It was a very meta experienceand it was very cool.
So one of the first things wedid was we wanted to gather
information.
So that's one of the firststeps you do in a project-based
(02:55):
learning activity you do someresearch.
So we did a survey.
We decided to do a survey usingour technology, because this
was all about also integratingmeaningful technology Meaningful
and let me just say this wasalso in 2010 and now we're in
2025.
And I don't think we've gottenany better at using technology
(03:18):
in the classroom, but that'sjust another story.
All right, so they got theirlittle laptops and they had
their survey that they made inGoogle forms and we went on down
to a first kindergarten.
We went to a kindergartenclassroom and we went to second
kindergarteners with my secondgraders and they interviewed the
kindergartners.
They had already gone over thequestions, they helped create
(03:41):
the form, they helped create thequestions and they asked the
kindergartners how they feltabout reading.
And I will never forget thisadorable little girl.
And she came out.
She was very grumpy.
She was a grumpy Gus and shewas like I hate reading.
And my kids were, like you know, looking at me, my students
were looking at me and I'm justsmiled and I'm like let them do
(04:03):
it, cause that's what you do.
You let them do it and they andthey're like you know why do
you hate reading?
Um, do you like this kind ofbook?
No, do you like that kind ofbook?
No.
Do you like any kind of books?
No, I don't like reading.
So, and she's like, andbasically nothing's going to
convince me to like reading.
And I remember thinking, rightthen and there, that I was going
to get that child in secondgrade.
(04:23):
I just knew it.
And guess what I did?
I got that child.
Two years later, I got thatchild in second grade and I am
happy to say that she does nothate reading and that she left
my classroom loving to read.
That was my goal, that was mychallenge to myself, that was my
determination and that's whathappened.
But boy, was she a tough nut tocrack.
(04:46):
So when you hear things likethat, when you hear kids say
things like I hate reading, itusually means something deeper,
usually means this is hard orI'm afraid to mess up, or
reading makes me feel like I'mnot good enough, and that's how
I felt when I was little and Istruggled with reading.
That it meant that I wasn'tgood enough and actually I held
(05:10):
on to that for a lot of my lifeand that's really sad.
We don't want that for kids.
It's not about the book, it'sabout the feeling of failure
that often hides behind it.
So let's talk about you know,that's the problem.
That's what the problem is.
It's more than the book, it'smore than hating reading.
(05:33):
It's the feeling of failure.
So let's talk about the fix forthat.
What can we try instead?
So one of the first things thatwe can do is we can empathize.
We can empathize with thisfeeling Instead of judging it or
getting frustrated by it.
We can muster all of ourself-control as adults, which is
(05:54):
often hard, and we can say Iget it.
Reading can feel really hardsometimes.
Let's figure out how to do thistogether, how to make this more
fun, how to make this moremeaningful, how to make this
better for you.
So that's that's where we canstart.
(06:19):
Another thing that we can do iswe can offer choices that feel
like wins for kids.
So things like graphic novels,audio books, joke books or
Evelyn wordless picture bookscan reignite interest.
And that's where we need tostart is igniting interest.
So let reading mean more thanjust decoding words, because it
(06:40):
isn't just about decoding words.
It's about gathering meaning,it's about making connection,
it's about learning, it's aboutmoving forward.
It's about so much more thanjust decoding words.
So let's remember that.
It also means storytelling,listening or sharing ideas.
So that's one thing that we cando.
We can reignite interest byoffering choice.
(07:02):
We can make it a more joyfulexperience.
We can try reading picnics,flashlight reading or even
turning reading into aperformance with silly voices.
Remember, the key is to sparkinterest.
We're going to get them to thebooks that we know they need to
read or that they might have toread, but we're going to do that
(07:24):
by helping them love to read.
That's the gateway, the love ofreading.
That's the thing that mattersthe most.
All right, so let's talk aboutsomething that you could try
tonight, and it's a small winchallenge Let your child pick
any book they want and read ittogether With zero, zero
(07:45):
correction, zero time limits.
It's all about having fun andjoyful.
Now I know what you're thinking.
It's not just about having fun.
We're going to get there.
We're going to get to where weneed to go, but this is how we
have to start the journey and ifwe mess this up, we're not
going to get where we need to go.
Or if we do, it's going to be abattle, a long, uncomfortable,
(08:10):
painful battle.
All right, so if you've heardanything you like, definitely
give me a thumbs up.
I'm a words of affirmation kindof girl.
I need to know I'm on the righttrack.
Let me know how you feel.
All right, let's move on tofrustration number two, which is
not tech-free reading hacks.
So that is a mistake.
But we're going to move on tofrustration number two, which is
(08:33):
they can't seem to focus enoughto read.
That is a story of my son'slife.
That might even be the story ofmy life, but it's definitely the
story of my son Jackson's life.
Focusing sitting, still, thatwas not his thing.
And let me tell you why thiscan feel so hard for kids.
So some kids, they can't stillsit still for 10 seconds, let
(08:55):
alone 10 pages.
And when you've already, whenyou're already tired and you're
at the end of the day which ismost of the time when we get a
chance to get to reading they,they feel like you're and you
feel like you're trying to makeit through the book, make it
through the reading.
It becomes another nightlybattle.
It becomes something thatnobody looks forward to Not you,
(09:17):
not your child, nobody.
That doesn't feel good and thatleaves a lasting impression.
That's what we associatereading with.
That's not what we want.
So let's talk about how to fixthat, all right.
So what to try instead?
We're going to break readinginto micro chunks, so we're
(09:37):
going to just read one paragraphat a time, or one page at a
time, and we're going to stop tomove.
We're going to stop to talk.
We might even stop to play.
We might even start stop tobuild.
We might even stop to fid.
We might even start stop tobuild.
We might even stop to fidget.
That's okay because, remember,we're sparking interest, all
right.
Another thing is actuallyletting them fidget with
(09:58):
intention.
I know these little spinners.
Things made teachers insane andthey maybe even made parents
insane, but they actually helpkids.
And this isn't the only thing.
There's like stress balls.
There's a wiggle cushion.
Wiggle cushion there's acquiredsensory object while they
listen or while they while theyread or while they listen.
Movement helps many kids stayfocused, not distracted.
(10:22):
It might look like they'redistracted because they're
messing around, but they'relistening and information is
going inside.
And we might not understandthat because maybe we're not
like that.
I actually do understand thatbecause I am like that.
I need to fidget.
I'm a fidgeter, but I'm takingin information.
It's allowing me me fidgetingwith this is letting me take in
(10:45):
information.
So we have to remember thatwe're not all the same and just
because it doesn't work for usdoesn't mean it's not working
for them.
So that's one thing.
Another thing to do is changethe environment.
I've said this so many times,but reading while jumping on a
mini trampoline, swinging,walking around the house,
(11:06):
reading at the park, reading ina fort all those things they
change the environment, theyreset the brain.
Happy, positive connectionsthat's what we're looking for.
All right, so try this tonight.
Build a reading fort.
Invite your child in with aflashlight and a book and a
favorite snack.
Make it an invitation, not arequirement.
(11:29):
Invite them in See what littlebit of a difference that makes.
All right, If you like this,let me know.
Let me know.
Give me a thumbs up.
I need some thumbs up.
I need to know.
Yes, yes, trina, I need moreinformation, and if you feel
like you've heard somethingtoday that you know someone else
needs, because you guys havebeen talking about how hard it
(11:49):
is and how the reading battlesare dragging you down, share
this with a friend.
Somebody else might need tohear the same information.
All right, let's move on tofrustration number three, which
is they're just going throughthe motions.
This one can be true even forkids that aren't struggling or
(12:09):
aren't necessarily reluctantreaders.
It might be more for just oureveryday readers, who we think
are fine, they're not having areading problem, but they're
kind of just going through themotions.
Let's talk about the problemhere.
So if they're decoding wordswithout understanding, or
(12:31):
they're reading without reallycaring about it, this is still a
problem.
Let me tell you first of allthat.
Let me tell you first of all astory about guessing, because
guessing has gotten a lot ofheat from the people, from the
science of reading, people whoare like you've been sold a
story, who have acted like we'vebeen teaching reading terribly
(12:55):
all these.
All these years.
Reading has been criticized andput down for so long.
It feels like I've neverremember us ever saying that our
reading scores were good orthat reading was going well.
The interesting part is thatthose scores are coming from a
company that wants you to spendmore money on the company, so
(13:16):
that's part of it.
The other part is those peoplethat are telling us a story or
sold us a story are now tellingus about the story.
It feels a little manipulativeto me because some of the things
they're saying, such as wedidn't care about phonemic
awareness, we didn't care aboutphonics that's not true.
We care about phonemicawareness, we cared about
(13:37):
phonics, we cared aboutphonological awareness, which is
the encompassing of both ofthose, and we never told kids to
just guess.
That's such a tiny piece oftruth manipulated into something
that it isn't.
So if we told kids to guess, ifwe said guess is a strategy,
(14:00):
because some people think thatguess is a strategy.
It wasn't just guesswilly-nilly, it was guess
intentionally.
It was guess intentionally.
And this is what I mean.
Guessing just randomly is not astrategy.
Guessing but asking yourselfdoes that word look right, does
(14:25):
that word sound right and doesthat word make sense, is
intentionally guessing.
That actually is a strategy.
I'm looking at the word, so Ihave to use my phonics and
decoding skills.
I'm listening to how it sounds,which means I'm using my
grammatical skills.
I'm using like syntax, I'mtrying to make sure it makes it
(14:47):
sounds right.
And then I'm asking myself doesit make sense?
Because I'm using meaning, I'musing comprehension, because if
it doesn't make sense or itdoesn't look right or it doesn't
sound right, then I'm gonnahave to move on to another
possible guess.
Do you see the difference?
(15:07):
So there is a difference.
Just wanted to put that outthere.
But let's talk about why justgoing through the motions is a
problem.
Kids who decode wordsmechanically but they don't
engage with the meaning.
They often feel like reading issomething that they're doing to
get through, not something thatthey're connecting with.
Kids that are just readingbecause they are told they have
(15:29):
to read and they get out a bookand they read, but it doesn't
mean anything to them.
They're also losing connectionand they might even be losing
meaning, and that's sad,especially if we want them to go
beyond our, our wall, our fourwalls.
We want, we want more for themin life.
A lot of that requires reading,especially if you want to go to
(15:52):
college or you want to go inthat direction.
There's a lot of reading, solet's love it instead of hating
it.
All right, let's talk about howwe can fix that.
That was a little bit of atangent, sorry, couldn't help
myself.
All right, what are we going totry instead?
So we're going to trymakerspace, thinking Like,
instead of just ending with astory, let's go beyond the story
.
Let's ask what we can build,what we can make, what we can
(16:15):
create after reading this.
This is my example from Diaryof a Worm.
It like how would we help Wormrecord his thoughts without his
hands, because he doesn't havehands?
Worms don't have hands or feet.
Let's invent a device.
Let's draw it, let's build itfrom straws and Play-Doh.
So this is just one sample, andI actually have this freebie
(16:35):
right here.
Can you see it?
Whoops, I'm like dyslexic, sothat's backwards for me.
Can you see that?
So you are going to grab it inthe description below this video
.
It's a little freebie.
It goes with Diary of a Worm.
You don't have to use thischallenge.
You can use the think sheetswith any story, but this
challenge is also really fun.
(16:57):
Another thing that we can try isletting our children become the
story.
Letting them become the story,act it out, change the ending,
create a sequel together.
This turns comprehension intocreation, which is far more
exciting than just answeringquestions.
So try this tonight.
(17:18):
Try using this freecommunication STEM story station
and turn your child's next bookinto a hands-on adventure.
You can download it in thedescriptions below.
Like I hate reading decoding,frustration, short attention
(17:40):
spans, lack of focus,indifference.
They don't have to beroadblocks.
They can be invitations toshift, to soften and just to try
something different.
You've got this and I've gotyou.
So try one of these simpleshifts today and watch what
happens when your childexperiences a reading win.
(18:03):
And don't forget to grab myfree communication STEM story
station below and, like anythingthat you've heard, definitely
give me a thumbs up.
I'd love if you share thisvideo and subscribe for more
Meaningful, joyful Strategiesevery week, because your child
deserves to love books and youdeserve peace at story time.
(18:26):
Together, you and I can createjoyful, confident readers,
readers in the making, one pageat a time.
Bye for now.
Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 244.
How to help kids who strugglewith reading.
Three frustrations you can fix.
Does your child say things likeI hate reading or give up as
soon as the words get hard?
Do they lose focus?
Do they fidget?
Do they seem totallyuninterested in books, even ones
(00:22):
they picked out themselves?
You're not alone and you arenot stuck.
In this podcast I'm walking youthrough three of the most
common reading frustrations thatkids and their parents face and
how to gently shift thosestruggles into
confidence-building wins.
Hope you stick around.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hope to stick around.
Welcome to One Tired Teacher,and even though she may need a
nap, this teacher is ready towake up and speak her truth
about the trials and treasuresof teaching here.
She is wide awake.
Wait, she's not asleep rightnow, is she?
She is awake, right, okay, fromTrina Debery, teaching and
(01:06):
Learning.
Awake, right, okay, from TrinaDebery, teaching and learning
your host, trina Debery.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Hi, I'm Trina Debery, and this is reading readers in
the making.
In today's video, you're goingto learn how to respond to your
child when they say I hatereading, without a power
struggle.
You're going to learnstrategies to help improve focus
and help keep your childengaged.
And you're going to learn howto move from passive reading to
(01:30):
active reading active, joyfullearning, with a makerspace
mindset.
So let's get started.
So let's deal with frustrationnumber one I hate reading.
This is a big one for me, andlet me just tell you it's a hard
one.
Let me tell you this littlestory first, before we get
started, and that is about thislittle girl that I had.
(01:52):
Actually, I didn't have her atfirst.
I was teaching second grade andI was at the time I was just
doing remediation for secondgrade in my grade and we had
like 13 second graders, so Imean 13 second grade classrooms,
so I had a lot of kids thatwere struggling.
Unfortunately um, I meanunfortunately, they're
struggling.
Not that I had a lot of kids, Iloved those kids anyway, so
(02:14):
they would come to me throughoutthe day and we ended up
participating in a project withApple and Full Sail University.
It was a project-based learningproject and my challenge to my
students was how to transformapathy into engagement in
reading.
So I was going to take thesechildren that were already
(02:34):
feeling apathetic about readingand they were going to help
figure out how we couldtransform that thinking.
Meanwhile, they weretransformed as well.
It was really cool.
It was a very meta experienceand it was very cool.
So one of the first things wedid was we wanted to gather
information.
So that's one of the firststeps you do in a project-based
(02:55):
learning activity you do someresearch.
So we did a survey.
We decided to do a survey usingour technology, because this
was all about also integratingmeaningful technology Meaningful
and let me just say this wasalso in 2010 and now we're in
2025.
And I don't think we've gottenany better at using technology
(03:18):
in the classroom, but that'sjust another story.
All right, so they got theirlittle laptops and they had
their survey that they made inGoogle forms and we went on down
to a first kindergarten.
We went to a kindergartenclassroom and we went to second
kindergarteners with my secondgraders and they interviewed the
kindergartners.
They had already gone over thequestions, they helped create
(03:41):
the form, they helped create thequestions and they asked the
kindergartners how they feltabout reading.
And I will never forget thisadorable little girl.
And she came out.
She was very grumpy.
She was a grumpy Gus and shewas like I hate reading.
And my kids were, like you know, looking at me, my students
were looking at me and I'm justsmiled and I'm like let them do
(04:03):
it, cause that's what you do.
You let them do it and they andthey're like you know why do
you hate reading?
Um, do you like this kind ofbook?
No, do you like that kind ofbook?
No.
Do you like any kind of books?
No, I don't like reading.
So, and she's like, andbasically nothing's going to
convince me to like reading.
And I remember thinking, rightthen and there, that I was going
to get that child in secondgrade.
(04:23):
I just knew it.
And guess what I did?
I got that child.
Two years later, I got thatchild in second grade and I am
happy to say that she does nothate reading and that she left
my classroom loving to read.
That was my goal, that was mychallenge to myself, that was my
determination and that's whathappened.
But boy, was she a tough nut tocrack.
(04:46):
So when you hear things likethat, when you hear kids say
things like I hate reading, itusually means something deeper,
usually means this is hard orI'm afraid to mess up, or
reading makes me feel like I'mnot good enough, and that's how
I felt when I was little and Istruggled with reading.
That it meant that I wasn'tgood enough and actually I held
(05:10):
on to that for a lot of my lifeand that's really sad.
We don't want that for kids.
It's not about the book, it'sabout the feeling of failure
that often hides behind it.
So let's talk about you know,that's the problem.
That's what the problem is.
It's more than the book, it'smore than hating reading.
(05:33):
It's the feeling of failure.
So let's talk about the fix forthat.
What can we try instead?
So one of the first things thatwe can do is we can empathize.
We can empathize with thisfeeling Instead of judging it or
getting frustrated by it.
We can muster all of ourself-control as adults, which is
(05:54):
often hard, and we can say Iget it.
Reading can feel really hardsometimes.
Let's figure out how to do thistogether, how to make this more
fun, how to make this moremeaningful, how to make this
better for you.
So that's that's where we canstart.
(06:19):
Another thing that we can do iswe can offer choices that feel
like wins for kids.
So things like graphic novels,audio books, joke books or
Evelyn wordless picture bookscan reignite interest.
And that's where we need tostart is igniting interest.
So let reading mean more thanjust decoding words, because it
(06:40):
isn't just about decoding words.
It's about gathering meaning,it's about making connection,
it's about learning, it's aboutmoving forward.
It's about so much more thanjust decoding words.
So let's remember that.
It also means storytelling,listening or sharing ideas.
So that's one thing that we cando.
We can reignite interest byoffering choice.
(07:02):
We can make it a more joyfulexperience.
We can try reading picnics,flashlight reading or even
turning reading into aperformance with silly voices.
Remember, the key is to sparkinterest.
We're going to get them to thebooks that we know they need to
read or that they might have toread, but we're going to do that
(07:24):
by helping them love to read.
That's the gateway, the love ofreading.
That's the thing that mattersthe most.
All right, so let's talk aboutsomething that you could try
tonight, and it's a small winchallenge Let your child pick
any book they want and read ittogether With zero, zero
(07:45):
correction, zero time limits.
It's all about having fun andjoyful.
Now I know what you're thinking.
It's not just about having fun.
We're going to get there.
We're going to get to where weneed to go, but this is how we
have to start the journey and ifwe mess this up, we're not
going to get where we need to go.
Or if we do, it's going to be abattle, a long, uncomfortable,
(08:10):
painful battle.
All right, so if you've heardanything you like, definitely
give me a thumbs up.
I'm a words of affirmation kindof girl.
I need to know I'm on the righttrack.
Let me know how you feel.
All right, let's move on tofrustration number two, which is
not tech-free reading hacks.
So that is a mistake.
But we're going to move on tofrustration number two, which is
(08:33):
they can't seem to focus enoughto read.
That is a story of my son'slife.
That might even be the story ofmy life, but it's definitely the
story of my son Jackson's life.
Focusing sitting, still, thatwas not his thing.
And let me tell you why thiscan feel so hard for kids.
So some kids, they can't stillsit still for 10 seconds, let
(08:55):
alone 10 pages.
And when you've already, whenyou're already tired and you're
at the end of the day which ismost of the time when we get a
chance to get to reading they,they feel like you're and you
feel like you're trying to makeit through the book, make it
through the reading.
It becomes another nightlybattle.
It becomes something thatnobody looks forward to Not you,
(09:17):
not your child, nobody.
That doesn't feel good and thatleaves a lasting impression.
That's what we associatereading with.
That's not what we want.
So let's talk about how to fixthat, all right.
So what to try instead?
We're going to break readinginto micro chunks, so we're
(09:37):
going to just read one paragraphat a time, or one page at a
time, and we're going to stop tomove.
We're going to stop to talk.
We might even stop to play.
We might even start stop tobuild.
We might even stop to fid.
We might even start stop tobuild.
We might even stop to fidget.
That's okay because, remember,we're sparking interest, all
right.
Another thing is actuallyletting them fidget with
(09:58):
intention.
I know these little spinners.
Things made teachers insane andthey maybe even made parents
insane, but they actually helpkids.
And this isn't the only thing.
There's like stress balls.
There's a wiggle cushion.
Wiggle cushion there's acquiredsensory object while they
listen or while they while theyread or while they listen.
Movement helps many kids stayfocused, not distracted.
(10:22):
It might look like they'redistracted because they're
messing around, but they'relistening and information is
going inside.
And we might not understandthat because maybe we're not
like that.
I actually do understand thatbecause I am like that.
I need to fidget.
I'm a fidgeter, but I'm takingin information.
It's allowing me me fidgetingwith this is letting me take in
(10:45):
information.
So we have to remember thatwe're not all the same and just
because it doesn't work for usdoesn't mean it's not working
for them.
So that's one thing.
Another thing to do is changethe environment.
I've said this so many times,but reading while jumping on a
mini trampoline, swinging,walking around the house,
(11:06):
reading at the park, reading ina fort all those things they
change the environment, theyreset the brain.
Happy, positive connectionsthat's what we're looking for.
All right, so try this tonight.
Build a reading fort.
Invite your child in with aflashlight and a book and a
favorite snack.
Make it an invitation, not arequirement.
(11:29):
Invite them in See what littlebit of a difference that makes.
All right, If you like this,let me know.
Let me know.
Give me a thumbs up.
I need some thumbs up.
I need to know.
Yes, yes, trina, I need moreinformation, and if you feel
like you've heard somethingtoday that you know someone else
needs, because you guys havebeen talking about how hard it
(11:49):
is and how the reading battlesare dragging you down, share
this with a friend.
Somebody else might need tohear the same information.
All right, let's move on tofrustration number three, which
is they're just going throughthe motions.
This one can be true even forkids that aren't struggling or
(12:09):
aren't necessarily reluctantreaders.
It might be more for just oureveryday readers, who we think
are fine, they're not having areading problem, but they're
kind of just going through themotions.
Let's talk about the problemhere.
So if they're decoding wordswithout understanding, or
(12:31):
they're reading without reallycaring about it, this is still a
problem.
Let me tell you first of allthat.
Let me tell you first of all astory about guessing, because
guessing has gotten a lot ofheat from the people, from the
science of reading, people whoare like you've been sold a
story, who have acted like we'vebeen teaching reading terribly
(12:55):
all these.
All these years.
Reading has been criticized andput down for so long.
It feels like I've neverremember us ever saying that our
reading scores were good orthat reading was going well.
The interesting part is thatthose scores are coming from a
company that wants you to spendmore money on the company, so
(13:16):
that's part of it.
The other part is those peoplethat are telling us a story or
sold us a story are now tellingus about the story.
It feels a little manipulativeto me because some of the things
they're saying, such as wedidn't care about phonemic
awareness, we didn't care aboutphonics that's not true.
We care about phonemicawareness, we cared about
(13:37):
phonics, we cared aboutphonological awareness, which is
the encompassing of both ofthose, and we never told kids to
just guess.
That's such a tiny piece oftruth manipulated into something
that it isn't.
So if we told kids to guess, ifwe said guess is a strategy,
(14:00):
because some people think thatguess is a strategy.
It wasn't just guesswilly-nilly, it was guess
intentionally.
It was guess intentionally.
And this is what I mean.
Guessing just randomly is not astrategy.
Guessing but asking yourselfdoes that word look right, does
(14:25):
that word sound right and doesthat word make sense, is
intentionally guessing.
That actually is a strategy.
I'm looking at the word, so Ihave to use my phonics and
decoding skills.
I'm listening to how it sounds,which means I'm using my
grammatical skills.
I'm using like syntax, I'mtrying to make sure it makes it
(14:47):
sounds right.
And then I'm asking myself doesit make sense?
Because I'm using meaning, I'musing comprehension, because if
it doesn't make sense or itdoesn't look right or it doesn't
sound right, then I'm gonnahave to move on to another
possible guess.
Do you see the difference?
(15:07):
So there is a difference.
Just wanted to put that outthere.
But let's talk about why justgoing through the motions is a
problem.
Kids who decode wordsmechanically but they don't
engage with the meaning.
They often feel like reading issomething that they're doing to
get through, not something thatthey're connecting with.
Kids that are just readingbecause they are told they have
(15:29):
to read and they get out a bookand they read, but it doesn't
mean anything to them.
They're also losing connectionand they might even be losing
meaning, and that's sad,especially if we want them to go
beyond our, our wall, our fourwalls.
We want, we want more for themin life.
A lot of that requires reading,especially if you want to go to
(15:52):
college or you want to go inthat direction.
There's a lot of reading, solet's love it instead of hating
it.
All right, let's talk about howwe can fix that.
That was a little bit of atangent, sorry, couldn't help
myself.
All right, what are we going totry instead?
So we're going to trymakerspace, thinking Like,
instead of just ending with astory, let's go beyond the story
.
Let's ask what we can build,what we can make, what we can
(16:15):
create after reading this.
This is my example from Diaryof a Worm.
It like how would we help Wormrecord his thoughts without his
hands, because he doesn't havehands?
Worms don't have hands or feet.
Let's invent a device.
Let's draw it, let's build itfrom straws and Play-Doh.
So this is just one sample, andI actually have this freebie
(16:35):
right here.
Can you see it?
Whoops, I'm like dyslexic, sothat's backwards for me.
Can you see that?
So you are going to grab it inthe description below this video
.
It's a little freebie.
It goes with Diary of a Worm.
You don't have to use thischallenge.
You can use the think sheetswith any story, but this
challenge is also really fun.
(16:57):
Another thing that we can try isletting our children become the
story.
Letting them become the story,act it out, change the ending,
create a sequel together.
This turns comprehension intocreation, which is far more
exciting than just answeringquestions.
So try this tonight.
(17:18):
Try using this freecommunication STEM story station
and turn your child's next bookinto a hands-on adventure.
You can download it in thedescriptions below.
Like I hate reading decoding,frustration, short attention
(17:40):
spans, lack of focus,indifference.
They don't have to beroadblocks.
They can be invitations toshift, to soften and just to try
something different.
You've got this and I've gotyou.
So try one of these simpleshifts today and watch what
happens when your childexperiences a reading win.
(18:03):
And don't forget to grab myfree communication STEM story
station below and, like anythingthat you've heard, definitely
give me a thumbs up.
I'd love if you share thisvideo and subscribe for more
Meaningful, joyful Strategiesevery week, because your child
deserves to love books and youdeserve peace at story time.
(18:26):
Together, you and I can createjoyful, confident readers,
readers in the making, one pageat a time.
Bye for now.
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