My son, 9, refuses to read. He's worried that I won 't read to him when he can read himself. He thinks reading is really stupid. What's the best thing to do?
This is what our team of experts says:
Nicole Althaus
Your son is clever and of course he's absolutely right. At some point you will no longer read to him. I would try it like this: Read him a story and stop at the most interesting moment. If your son really wants to know something, he will read on himself.
Stefanie Rietzler
It's best to show your son that his worries are unfounded. Choose an exciting book together with him. Start by reading it to him for a while and then let him read short sections out loud himself. Keep his sequences short at first so that he doesn't get bored. Perhaps you can even extend the reading time and let your son stay up a little longer when you are reading together. You can also make sure that there are a few books lying around that invite him to read for himself: Many children get started with comics, Greg's diaries, Star Wars or Lego Ninjago books.
Peter Schneider
I assume that your son (at nine) is perfectly capable of reading, but doesn't want to for the aforementioned reason. The best thing to do is not to act at all, but continue to read to him and talk about his fears from time to time. Obviously, books and reading are closely linked to your togetherness when reading to him. This will certainly change at some point. But why should you speed up this process? Either he will eventually enjoy reading himself and feel as good about it as he did when you read to him - or not.
Our team of experts:
Nicole Althaus, 50, is editor-in-chief of magazines and member of the editorial board of "NZZ am Sonntag", columnist and author. She initiated and managed the mum blog on "Tagesanzeiger.ch" and was editor-in-chief of "wir eltern". Nicole Althaus is the mother of two children aged 19 and 15.
Stefanie Rietzler is a psychologist, author ("Clever lernen", "Erfolgreich lernen mit ADHS") and runs the Academy for Learning Coaching in Zurich. www.mit-kindern-lernen.ch
Peter Schneider, 60, works as a psychoanalyst and columnist in Zurich. Until 2017, he was Professor of Developmental and Educational Psychology in Bremen; he currently teaches the history and theory of psychoanalysis in Berlin.
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This text was originally published in German and was automatically translated using artificial intelligence. Please let us know if the text is incorrect or misleading: feedback@fritzundfraenzi.ch