Finding Your Child’s Reading “ON” Button

How to help your child learn to love reading by using their interests to foster an enjoyment of learning that will last a lifetime!

A lot of homeschool parents find themselves stumped by teaching their child to read.  Often, they will get through all the phonics lessons in a choice curriculum, only to realize their child still doesn’t read fluently.  Sometimes a child does quite well with learning to read, but fails to find enjoyment in reading anything outside their required reading.

The fact of the matter is this happens even in public and parochial schools as well.  You’ve probably heard of the Accelerated Reader Program widely used in public schools to encourage students to achieve higher reading levels via monitoring software and incentives.  While this program can be helpful, it misses the heart of why we teach reading, and often causes more problems by encouraging kids to avoid books that are not AR approved because they will not receive “points” for those books.

Furthermore, traditional educational methods like book reports and fill-in-the-blank tests reduce reading to the cherry-picking of facts that are void of imagination and enjoyment simply for the sake of reading.

While it is true some children will love reading no matter how it is presented to them, many children who could have found more joy in the written word end up completely turned “off” to the notion simply because it was offered to them dry as toast.

The key to reading success is finding your child’s reading “ON” button.  This happens when the mechanics you have taught them (phonics and fluidity) clicks and their desire and ability to read begins to soar.  

But you might be a little stumped about HOW to find that button and flip the switch.  Here are some of my best tactics to help you guide your child toward fluent and voracious reading – starting this very moment!

Be a student of your child

First and foremost, you must know your child.  In particular, you need to know what subjects interest them.  This is easy to see in some children, but harder to figure out in others.

For instance, one of my little girls loved all things domestic.  From the time she was 8 or 9 years old, she was a fan of cooking, hosting parties, keeping house, and for many years, was especially drawn to frontier living.  She enjoyed books like the Little House on the Prairie series or the Life with Lily series.

But what about my son who preferred to fill his days with airsofting and hunting? We found his “ON” button via button via Army field manuals, books about World War II, and hunting magazines.  He preferred books that offered strategy and intrigue.  

And as a side note, the books he liked were rarely found in the children’s section of the local library.  We had to think outside the box with him, and I am certain the AR program would not have met his reading needs in a useful way.

Be purposeful in choosing reading material for your home

Once you begin to study and know your child, look for ways to bring purposeful reading material into your home.  Don’t limit yourself to the exact interest your child has, but rather dig deeper into the WHY.

Suppose you have a child who seems to prefer playing video games to just about any other activity….

Consider the games that are his favorites.  Why are they favorites?  

Do they involve cars?  Consider piquing his interest with books about cars.  Maybe he likes games that involve treasure hunting.  Look into archeology books or books about pirates.

Be purposeful about the books you choose and where you choose to keep them in your home.  You want to spark imagination and light a fire that motivates your child to hunger for more information.

And don’t forget magazines, ebooks, and blogs as useful ways to get your child reading!  {You can check out my son’s old airsoft blog HERE. He learned so much about grammar and writing from creating this blog all those years ago!}

Visit the library and look for specific topics

Don’t forget to utilize your local library.  Go to the library with purpose.  It is not uncommon for our children to head to the library with topics in mind.  

One son really enjoys learning about knights.  We look specifically for books on knights. Another son loves cats, so we have checked out a plethora of fiction and non-fiction about cats.  And remember my son who enjoyed airsofting?  He spent most of his time in the adult non-fiction section, looking for books on battles and military tactics!

And that brings me to another point…

Don’t limit yourself to the children’s section of the library.  In fact, I’ve been rather disappointed in the teen section of our local library and prefer my older children look in the adult section of the library for books that are meatier (and less weird!).

Don’t be afraid to start with twaddle
{but don’t stay there}

Some people will tell you to avoid silly little books with silly little stories (i.e. “twaddle”) at all costs, but if you have a struggling reader you may need to start with the easy stuff and work your way up.  

A comic book here and there may be just what your child needs to get them interested in reading.  My only caution would be to avoid feeding an appetite for “easy” reading.  You want your child’s reading abilities to grow rather than stagnate.

How to get the most out of the books your child reads

Now, what do you do with all these books you’ve acquired that are supposed to lead your child to proficient reading?  

Here are some quick tips and ideas to get you started on the right path:

• Leave books laying out in obvious places.
• Have your child read aloud to you in small increments, building up as you go.
• Have your child read a page and draw a picture, act out a scene, build something from it with blocks or Legos.  Get their mind and body working together and learning from the material.
• Have a movie night after a book that has a corresponding movie has been read.  Ask them about differences and if they liked the book or movie better (you might be surprised!).
• Explore things in books or magazines further.  Is there a website listed?  Check it out!  Want to know more about how something was made?  Look it up!  Encourage your child to keep digging for information based on what they learned in the reading material.

Ultimately, you are looking to foster your child’s drive to learn.  Reading is still one of the best ways to gather information and a skill every child needs to acquire and become adept at.  Be your child’s best encourager and keep looking for that reading “ON” button!

{originally published 2014, updated 2025}