Thankfully for most home schooling families this concern quickly resovles itself and even if it does take a little time in the end it is, in the majority of cases, resolved and the child grows into reading.
So then, once they are reading you need to deal with the battle of what they 'will' read and what you'd prefer them to read. Does anyone else struggle with this?
We've all seen the articles and blog posts galore on 'twaddle' and what it potentialy does to children's minds. However if we are making our children read the classics for instance even if they have absolutely no interest in the story then is that really any different?
Granted we may feel better about ourselves and yes we can rattle off to our home school friends that little 'Freddy' just got through his 9th classic for the year, whilst all of the other home school mums look on in awe, but was has that done for 'Freddy' and his desire to read?
Would you as an adult continually read books that held little interest for you simply because, say, your husband said you had to read them? I think not! So I wonder why we do this to our children? What makes it ok?
Admittedly I would much prefer to see my children reading quality literature most of the time but when a child has struggled with reading, is it not more important that they are at least reading?
I found this article interesting and this blog post written in response to the article, both offer food for thought.
For me, for now, I am happy to see him carry around a book and have his nose in it, regardless of the 'twaddle' it may very well contain.
