My daughter hates reading
Sep 24, 2006
My daughter is enrolled in Senior One in a good school in western Uganda. When I read her second term exam scripts, I realised that she wasn’t keen at revision.
Dear Jamesa, my daughter is enrolled in Senior One in a good school in western Uganda. When I read her second term exam scripts, I realised that she wasn’t keen at revision. I asked her if she referred to text- books but she said she didn’t. Her literature scripts showed that she did not even read the novel they were learning about. She simply doesn’t like reading. In term one holidays, I borrowed some novels of Senior One level, but she did not read them at all. I do not know how to handle her. Please help.
Rachael
Dear Rachael,
Many children fail exams not because they haven’t revised, but because they do not know how to revise and take exams.
There are a number of study techniques that help children acquire interest in studies and understand what they have read.
It is a bit difficult to make a realistic diagnosis of your daughter’s problem without understanding other areas of her life.
Have you found out how she interacts with her teachers and other students at school?
Learning is a shared experience and the child’s inability to get along with others could be a great impediment to academic excellence. This also takes more than just her effort. Is she in any study group at school?
How often do you interact with your daughter’s teachers?
Your conclusions seem to have been based on the girl’s exam scripts and not the class work. Does her class work tally with her exam scripts?
Your daughter might be lacking study techniques and examination skills.
As you provide the text books, bear in mind that reading without proper study skills may not amount to anything.
If she develops a negative attitude towards novels then this attitude might be generalised to all text books. You could make her interested in reading by identifying the books she is interested in.
Use of threats or punishments in learning might appear fruitful in the short term, but the long term effects are destructive. Motivation is the best answer. Let’s share some tips:
l Begin by building a warm relationship with your daughter. This is the foundation of influence and you cannot change a child who hates you. Shouting at her for failing to read might not make her any better.
l Buy books of her interest first and set reading goals by asking her to write book reports. You could work with her teachers. Reward every effort and motivate her to see herself as capable. You could also ask her to identify some new words learnt from the books.
l As she gets exposed to different books, she will discover the treasure that lies in books and might request for more books.
lGet in touch with a professional counsellor to help her with effective study skills.
Interest in books is an attribute that no child is born with; it is learnt. Study techniques and examination skills are also learnt. Just help her learn how to love books.
jwagwau@newvision.co.ug
0772-631032
Rachael
Dear Rachael,
Many children fail exams not because they haven’t revised, but because they do not know how to revise and take exams.
There are a number of study techniques that help children acquire interest in studies and understand what they have read.
It is a bit difficult to make a realistic diagnosis of your daughter’s problem without understanding other areas of her life.
Have you found out how she interacts with her teachers and other students at school?
Learning is a shared experience and the child’s inability to get along with others could be a great impediment to academic excellence. This also takes more than just her effort. Is she in any study group at school?
How often do you interact with your daughter’s teachers?
Your conclusions seem to have been based on the girl’s exam scripts and not the class work. Does her class work tally with her exam scripts?
Your daughter might be lacking study techniques and examination skills.
As you provide the text books, bear in mind that reading without proper study skills may not amount to anything.
If she develops a negative attitude towards novels then this attitude might be generalised to all text books. You could make her interested in reading by identifying the books she is interested in.
Use of threats or punishments in learning might appear fruitful in the short term, but the long term effects are destructive. Motivation is the best answer. Let’s share some tips:
l Begin by building a warm relationship with your daughter. This is the foundation of influence and you cannot change a child who hates you. Shouting at her for failing to read might not make her any better.
l Buy books of her interest first and set reading goals by asking her to write book reports. You could work with her teachers. Reward every effort and motivate her to see herself as capable. You could also ask her to identify some new words learnt from the books.
l As she gets exposed to different books, she will discover the treasure that lies in books and might request for more books.
lGet in touch with a professional counsellor to help her with effective study skills.
Interest in books is an attribute that no child is born with; it is learnt. Study techniques and examination skills are also learnt. Just help her learn how to love books.
jwagwau@newvision.co.ug
0772-631032