"My child just won't read" almost always has a reason behind it, and it's rarely pure disinterest. Finding the actual cause makes far more difference than any amount of encouragement alone.
It might be about difficulty, not interest
Decoding is hard work before it's fluent — if reading still feels effortful, it's genuinely tiring rather than enjoyable, and avoidance is a completely reasonable response. Stepping back to easier material for a while, even if it feels like a step backward, often rebuilds confidence faster than pushing on.
It might be about the material
A child who's "not a reader" with school reading books is sometimes a keen reader the moment you hand them something they actually chose — comics, joke books, football annuals, anything. Reading is reading; it doesn't have to be a chapter book to count.
Practical things that help
- Read together, not just to them or by them — take turns on alternate pages or sentences so the effort is shared
- Let them choose — even if it's the same book every night for a month
- Keep sessions short — ten minutes of enjoyed reading beats thirty minutes of resisted reading
- Model it yourself — children read more when they regularly see reading happening around them, not just being asked of them
- Don't correct every mistake — let momentum and enjoyment matter more than perfect accuracy in the moment
Build the underlying skills gently
If decoding itself is the sticking point, our simple phonics activities post has low-pressure ways to build the foundation, and our guide to phonics schemes explains what your child's school might already be using so home practice can line up with it.
Free practice
Our Reading, Writing & Literacy category has free activities organized by stage, so you can find something that matches where your child actually is rather than where they're "supposed" to be.
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