Incentivizing the Young Reader and Writer: Challenges to Reading and Writing (Poll Results)

In incentivizing the young reader and writer, it’s imperative that we GET TO THE REAL REASON A CHILD DOESN’T WANT TO READ AND/OR WRITE. I MEAN THE REAL REASON! In problem identification, we have to get to the root cause of the problem in order to solve it. Therefore, the most important thing to initially do is to ask the child why he or she doesn’t enjoy reading or writing or may have some inhibitions about reading and writing.

Furthermore, acknowledging the reason and the validity it holds in a child’s mindset is high on the list of to-dos, as well. Don’t brush it off or give it no place of importance or relevance. The reason is real to the child. And this root cause for your child’s reluctance in reading and writing activities is what needs to be addressed in order for him or her to be receptive to completing reading and writing tasks as well as to developing and improving in these areas.

Back in 2020, I interviewed and provided polls and questionnaires to a small pool of teachers, parents, children, and members of several social media communities. The four questions that were posed to all of the individuals who responded are as follows:

• What are 3 reasons some children may not want to participate in reading activities?
• What are 3 reasons some children may not want to participate in writing activities?
• What are 3 ways adults can help make reading more enjoyable for children?
• What are 3 ways adults can help make writing more enjoyable for children?

And, here’s what I received as the top responses for the main reasons why children may have inhibitions or apprehensions about reading and/or writing activities and what can be done to make reading and writing more enjoyable for children.

• Reasons some children may not want to participate in reading activities.
  • Reading is boring, or the topic/book is boring and not entertaining enough.    
  • Reading isn’t fun, or child would rather do something else that’s more fun.     
  • Child is not interested in reading or doesn’t like the topic or book being read.
  • Books are too long.
  • Child is not good at reading.     
  • Child is nervous about reading in front of others.     
  • Parent never reads to child.    
  • Child never learned to read.      
  • Reading isn’t started at an early age.      
  • Reading requires patience and it may be difficult to hold a child’s attention with some reading activities.
  • Child feels like he or she is being forced to read.     
  • Child may display a general lack of effort and focus when it comes to educational work-related activities.     
  • Child never gets to read his or her favorite types of books.    
  • Parent doesn’t stress the importance of reading to the child.     
  • Parent works and doesn’t have the time to devote to helping the child develop reading skills.
• Reasons some children may not want to participate in writing activities      
  • Writing is boring, or the topic/assignment is boring and not entertaining enough.   
  • Writing isn’t fun, or child would rather do something else that’s more fun.      
  • The child’s hands or fingers get tired or start hurting.   
  • Child would rather read books.
  • It may be difficult for the child to formulate sentences.    
  • It may be difficult for the child to come up with ideas to write about.
  • Writing requires a child to think more deeply, which is not always the mode a child functions in.    
  • If required to write with pen/pencil and paper, the child would rather type on the computer.
  • Child may make a lot of errors or not be proficient in some areas of writing, such as spelling.      
  • Child may not want others to see his or her writing or to be judged on writing skills.   
  • Child may display a general lack of effort and focus when it comes to educational work-related activities.      
  • Writing isn’t started at an early age.   
  • Writing requires patience and it may be difficult to hold a child’s attention with some writing activities.   
  • Parent doesn’t stress the importance of writing to the child.
  • Parent works and doesn’t have the time to devote to helping the child develop writing skills.
• Ways adults can help make reading more enjoyable for children
  • Read to child or read with child. (Doing reading activities together helps build the child’s confidence.)
  • Get child’s favorite types of books to read.
  • Help child write his or her own book and then read it together.    
  • Have child write a book/story about what was read.     
  • Create a calm and quiet reading environment for the child.     
  • Help child find a topic he or she is interested in reading about.     
  • Read with expression and feeling when reading to the child.    
  • Let child read in short lengths of time instead of longer periods.      
  • Let child listen to audiobooks (a form of reading).     
  • Encourage child as he or she reads and give kudos to him or her from time to time.
  • As the child reads, stop and ask questions (at certain points) to see if he or she is retaining what’s being read (reading comprehension).
  • Reduce the amount of time the child watches TV, movies, and videos or plays video games.      
  • Repetitively stress the importance of reading and reinforce its importance early on.     
  • Give incentives for completing reading activities and meeting reading goals.
  • Make reading interesting by turning stories into movies (act out the stories).
• Ways adults can help make writing more enjoyable for children      
  • Sit down with child while he or she is writing, take turns writing together, or assist child with writing activities. (Doing writing activities together helps build the child’s confidence.)     
  • Have child write books/stories that interest him and allow child to add illustrations, captions, diagrams, charts, etc. to the books/stories.      
  • Get the child some cool writing supplies (pens, pencils, stationary, paper, lap desks, clipboards, etc.).     
  • Help child write his or her own book and then read it together.      
  • Have child write a book/story about what was read.      
  • Create a calm and quiet writing environment for the child, or play music in background to help motivate child while writing.     
  • Give fun, action-driven challenges for child to perform within a writing assignment.    
  • Let child “write” on computer instead of with pen/pencil and paper.        
  • Present cool books to child on what he or she is writing about.       
  • Give child writing prompts to get started.     
  • Have child write letters and notes to family, friends, or people in the hospital.
  • Have child take breaks in between writing sessions, or stop at certain points during a writing session to let child get a snack for energy and then resume writing again.   
  • Give incentives for completing writing activities and meeting writing goals.     
  • Reduce the amount of time the child watches TV, movies, and videos or plays video games.
  • Repetitively stress the importance of writing and reinforce its importance early on.

This compiled data is so invaluable. It really touches on a lot of the more common challenges that readers and writers face. And, it also gives some insight on how adults can play a vital role in helping children with their reading and writing development. You’ll notice that some of the responses to the reading questions were also listed as responses to the writing questions. (Definitely makes sense, as reading and writing are interrelated.)

I truly appreciate the feedback I received because it’s given me insight into what real people (other than myself) see as some of the more pressing challenges when it comes to reading and writing development in young children. (This is not an all-inclusive list, however. There are definitely more challenges that can be listed; but this information was what I collected from my small pool of participants in the poll. So, this is where we’ll start.)

Furthermore, this data will be used to help craft future discussions for this series as well as learning tools (at the Degrees of Maternity online stores) that adults and the children in their lives will, hopefully, find useful, engaging, and motivating when it comes to reading and writing encouragement and incentives.