Every Child Has a Doorway to Reading

My younger son hated books.

Until one day in a library, he picked up an auto magazine. That moment changed everything, and it taught me something important, not just about how kids start reading, but about how they learn.

I have always been a voracious reader, and even before we started homeschooling, I wanted my boys to love books. When my elder son was four, I bought him a set of fifteen picture books explaining science concepts, like how planets move or how a telephone works. Each book was filled with bright, simple illustrations. We would sit together, flip through the pages, and sometimes read. I was not in a hurry to make him a reader.

By the time he turned six, I gave him a Bible picture book. He read it from cover to cover. We discussed every story. From there, he moved on to Geronimo Stilton and other novels. Reading became his thing.

The younger one was a different story.

When he turned three or four, we already had shelves full of books. I tried reading to him, showing him his brother reading, buying new books, and even trying digital picture books on the iPad. Nothing worked. He would run around, play games, but never sit down with a book.

I felt guilty. Maybe I had not spent as much time with him as I did with the elder one. I felt frustrated because none of my usual efforts were working. But I kept trying.

We joined the British Library. My elder son would head straight for the books. The younger would wander around. Then one day, he spotted an auto magazine. He sat down, flipped through it, and came alive. He told me about car models, prices, and features.

That is when I realised he was a car guy.

I began borrowing old magazines from the library and buying car books and gadget guides. He devoured them. Soon, he was reading other books too, from action stories to novels, even his brother’s favourites. Cars had been his doorway into reading, and once he walked through it, he never looked back.

We have kept the habit alive. At least once a month, we go to a café with our books. No phones, no talking, just reading for three hours. Sometimes we take a weekend trip with books and a guitar. I do not pay them to read, but if they finish a book or write a good summary, we celebrate with a treat.

What I learned from that moment in the library is this: reading is a good habit, but there is more than one way in. Each child has a door. It might be science, stories, fantasy, history, or cars. Find that door, keep it open, and the learning will follow.

This is part of Our Homeschooling Experiment.