William F. Natale Jr.
I believe that children who do not enjoy reading at the fourth, fifth and sixth grade reading level were, at one time or another, turned away from reading. I believe that at one time in their lives all children were enthusiastic about reading.
Children want to read. Give a youngster a chance and he, himself, will notice what a wonderful and fascinating thing books and other printed materials are . . . more than anything; else, they want to grow up—and reading represents a step in that direction.
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Another authority states:
Have you noticed the three-year-old leaning over a comic book spread out on th floor in front of seven and nine-year olds? He is not reading, but he wants .t5! be par-t; of this seemingly important business.
3
I believe that children do want to read and that they do love to learn, Wy, then, does a grade teacher find pupils in his or her class so unwilling to read? Obviously, hey have met with frustrations and have decided that reading is not something they want to do. Ego development is closely related to reading development. ‘A child who has lost the ego satisfaction or other rewards from reading is not going to want to read. Now then, it is our job to re-motivate these children to want to read again.
Motivation flows from interest, Without interest there is usually no will to do, no drive to learn. Without motivation, the pupil simply will not develop into a mature reader.
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Then the solution for dealing with a reluctant readers begins by changing his attitude. The child is not going to be an adequate reader until he
wants
to read.