Having a reluctant reader wasn’t even on my radar when we started homeschooling. With all the ambition in the world, one of the first things I added to our schedule was quiet reading time.
It was perfect, right? A set time of day when we would all lounge around with blankets, me holding a nice cup of coffee, and indulge in our favorite stories.
Well, needless to say, that is not at all what happened. My kids groaned every day at reading time and declared loudly, “I hate reading!” I never imagined I would have reluctant readers, but here we were.
It broke my heart. Reading was a huge part of who I was, and I wanted nothing more than to share that joy with my children. A joy I felt they weren’t getting through the structured library trips at school. Trips that told them they could only pick from certain sections that related to their exact reading level.
After spending months exploring the best curriculums for sparking a joy of reading, I took a step away from the structure of curriculum and started exploring other options and ideas.
I questioned if the curriculum I was choosing was just not a good fit or maybe it was frustration on the part of my emerging reader. A better phonics program must be the answer!
Or not. More or different curriculum isn’t the answer when it comes to helping your reluctant reader find joy in books. In fact, it often makes things worse.
Kids don’t need more pressure to perform; they need freedom, space, and trust.
In this post, we’re going to explore why dialing it back might be the most powerful reading strategy you haven’t tried yet.
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The Problem With Curriculum Overload and Reluctant Readers
The knee-jerk response to a reluctant reader is often to find a better curriculum. It makes sense on the surface. If something’s not working, we fix it.
But in homeschooling, “fixing it” often looks like hopping from one curriculum to the next. A better phonics program will be the answer. Or maybe a literature-based curriculum. Or one with hands-on components.
Each switch promises hope, but it also brings more expectations, more structure, and more pressure.
What parents don’t always realize is that bouncing between curriculums creates instability. Kids pick up on our stress and urgency. They start to associate reading with failure, tension, and the feeling that they’re always behind.
When a child already feels overwhelmed, these constant reaches for the next best thing only deepens their resistance.
Understanding the Reluctant Reader
Before you can support a reluctant reader, it helps to understand what’s really going on beneath the surface.
Many kids who avoid reading are struggling with anxiety, perfectionism, or past negative experiences. Maybe they felt humiliated reading aloud in class.
Or maybe they got stuck in a phonics workbook and never recovered.
Maybe they think they’re “bad at reading” and now avoid it altogether.
Pressure can show up in subtle ways. It doesn’t always look like outright resistance. Sometimes it looks like zoning out, dawdling, or asking endless questions to delay the task.
And when we respond to this with more rules, more worksheets, more minutes logged, we unintentionally send the message that reading is a mountain to climb, not a joy to experience.
What Kids Actually Need to Become Joyful Readers
Here’s a truth that changed our homeschool: Kids don’t learn to love reading because we make them. They learn to love it when we make it feel safe, meaningful, and personal.
Undeniably, reluctant readers thrive when they feel connected, not corrected. Reading on the couch under a blanket, taking turns with a silly voice, or laughing over a comic book creates positive associations.
These moments build the bridge between avoidance and curiosity.
Give your kids permission to explore books in unconventional ways:
- Audiobooks while they build LEGO
- Graphic novels about their favorite hobby
- Wordless picture books they can “read” with their imagination
- Reading aloud as a family over breakfast or dinner
All of this builds joy. All of this matters. And none of it requires a formal curriculum.
Time is another essential ingredient. Some kids just need more of it. Later readers aren’t doomed. Many go on to read fluently and passionately when the timing is right for them.
Following arbitrary rules about when a kid should read fluently just adds to the stress for you and your child.
The Power of a Pressure-Free Approach With Reluctant Readers
I’ve heard story after story of kids who didn’t start reading fluently until 9, 10, even 12 years old, but who are now devouring novels.
What changed? I guarantee it wasn’t that mom found the perfect curriculum.
When we stop measuring our homeschool success by reading levels and start measuring it by connection and confidence, everything shifts.
A pressure-free approach and an open invitation might look like:
- Leaving books everywhere in the house
- Saying yes when your child wants to read the same book for the tenth time
- Letting them quit a book they hate
- Reading aloud every day without making it a lesson
- Modeling your own love for books (even if it’s just flipping through a magazine)
- Making library trips or thrift store adventures magical
Over time, these things add up. Your child begins to trust that reading isn’t a test. It’s a tool., a treasure. It’s theirs.
What to Do Instead of More Curriculum
So if the answer isn’t a better curriculum, what can you do?
1. Create a culture of reading.
Make books visible. Talk about stories. Go to the library without an agenda. Let them see you read for fun. Normalize reading as a lifestyle, not just a subject.
2. Offer irresistible books.
Notice what lights your child up and lean in. Silly characters? Graphic novels. Minecraft? Game manuals. Animals? Picture books with stunning photography. Reading doesn’t have to be literary to be valuable.
3. Make reading cozy and collaborative.
Light a candle, bring a snack, and snuggle up. Take turns reading. Laugh together. Make it something they look forward to.
4. Step back.
Trust that learning doesn’t have to be hard to be real. Trust that your child is capable. Give them space to come to reading in their own way.
Conclusion
You don’t need to overhaul your homeschool or buy a $200 curriculum set to help your reluctant reader. What you really need is to release the pressure and reconnect with your child.
Because at the end of the day, reading is more than a skill. It’s a relationship with words, with stories, and with yourself. And relationships grow best in freedom, not force.
So give your child less pressure, and more presence. Less expectation, and more encouragement. Less curriculum, and more connection.
That’s where the love of reading begins. Keep an eye out for more information on helping reluctant readers thrive in your homeschool including this blog post that gives more tips and information on this topic.
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