The Real Efforts of Reading

June 24, 2024•3 min read

Why do some people find reading such a pleasure, when for others it's such a chore?

A lot of the kids I work with often state that they don’t like reading.

They wish they did because they know it would help them with their spelling, vocabulary, grammar, but it just seems like such an effort after a day of school, homework, or whatever else. So, it’s always put off until tomorrow. And as they say tomorrow, rarely ever comes.

One of the first things I learned 20 years ago when studying dyslexia, is that for some children every time they commit to reading something it is like learning a new language with a completely different alphabet. Trying to remember what each individual symbol (letter) means or stands for, and if it points in this direction it might be a b, but if I flick it around it becomes a d, but if I now tip it upside down I have a q, yet if I flip it again I have a p. But they all pretty much look the same, or it did a second a go when I last looked at it.

Reading is like an impossible task. Then for other people there is no stability for the letters on the page, as they float around.

We can suggest they use visual cues, yet images normally present themselves only in children's books and as we get older that's not what we're looking for. We want something more inspiring, something that is going to make us think, inspire us.

So, what do we do?

I think we often think that reading must take the form of a book. Maybe something classical perhaps not Dante’s Inferno or Withering Heights, but something notable.

Honestly, a range of blog posts, magazine articles, newspaper reports will do the job just as well. Especially as in English Language Paper 2 you are probably going to be asked to write a speech, a newspaper report, a magazine article, etc so experience of the language used in these, their layout, and presentation will be potentially more useful in that context.

I’d also recommend audiobooks especially if you sit the exams this summer and you are wanting to cram before then. There will be a limited number of books you’ll be able to read in that time, but if you put the speed of an audio book on 1.5x you’ll be able to expose yourself to far more books and it won’t need to be the chore that reading potentially could be.

If you do want to pick up a book to read, I was recommended “I Must Betray You”. You will need your tissues. It’s written from the perspective of a teenage boy in Communist Romania. It was recommended to me by another mum after her daughter had read it. It was a really good thought inspiring book. Thee sort you struggle to put down.

I also enjoyed Animal Farm by George Orwell if you’re not doing it as one of your set texts. The first time I read it, I was 18, sat on the beach with friends in Crete waiting for the transfer back to the airport to come home. It can be read and interpreted on many levels which is perhaps part of its appeal.

If you have any other books, I can recommend to those I work with I’d love to hear them.

Dawn Strachan

For the past 20+ years I have been a firm believer that learning should be an enjoyable experience. I appreciate that traditionally education has revolved around worksheets, textbooks, listening to teachers. But a grounding in early years and working with children who had a variety of learning styles from I learned that it is an individual activity that is personal to all of us. We don’t all learn in the same way. Our influences, our experiences, our capabilities all influence how we retain information. But through it all, I believe that if we can make it enjoyable and engaging, they will want to participate. With participation comes practice which in turn boosts skill and confidence. With an increase in skill and confidence comes a willingness to have a go. This in turn leads to more practice which leads to a positive spiral of success. The moral, we need to make learning fun, engaging, use a range of techniques.

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