Reluctant? Struggling?

Hello All,

You'll find that just about all of my posts will relate to children's writing, children's books, books for boys, and getting reluctant readers to, well, read:)
Enjoy what I post here and certainly leave thoughts and comments.  I would love to hear them.

Jim Westcott
Children's Author
Jack's Tales-Soon to be published

Reluctant……Struggling? Are they different?

As a Special Ed Teacher, I find that reluctant and struggling readers are all lumped into the same squishy heap and I wonder if there truly is a difference. I also find the terms ‘’reluctant’’ and ‘’struggling’’ tend to mean different things and describe two different animals at times. So, which is it? Are they reluctant or are they struggling? I’m being a bit facetious here. Personally, I think they tend to be both and are along many different ranges within these two categories. I don’t think they are as easily defined as they sound.

Here is some solid information on the matter from: gov.on.ca. Maybe this can help.

 

Here are some General ''Canned''Chacteristics of Reluctant Readers

Atleast to start some conversations or for the sake of gaining some baseline info. on the subject:  Here you go.     

 Readers who tend to be unmotivated often lack

self-esteem regarding their ability to read.

 They often attribute their difficulties to the

difficulty of the task, interference, too much

noise, vision problems, or unfairness.

 Seldom do they acknowledge that their own lack of skill is at the heart of the

problem.

 Often they have a sense of hopelessness. When the reluctance of these students to

participate in activities is interpreted as defiance or laziness, their underlying reading.problem may not be identified or addressed.

 Reluctant readers who have had many years of frustration often become skilled

evaders who try either to “hide out or act out” so they can avoid reading.