umm im new to this one

I don't want to sound negative, but it might help if we knew your brother's age, and his reading level. If someone reads to him, ask him what his favorite book is - that's been read to him. That might be a good starting point.

But without a bit more information I can't make any kind of suggestion.

Further to sissybaby's suggestion, what do you think is the cause of your brother's inability to read books? Is it dyslexia? Is it ADD? Is it just not being able to get into a story? It seems odd to me that if he truly wants to read, that he can't without there being some other factor involved.

It's one thing to try to get a kid interested in reading, it's another trying to get a kid who really wants to read but is having trouble with the act of reading to read. The latter can be far more complicated.

Kids who struggle with the act of sounding out words use so much of their brain power that they have very little capacity left to remember the words they've already read. So a story has about as much meaning for them as a grocery list. Then, because it's so hard, they avoid doing it, so they never get enough practice. Because they never practice, it never gets any easier. But meanwhile, they keep getting older, and people expect them to be reading longer and harder books. It's a terribly frustrating cycle.

As Sissy said, without knowing his age and his interests, it's hard to know what books to recommend.

And you've probably already figured out--writing simply is much, much harder for most people than writing long and complicated stories. It's a real gift to be able to weave an exciting tale out of short sentences and easy vocabulary.

Can you write a story with him? Start somewhere he likes, say in the park. Ask him what would be funny if it happened there (or scary or unusual). Take that thread and have him written in as doing just that. Then work out what other amazing things are going to happen to HIM in the story. I found my granddaughter loved doing that when she was little because she would have her own story book - about her and her imagined adventures. I wish I could have illustrated it. I also wish I'd saved all the stories (I only have some of the more recent ones.

There's a catagory of books called "reluctant readers" which may be the catagory you're looking for. Perhaps if you looked at some of these books you'll get a better idea of how to approach this.

Maybe he's trying to get attention because he's frustrated. I think rewarding positive behavior is the way to go for any child. But so is anticipating when an eruption is going to occur and trying to find ways to divert it into something positive. I think that just takes lots of practice, and I don't know if anyone ever gets it right 100% of the time.

But if he should have more going on than just being overlooked, then he deserves every effort to give him opportunities for positive growth. As suggested, writing a story with him, possibly about him, may be a great thing for him. Then if he is able to actually read it, it will give him incentive to do that. If he can't read it, then maybe consider recording it for him so he can "read" along with the sound of your voice. My mother had the foresight to do that for my oldest daughter, who as an adult reads at about 3rd grade level. It helped her tremendously! She not only has her grandmother's stories, but she has her voice to remind her of her childhood.

Excuse me, that thump you heard was me banging my head against a wall. As a first grade teacher in California, I know just what you mean about "No child left behind." I've heard it called "No child left standing." It has done so much to damage education....

An 8-year-old who still can't read is at a HUGE disadvantage, and I would certainly suspect a learning disability. In my opinion, it is unforgivable and downright criminal if your school isn't doing absolutely everything in its power to find and correct the problem. Everyone can be taught how to read. Most kids will learn well enough with whatever program a school has to offer, but the kids with certain kinds of difficulties can ONLY learn with very specific, structured kinds of instruction. It all has to do with how the brain processes all the components of language, and scientists have mapped the differences using CAT scans and PET scans.

Send me a private message if you'd like some suggestions for resources you can try with him.

Okay, enough fuming. Book suggestions:
Hi, Fly Guy! and all its sequels: Shoo, Fly Guy!; The Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy; Super Fly Guy; Fly High, Fly Guy! all by Tedd Arnold. My boys love them--the humor is just twisted enough.

Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot by Dav Pilkey. It's his easiest-to-read book, and every boy I've ever met LOVES Dav Pilkey's outrageous sense of humor.

He might like the Fox books by James Marshall: Fox in Love, Fox on Stage, Fox on the Job, plus more. They have a very dry sense of humor that make the books seem less "early reader" than they actually are.

There's also a cool website he might enjoy:
http://www.starfall.com/

It has interactive books from basic letter sounds up to folk tales and legends. He can read along with the computer, or he can read by himself and just click on the words he needs help with. If it's a phonetically regular word, the computer sounds it out first, then blends the sounds together. And because it's a computer, it might feel less intimidating to him than a book will.

Nivarion said:

(frustratingly) sometimes it seems that he would rather be grounded than clean his room and then make a pie or something with me. .

Click to expand...

My daughter was like that. Ages later we found she is a lateral thinker. Her daughter is one too - so we have our own back.