Your Child Won't Read. What Now?

Every parent preparing a child for the 11+ has been told that reading matters. Almost none have been told what to do when their child simply won't.

This is the conversation I have most often, usually a few weeks into preparation, usually in a slightly defeated tone: she used to love books, and now it's a battle every night. So rather than make the case for reading — you already accept it — let me set out what I've found actually works.

First, work out which problem you have

"Won't read" covers three different children, and they need different things.

The child who finds it effortful. Watch them read a page aloud. If they're decoding word by word, or losing the thread of a sentence by the end of it, reading isn't boring — it's tiring. No amount of encouragement fixes fatigue. These children need shorter texts, more of them, and often a conversation with school.

The child who reads fluently but won't choose to. Usually a stamina problem dressed as a motivation problem. They can manage two pages comfortably and twenty feels like a mountain. The fix is length, not enthusiasm: start where they can succeed and build.

The child who's had reading turned into work. This is the one I see most in 11+ households, and it's the one parents accidentally cause. Once every book comes with questions attached, reading stops being a refuge and becomes more exam. Children are very good at detecting this.

What works well?

Ten minutes, every day, at the same time. Consistency beats volume. A child who reads ten minutes nightly will outpace one who does an hour on Sundays, because vocabulary is built by repeated exposure over months, not by intensive bursts.

Let them read below their level. A confident reader on easy books is building fluency and enjoying it. A struggling reader on hard books is building resentment. Comics, joke books, football annuals, the same title for the fourth time — all of it counts.

Read aloud to them, still. Parents stop at eight or nine, and it's a mistake. A child's listening comprehension runs well ahead of their reading comprehension until around thirteen, so reading aloud exposes them to sentence structures and vocabulary they can't yet access alone. It's also the part of the day they'll remember.

Don't test them on it. No comprehension questions, no "and what does that word mean?" If you want to talk about the book, say what you thought of it and let them disagree with you.

Non-fiction counts more than you'd think. Much of what appears in comprehension papers isn't story. A child who reads about volcanoes and Roman roads arrives with the background knowledge that makes unfamiliar passages navigable.

The part most parents get wrong

The instinct, once the exam is in view, is to make reading more purposeful — better books, harder books, books with something to teach. It usually backfires. The child who reads for pleasure in Year 4 and 5 arrives at the exam with a vocabulary no revision programme can replicate. The child who's been made to read improving books arrives able to decode and unwilling to.

If you do one thing this term, make it the ten minutes. It's the least dramatic intervention available and, over two years, easily the most powerful.

Looking for titles? My 11+ reading list has 21 books for ages 9–11, coded by the comprehension skills each one develops.

So, grab a book, immerse yourself in its pages, and let reading be your ally in conquering the 11 plus exams with confidence and proficiency.

Download the Ultimate 11+ Reading List here:

Ultimate 11+ Reading List