My younger sister hated reading growing up despite being from a family of readers. Our parents didn't read to me and I loved and love reading. They read to her from day 1. It wasn't until her 30s when she finally got into reading. Turns out she's one of those people without an internal dialogue which affected how she read. Audiobooks is how she finally got into books. Audiobooks and then a kindle and finding what she loves to read. And now she reads and listens to books all the time!
Re: getting a 7 year old to love reading, I found that my kid really loved manga (Japanese comic books) when they were around that age and that was their gateway into reading. They're 21 now and a very avid reader of everything. So my advice is to try comics or audiobooks (perhaps even audio dramas that are completely dramatized) and see if your little one responds to a particular medium. My kid ended up being diagnosed with ADHD as a teenager, which explained a bit about their initial resistance. They just needed something to spark the love of reading and that made it easier for them to focus when reading regular books.
My youngest was 7 when the pandemic started and she had struggled with reading, to the point where teachers threw out things like ADHD and dyslexia. Now that she was home full-time, I kept trying different books and it was the Gerald and Piggie books that got her over the hump. They're all dialogue and repetitive and silly, but they worked. Next thing I know, she's devouring every girly graphic novel she could get her hands on (Babysitters Club, et al.). She's now reading above grade level and gets mad when it's time to turn out the lights at night and close the book. It's kind of like adults and exercise--you have to find the activity you really enjoy and want to do. In this case, it's finding the books they genuinely enjoy and connect with. Good luck!
My younger sister hated reading growing up despite being from a family of readers. Our parents didn't read to me and I loved and love reading. They read to her from day 1. It wasn't until her 30s when she finally got into reading. Turns out she's one of those people without an internal dialogue which affected how she read. Audiobooks is how she finally got into books. Audiobooks and then a kindle and finding what she loves to read. And now she reads and listens to books all the time!
Re: getting a 7 year old to love reading, I found that my kid really loved manga (Japanese comic books) when they were around that age and that was their gateway into reading. They're 21 now and a very avid reader of everything. So my advice is to try comics or audiobooks (perhaps even audio dramas that are completely dramatized) and see if your little one responds to a particular medium. My kid ended up being diagnosed with ADHD as a teenager, which explained a bit about their initial resistance. They just needed something to spark the love of reading and that made it easier for them to focus when reading regular books.
My youngest was 7 when the pandemic started and she had struggled with reading, to the point where teachers threw out things like ADHD and dyslexia. Now that she was home full-time, I kept trying different books and it was the Gerald and Piggie books that got her over the hump. They're all dialogue and repetitive and silly, but they worked. Next thing I know, she's devouring every girly graphic novel she could get her hands on (Babysitters Club, et al.). She's now reading above grade level and gets mad when it's time to turn out the lights at night and close the book. It's kind of like adults and exercise--you have to find the activity you really enjoy and want to do. In this case, it's finding the books they genuinely enjoy and connect with. Good luck!