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The Reading Gap – Week 4

How to Rebuild Trust After the “Just Read It” Phase

Week-by-Week Progress Tracker

• Week 1: You’re Not Failing Them: The Real Reason They Pull Away (Past Issue)

• Week 2: How Kids Build Hidden Shields Against Reading (Past Issue)

• Week 3: The Story Isn’t the Problem (It’s the Setup) (Past Issue)

• Week 4: How to Rebuild Trust After the “Just Read It” Phase (You are here)

• Week 5: When Progress Isn’t Obvious (But Everything Is Working)

• Week 6: Making It Stick: How to Build a Gentle Reading Rhythm

It happens to every parent.

You want to help. You push a little. You say, “Just read it.”

And something shifts.

The joy leaves the room.
The tension creeps in.

Your child pulls away not just from the book, but from you.

If reading time has become a battleground, you haven’t failed. You’ve just entered a phase that needs repair, not guilt.

The good news?

That repair starts with presence, not performance.

This Week’s Insight:

Trust can be rebuilt.

Here’s how we do it:

• Step back from “teaching mode.”
  Your child doesn’t need correction right now. They need a connection.

• Offer an unexpected invitation.
  No reading request. Just a shared moment. “Come sit with me for a bit.”

• Bring the book… but don’t lead with it.
  Let them see it beside you. Let them decide when to lean in.

The real reset doesn’t start with a book.

It starts with how we show up around the book.

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Reflection for Parents and Carers:

• What does reading time feel like for them?

• Am I holding a space… or holding an expectation?

Softness is often the strongest reset.

This Week’s Gentle Challenge:

Don’t ask them to read. Invite them to sit.

Say: "You don’t have to do anything. I just want to sit with you for a moment."

Let reading become a byproduct of belonging, not pressure.

Next week, we’ll explore how to track real progress, not by pages read, but by the quiet signs that your child is reconnecting with books in their own time.

You may be further along than you think.