I have a child with a lazy mind. She wants to read, but she is lazy and gives up easily. Do you have any suggestions?

I’m not sure what you mean by a “lazy” mind. You didn’t mention her age, perhaps the material covered is a bit too old for her, and she easily loses interest. Losing interest is a very good indication that she doesn’t understand what she’s supposed to do. A good rule of thumb is to introduce letters and sounds at 3-4, introduce reading concepts around 4-5, and continue building from there. But everyone develops at very different rates, so she might be a little immature on her learning curve and doesn’t quite comprehend yet. Another possibility is that she’s extremely bright, gets it all, but doesn’t have the verbal skills to tell you back what you need to hear. She could also just be a bit lazy and would simply rather not put forth the effort required. In either of the last two cases, games are a great way to motivate and teach.

In my classroom, I play “reading” and “learning” games all day. The children think they are simply playing a game with their teacher, while I am having them repeat the same thing over and over without them getting bored with my verbiage. Repetition is a good way to retention, but the trick is to get them to repeat it without drilling them over it. Games really help here. I play alphabet letter games, games for “b” and “d,” games for rhyming, games for differences. Many of these I simply do because I’ve taught for many years, but there are some wonderful aids and tools that you can pick up at your local teacher supply store. Be imaginative. Turning “drill and kill” methods into games and fun make all the difference in a child’s motivation to continue to learn. Good luck!