Parent: I like your Magic Formula, but I’m having trouble making it work.
Dr. B: What do you mean?
Parent: Well you know our household. Everyone enjoys reading and writing … except my son. I can’t get him motivated.
Dr. B: What have you figured out?
Parent: I don’t know. We’ve always read to him at bedtime. He can see how much the rest of us enjoy reading.
Dr. B: Does he enjoy bedtime stories?
Parent: Sure.
Dr. B: Does he quietly listen or does he get involved?
Parent: What do you mean?
Dr. B: Well, if you deviated from the known story, what would he do?
Parent: He’d set me straight in a hurry.
Dr. B: Does he ask questions about what you are reading?
Parent: Huh?
Dr. B: Is he curious? Is he more than just a passive listener?
Parent: Oh, there is nothing passive about this kid.
Dr. B: Do you ever tell him stories instead of reading?
Parent: Oh sure.
Dr. B: Does he get involved?
Parent: Yeah. Sometimes he takes over the story if he doesn’t like the direction I’m taking it.
Dr. B: That’s great. Does your son have any special interests? Something he can’t get enough of?
Parent: Well, it used to be “diggers” when he was younger.
Dr. B: Diggers?
Parent: Earthmovers. Then it was dinosaurs. Now it is space ships and airplanes.
Dr. B: Cool.
Parent: And, every once in a while, he’ll involve earthmoving equipment and dinosaurs in outer space … aka, the sandbox.
Dr. B: So your son already enjoys writing and editing.
Parent: Huh?
Dr. B: You told me he enjoys telling a story or changing its direction.
Parent: Well, yeah.
Dr. B: And he has interests that he is passionate about?
Parent: Yep.
Dr. B: Well, if you are unwilling to wait for him to discover the wonders of reading and the satisfaction of writing … then join him in his world and find ways that reading and writing fit with what he enjoys.
Parent: Such as?
Dr. B: Let’s say he makes up a story at bedtime. What if you guys recorded the story and transcribed it?
Parent: Ha. Then he could read something he wrote. He can see that he ‘can’ write.
Dr. B: You got it.
Parent: I could ask him to tell me the story behind his sandbox construction.
Dr. B: Great idea.
Parent: Sounds like judo meets rhetoric.
Dr. B: Yeah. You’re using the momentum of your child’s interests.
Parent: To trick him into doing something (I want).
Dr. B: Well. If it’s just a (you want) instead of a (he wants), then he’ll let you know soon enough.
Parent: Any other ideas?
Dr. B: You’ve got the basic formula.
Parent: The (I want) and (I can) one?
Dr. B: No, the one where you recognize your child’s interests and help him develop them.
Parent: Is this how Homer got his start?
Dr. B: Absolutely.
