Teaching children to read is truly a rewarding experience. I still remember teaching my children’s phonics program and feeling so proud of them at the end of year because of how far they had grown in their reading skills. But sometimes reading isn’t much fun to teach when you have a child that really struggles with phonetic skills. Some kids intuitively decode words (sound out letters in order to read them) while others find it very challenging and frustrating. If you have had experience with a child that naturally reads and your next child has much difficulty picking up this skill, you might find yourself at a loss with how to proceed teaching a struggling reader. It is important to find the reason for this struggle, help your child through this frustrating time, and continue to develop a love for reading by consistently reading to your child.
There are several reasons why a child might have trouble reading. A child might simply not be ready to blossom in that area. A friend of mine was very concerned when her first born was not reading at the age she thought her daughter needed to be reading. However, a year or two later, she was reading everything she could, even beyond her appropriate age level. Also, if a bright child doesn’t seem to be grasping reading skills, he or she might need a visit to the eye doctor. Sometimes parents are unaware and the thought doesn’t occur to them that their young child might have a vision problem. Another reason for delayed reading might be because of dyslexia or some other learning disability. Whatever the reason, it is necessary to remember to be patient and not push the child to tears. No one is to blame for this delay; if your child is willing and able, he or she will eventually be able to read very efficiently.
Whether you are in the process of developing your struggling reader’s skills or you are working on developing a real love for reading in your child, there are many things you can do to help him become more relaxed and confident. Instead of having your child struggle through their reading assignment, you might consider sharing the reading with him. This will take some of the burden off of him and he will enjoy the quality time with you. You might find what worked for your older child might not work for your next child. Maybe his learning style is different and you need to approach reading with a different curriculum. Also, for an older child that does not read well, consider having him read short articles or sections at a time instead of an overwhelming amount of material all at once. Furthermore, find reading material that your child really enjoys. You will soon find that your child will start with this enjoyable reading material then venture on to more complicated and higher level reading. For my youngest son, it had to be some sort of a comic book before he would be engaged in his reading. From there, he developed his reading and became interested in other books. My friend’s son finally started reading after she found several joke books that he loved. He continued to read everything he could get his hands on, even the back of cereal boxes. Sometimes just finding a child’s interest will really spark his reading skills and set him on the road to success.
Another wonderful activity we did as a family is read-alouds. My children still look forward to a great book we can enjoy together. As I read, sometimes my youngest child would draw an event or character in the story, making it come alive to him. Oftentimes, I would give each character in short stories their own voice. This would really keep their interest and it gave each character a personality my children could connect with. During our read-alouds, we would also talk about what might happen next, engaging their thoughts and working on reading comprehension without even realizing it. We would also try to do an activity together pertaining to the story, such as building paper airplanes, going on a treasure hunt, or making a lemon meringue pie. These simple projects also made the story more memorable.
If you have a child that is frustrated with reading, don’t lose heart. You know your child and his learning style better than anyone. Being an encouraging and patient parent to your struggling reader is such an invaluable asset to your child. Reading often to him is also worth its weight in gold. This will increase his love and interest for reading while sharing great family time together. Whatever the reading struggle may be, as you commit to gradually work through this struggle together, your child will find the success in reading that you both desire. ~ Gina
