In this blog post, I am hoping to relieve some stress for you and give you some great ideas to support struggling readers at home.  Do you have a struggling reader you want to help?  Is it like pulling teeth to get them to practice at home?  Are they falling behind their peers? They may say they hate reading but there is hope on the horizon.

1.  Rule out specific learning disabilities for your struggling reader first!

Firstly, you must rule out any learning disabilities or difficulties before jumping in to try and help your child.

Before my youngest child was diagnosed with dyslexia at 8 years old I doubted my suspicions.

I saw her writing and the way she dotted capitals throughout, reversed letters and spelled everything how it sounded.

Even though I am trained in this very area and these were definite signs of dyslexia, this was my daughter and I found it hard not to doubt myself.

In the end, I pushed forward to get her tested and I’m so glad I did.

It is so vital as a parent, to trust your instincts.

I want to encourage you to trust your instincts and be an advocate for your child.  It is so easy to think that you’re being overprotective or fussy.  Struggling readers need specific and structured help to move forward.

Ask your school if they have any special testing they can do or find a specialist in your area to refer your child to. 

An educational psychologist can test your child for dyslexia and provide access to specialist tutors. 

There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

2.  Build your struggling reader’s confidence.

One of the greatest things you can do to support struggling readers is to focus on their strengths.

Your child may not be able to read so well, but they will have other things they are good at.  They may be great at telling stories or drawing amazing pictures.  They may be awesome soccer players, swimmers, or dancers.

My daughter writes amazing stories even though she struggles to spell.  I never want her to lose her enthusiasm for storywriting.  Encouraging her amazing creativity will allow her to continue building on that strength.

It is so important for your struggling readers to find things they are good at and can enjoy.

When your child is reading to you, try to pick up on any little thing they may be doing well.

“I love how you found the first sound in that word, well done.  You are starting to get good at your beginning sounds.”

Just a note here, don’t worry if your child picks up the same easy book over and over again. They are feeling confident with it and finding enjoyment. Encourage that!

When reading is something you struggle with, remembering to bring your book home from school is a huge win!!

Celebrate the little things.

3.  Reduce anxiety to help your struggling reader through playing games.

Games are my secret sauce!!  Whenever I am teaching my students and I sense it is all getting a little much for them, I pull out a game.

The games that I use are all great for increasing reading fluency.  My students love playing these card games and don’t even realise that they are still learning.  The time it takes to print onto card and cut out is paid back a hundred times over.

Instead of telling them they need to practice their reading, just pull out a card game and watch their eyes light up.

I get smiles out of my oldest students even when they’ve had a hard time.  Try out my FREEBIE short vowel game here and see for yourself.  There are so many games you can play that will help to build the foundations of reading and support struggling readers.

• Try swapping sounds of words out to make funny words.  Say two words like ‘funny dog’ and get your child to swap the beginning sounds and say ‘dunny fog’.  It may seem like just a bit of fun but being able to do this is a very important foundation skill we need to read.  Hearing and manipulating sounds.
• I spy with my little eye something that starts with the sound…  This is an even better way of playing this game than using just the letter names.  It works on isolating beginning sounds.  You can make this even harder by using ‘something that rhymes with…’, or ‘something that ends with…’.
• You can play treasure hunts.  Give your child one minute to find as many objects as they can that rhyme with, start with, end with, etc… You could also give them a list of words and see how many they can spot around the house.  They can find them in books, on the wall, or even cut them out of magazines.
• Pull out one of my card games or board games and have some fun! You can find them here.

Games are often a way to support struggling readers with their learning without making them chug through a book.

It’s all good stuff!

4.  Read to your child and model enjoyment.

Never underestimate the power of reading TO your child.

I believe children are never too old to be read to.  This is especially important if your child struggles to read.

What better way to spend time away from screens (adults included)!

When you read to your child, you are showing them one of the purposes of reading, and that is enjoyment.  You teach them correct phrasing and introduce them to new vocabulary that they couldn’t access themselves.

Often struggling readers miss out on interesting vocabulary because they will only choose books with simple words.

As they start to gain confidence you could try reading a page each.

Also if they have a younger sibling, get them to read a very simple book you know they are capable of to their brother or sister.

For more fun ideas of how to enjoy books together, you can read this blog post by Kate Macfarlane of ‘Primarily Kate’ where she gives 7 ways that you can have fun with books at home.  Read it here.

5.  Use technology to support struggling readers.

There are amazing technology options out there now.  Sometimes we as parents tend to think that if we are allowing them to use technology to read we are just giving them shortcuts.

We think they will miss out on learning to read if they use technology.

I hear you and have thought the same things.

However, I have also seen the joy on the face of a struggling reader who has just been given access to the world of books and information through audiobooks.  This is what every child needs.

Access, opportunities, and options.

There are so many options out there.  Audiobooks and text-to-speech are two very common and available options.  Here is a great article that outlines different types of assistive technologies and where to find them.

I hope you have found this helpful and has given you plenty to get started with.  Remember:-

1. Rule out any learning disabilities that may be there first and get your child specialist help if needed.  You can find a great checklist to know what steps to take in my free guide – download below.
2. Build your child’s confidence by focusing on their strengths.
3. Reduce anxiety by playing reading games.
4. Never stop reading TO your child.  They are learning as you read.
5. Introduce them to the world of audiobooks and text-to-speech.

If you made it to the end of this blog post, well done!

Do you have a preschooler that you want to help develop a love of reading with?  Check out this great blog post from ‘My Preschooler and Me’ for some great tips aimed specifically at those younger ages.

If you haven’t yet downloaded my Free Guide to help you know the step-by-step process to help your struggling reader – feel free to download it here.

I hope to see you back soon.  Let’s support struggling readers the best we can.