Help! Why Does My Child Struggle with Reading?
Your child may not struggle with reading for the reasons you think. Could it be poor instruction, a reading deficit or something else entirely? Find out if there are factors you haven't considered.
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When you are trying to determine why your child struggles with reading, there are lots of factors to consider. But the best place to start is also the place that is often overlooked: the quality of the reading instruction. As parents, we may assume that our child is receiving adequate reading instruction so the problem must be a reading deficit or disability in the child. But the reading difficulty may be a result of something we haven’t considered.
Reason #1: Poor Instruction?
It’s possible your child struggles to read because they haven’t been given the instruction needed to develop good reading skills. Some students pick up reading quickly with very little instruction. Other students (even if they do not have a reading disability) need more clear instruction and practice for reading to develop (Ehri et al., 2001).
Unfortunately, not every is up to date on their reading instructional practices and may rely heavily on meaning-based approaches that are not effective for most beginning or struggling readers (National Reading Panel, 2000; Moats & Tolman, 2019).
There are two “types” of reading skills. Each addresses a different type of reading difficulty but both are needed to develop fluent readers (National Reading Panel, 2000). These are foundational skills and comprehension skills.
Identifying Poor Instruction
Foundational reading skills are the group of skills that should be the main focus in preschool through second grade classes. These skills are These skills include:
Phonemic awareness (instruction in the sounds of our language)
Phonics (instruction in how letters connect to sounds)
Fluency (practice in reading accurately and smoothly)
Research shows that explicit, systematic instruction in these skills is essential for learning to read, particularly for struggling readers (National Reading Panel, 2000; Ehri et al., 2001).
Many schools either do not teach foundational skills in a clear, logical way or focus instruction for young readers primarily on comprehension skills like vocabulary or background knowledge. While these skills are important, alone they cannot teach a child how to read words (National Reading Panel, 2000; Dehaene, 2010).
The meaning-based (or comprehension) skills are also important for developing fluent readers. The comprehension skills include vocabulary, background knowledge, knowing how sentences are formed (syntax or grammar), or knowing how different types of texts are structured. There are many more skills that continue to increase in complexity in later grades. Comprehension skills are merely any skill that helps students understand what is happening in the text. These should be taught in a way that is both meaningful for students and follows a logical progression (Catts et al., 2006; National Reading Panel, 2000).
Advocating for Good Instruction
Begin by asking your child’s teacher how they teach these skills. Are they taught directly and clearly? Does the teacher model and explain, then give time for supported and independent practice. Clear, teacher-directed instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency is necessary to build the neural connections required for reading (Dehaene, 2010; Seidenberg, 2017).
Also, assess whether these skills are taught regularly. Phonemic awareness instruction should happen for at least 5 minutes daily. Phonics instruction should take up the majority of the reading instructional time every day in grades kindergarten through second, and about half of the instructional time in third through sixth grade. Fluency instruction and practice should happen at least three times a week. Comprehension skills should take up only about 30-40% of the reading instruction in younger grades and about half in later grades (National Reading Panel, 2000; Moats & Tolman, 2019).
Next, determine if this instruction follows a logical order. Ask your child’s teacher to walk you through the scope-and-sequence. This is a document that lists all the reading skills taught over the course of the school year. The topics for all skills should progress from easiest to hardest and not seem randomly placed in the scope-and-sequence (Ehri et al., 2001). A good scope-and-sequence will build in time to review by cycling through old topics as they add new ones.
If you are struggling with determining whether your child is receiving poor or high-quality reading instruction, read this article. You can also dive deeper by checking out our course (coming soon!), A Parent's Advantage in Teaching Struggling Readers, or book an affordable consultation with us.
Reason #2: A Reading Deficit?
Regardless of whether your child is getting poor or high-quality instruction, their reading difficulties can be described in three different ways. These are not diagnoses but profiles or patterns that can help you in determining exactly what your child is struggling with.
Reading Profile #1: Specific Word Reading Difficulty
A Specific Word Reading Difficulty (SWRD) is a difficulty with reading words, as opposed to difficulty with understanding a text. These children may:
Struggle to blend sounds into words
Read slowly or inaccurately
Confuse visually similar words (e.g., was/saw)
Have difficulty remembering what sounds letters make
This profile is strongly associated with weaknesses in phonological processing and decoding skills (Ehri et al., 2001; Snowling, 2000).
Sometimes parents may think their child has dyslexia when struggling with SWRD. But remember, there are many factors that can contribute to difficulty decoding words, like poor foundational skills instruction or a different diagnosis or factor, which we will get to later.
Reading Profile #2: Specific Reading Comprehension Difficulty
A Specific Reading Comprehension Difficulty (SRCD) is a difficulty understanding the meaning of a text. This includes texts the student has read or texts that are read to them. These children may:
Have difficulty recalling details from a text
Struggle with inference or understanding themes
Appear fluent but cannot explain the text
Struggle to follow multi-step directions
Have poor grammar despite exposure to proper grammar
Research shows that these difficulties are often linked to underlying oral language weaknesses, including vocabulary, grammar, and narrative understanding (Catts et al., 2006; Catts & Kamhi, 2017). But again, remember, that children who appear to have a SRCD don’t always have a diagnosis. They may simply lack proper instruction in comprehension skills. There can also be other underlying factors contributing to a child’s comprehension difficulties, as we will see later.
Reading Profile #3: Mixed Reading Difficulties
A Mixed Reading Difficulty (MRD) is when a child struggles to both read words with accuracy and to understand the meaning of a text. Often a child with only a word-difficulty will struggle to understand a text they have read because they’ve had difficulty reading the words in it. They may not struggle if a text is read to them. In order to truly discover whether a child has a MRD, you should determine if they struggle to understand texts read aloud to them, as well as with reading words on the page on their own.
On the other hand, any child with a comprehension-difficulty may struggle to read or sound out a word just because they’ve never heard it before and don’t know its meaning. They may not struggle reading words that they have heard before, as they might with a word-difficulty. So another important factor to consider when determining if a child has a MRD is to assess whether the child can sound out words unfamiliar to them in addition to words they already know. Using nonsense words is a great strategy for this (National Reading Panel, 2000)!
Diagnoses Contributing to Reading Difficulty Profiles
Remember that the above categories are not diagnoses. There are, however, some diagnoses that may be contributing to your child’s type of reading difficulty. Many of the following learning disabilities are medical diagnoses that are checked for by doctors. Others are disabilities that a school can test for and diagnose if they staff a qualified professional. Since we are not medical experts we will link to reliable resources where you can find more information.
(A quick note: As you read this section, we encourage you to hold off on jumping to conclusions about your child until you have read the “Or Neither” section. It is important we are discerning as parents and not making judgements based on fears. So read on, but hold tight.)
The most obvious disability that would impact your child’s reading is dyslexia. Children with dyslexia usually have a normal level of intelligence but struggle specifically with word reading, resulting in a SWRD. They likely also struggle processing or identifying sounds in spoken words (think rhyming or alliteration activities), or have trouble memorizing dates, names or letters (Snowling, 2000; Shaywitz, 2003). Children with dyslexia and an additional disorder may have MRD. Most often, a doctor diagnoses dyslexia. If you request testing through a school, they may determine your child has a “specific reading disability.” Your child would then receive an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and likely the same type of supports as if they had a dyslexia diagnosis from a doctor. For more information on dyslexia, go to https://dyslexiaida.org.
Another diagnosis that can impact reading is a speech disorder. This is when a person has trouble pronouncing speech sounds correctly. Speech disorders are becoming increasingly common – something I experienced personally as a reading interventionist. Children with speech disorders may stutter, mumble or confuse their sounds (Lewis et al., 2011). Speech disorders can affect a child’s word reading and are often associated with SWRD but if present with another condition, it can present as a MRD. Speech disorders can be diagnosed by a doctor or a Speech-Language Pathologist. For more information on speech disorders, see medlineplus.gov.
A language processing disorder (LPD) is when a person has trouble communicating the meaning of their message with others or understanding the meaning of another person’s message. Difficulty with communicating meaning is an expressive language disorder. Difficulty with understanding another person’s meaning is a receptive language disorder (Bishop et al., 2017; Catts et al., 2006). Many children can have both. As with speech disorders, remember to keep the child’s age in mind. Language disorders are often associated with SRCD or MRD. Language disorders can be diagnosed by a doctor or you can request testing through the school by a Speech-Language Pathologist. For more information on language disorders see medlineplus.gov.
ADD and ADHD can affect a child’s ability to read words and understand the meaning of a text. Difficulty paying attention to letters or words may result in SWRD, whereas issues with retaining meaning and themes in a text can result in SRCD (Willcutt et al., 2010). Some children may struggle with both, resulting in MRD. Only doctors can diagnose ADD or ADHD, but schools can perform a “time-on-task” assessment of your child (counting the number of minutes your child is attending to the task vs. the number of minutes they are distracted) as evidence for you to bring to the doctor. To learn more, go to https://chadd.org.
Autism can also affect a child’s reading. Most children with autism struggle with understanding texts (especially those that use figurative language) (Nation et al., 2006; Norbury & Nation, 2011). This can result in a SRCD. Only a doctor can diagnose autism spectrum disorder or asperger’s, but a teacher can be helpful in compiling evidence of behaviors they notice of your child while performing social or academic tasks in class. For more information, go to https://nationalautismassociation.org.
Apraxia is a disorder that causes children to struggle with planning movements, coordination and tasks. Interestingly, children with apraxia may also have speech issues (due to difficulty coordinating motor movements of their tongue and lips), language issues (due to difficulty planning words and sentences), and handwriting issues (due to poor hand-eye coordination). These children may also struggle with balance or spatial awareness. Children with apraxia would likely present as having MRD (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2005). A doctor or a Speech-Language Pathologist through the school can diagnose apraxia. To learn more, go to https://www.apraxia-kids.org.
Auditory processing disorders (APD) are when a child’s brain struggles to process speech sounds correctly. There are overlaps between this and dyslexia because of the need to be able to accurately process sounds in order to read words. The major difference is that children with APD may also struggle with understanding spoken language, not just connecting sounds to letters as with dyslexia. Also different from a language processing disorder, children with APD struggle to understand language because of their difficulty with processing sounds, not language itself (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2005). A child with an APD would likely present as having MRD. For more information, read this article by the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Around 50% of children that have one of these disorders will have at least one other. This can make it tricky to diagnose and treat disabilities (Willcutt et al., 2010). But remember, nobody – not a doctor, teacher, administrator, or test – knows as much about your child as you do. This is your Parent Advantage. A test can only tell you the behaviors of your child in that specific moment, whereas you have watched your child develop and grow up over their lifetime. You know the behaviors you are seeing to be true, so trust your gut, and advocate for what you believe is true about your child, even if the professionals disagree with you because of the “testing”.
Reason #3: Something else?
Before fear sets in that your child could have a diagnosis, let’s back up and consider some things that most doctors or schools probably aren’t going to ask about.
Most likely in order to cover themselves from liability or medical malpractice, it is our professional opinion, based on experience, that experts tend to over-diagnose. We understand this temptation and believe it most often stems from a desire to help children. However, there are questions that often go unasked by professionals and are therefore unconsidered by parents. Avoid the temptation to subconsciously blow off the following factors (as any concerned parent might) and jump straight to the most dire of conclusions. Bring your observations about all of these factors to doctor’s appointments or school meetings where you can discuss your child’s reading difficulties.
Age & Readiness
I have seen advertisements on my social media recently about a reading program that can teach two-year-olds to read. How awesome is that? A question though… Why do two-year-olds really need to read? We live in a culture where there is always a need to be more and be better. Have some parents become too obsessed with how quickly their child develops in comparison to other children? It’s probably best that we avoid putting this undo pressure on our children. A child is not expected to begin reading until the age 5 or 6, but you can certainly begin instruction before then.
It was not until recent history, that we expected young children to be at a desk or in a building for 6-7 hours a day. So let’s pull ourselves out of the confines of our modern context and consider that a child may need more independent play, outdoor time and interactions with different aged children to develop their brains before they are ready to read. Specific areas of the brain need to be strongly developed before they will connect together and put all the reading processes together. Reading is not biologically natural and requires multiple brain systems to develop and connect (Dehaene, 2010). Children vary widely in readiness, and early academic pressure can create frustration that resembles learning difficulty (Seidenberg, 2017).
Check out our Comprehensive Reading Readiness Guide or our Reading Readiness article collection to help get your pre-reader ready to read.
Personality & interest
It is also possible that your child is simply less interested in reading than other children because they are a daydreamer, a rough-and-tumble climber, or always have a song playing in their head. Some children have really strong personality quirks or interests and these are not always indicative of a learning disability. They can make whole-group reading lessons harder because your child has other things taking up space in their head. A classroom teacher will not always be able to accommodate for this or even tell that it is happening, and this may cause your child to fall behind.
At home, however, you can use these interests and personality quirks to your advantage (see what we did there!). For example, if your young one is like mine, they love to daydream, act and play pretend. This can make it difficult for a child to want to focus on learning letters and sounds. But I can choose themed words or sentences that we can act out together. If my child was a mover, I could have them make the letters with their bodies, or tape printed words on the wall and have them run to the word I call out. It’s also easy to incorporate music and art into any reading lesson: just do a quick Pinterest search. You’ll get the idea! Don’t let your child’s amazing personality cause them to see reading as boring or cumbersome! So yes, some strong personality quirks may make it more difficult to engage in sit-down, large-group lessons. But that can be totally appropriate for your child’s age and personality. Ask your pediatrician specifically if they think these personality quirks are age appropriate.
Poor sleep, diet or exercise
One of the most common reasons I have seen for a child falling behind in reading when they do not have a learning disability is a lack of good sleep, diet and exercise.
I often had students fall asleep during lessons and say they were awake late on their tablet or went to bed after midnight. I also had some students who were incredibly intelligent but were addicted to sugar. They would crash during independent work, keeping them from practicing skills on their own or producing high-quality work.
Outside of the direct consequences of poor sleep, diet and exercise, all three of these things are incredibly important to brain development. Children who have poor sleep, diet or exercise may lack the brain function needed to perform reading tasks well. It is necessary for you as a parent to develop healthy routines in order for your child to succeed. Your Parent Advantage here is that you know your child and are in charge of them! You get to use your best judgment to determine the boundaries or routines they need. The importance of these three things cannot be overstated.
Even for students that do have learning disabilities, recent research shows there is a possibility that good sleep, diet and exercise can improve symptoms!
Specific research on this topic can be found in our Holistic Supports Collection, but here are a few basic recommendations. Pick one at a time to dig into and focus on.
Elementary children should not own personal devices (tablets or phones). If they do, their access to them should be limited and supervised. There should be no screen time two hours before bed. Exposure to blue light from screens lessens our quality of sleep (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016; Lee et al., 2018). Usage of social media apps shortens attention spans and negatively rewires our brains. For more on how personal devices impact our children, we recommend this book.
Elementary children should go to bed before 9:00pm on school nights as regularly as possible and be getting 9-12 hours of sleep at night (Paruthi et al., 2016). A study from the CDC found, "Children who had a regular bedtime every day or most days were less likely to be tired during the day most days or every day." For sleep recommendations read here.
Eat real, whole foods that are high in protein and fiber (this is typically a fruit, veggies, and meat diet). Avoid processed foods and food high in carbs (i.e., most anything that comes in a package). Carbs and processed foods cause blood sugar spikes and crashes which impact brain development and energy levels. For more detailed recommendations see here.
Elementary children should be physically active for at least 2 hours a day. Children not yet in school should be physically active for 3 hours a day or more. Physical activity supports cognitive development and academic performance (Donnelly et al., 2016; World Health Organization, 2020). Read here for more physical activity recommendations and suggestions.
Elementary children should play outside for at least 30 minutes every day, while an hour or more is ideal. Children who are not yet in school should be outside even longer. Outdoor play supports early brain development (Kuo et al., 2019). For more information on how nature-play benefits brain development in children under three, read this article by the NIH. We also recommend this resource for encouragement on getting your family outside.
These recommendations are compiled from CDC, NIH, and HHS resources, as well as from our own direct experiences with children who struggle in the classroom. For more research on how these things may impact your child's reading and for more resources to help you implement some of these strategies check out our Holistic Supports Collection of articles (coming soon!).
Why This Matters
There are many reasons a child may struggle with reading – a lack of quality instruction, a true learning disability, or their age, personality, or health habits. Any of these can cause a child to have one of three reading profiles: specific word difficulties, specific comprehension difficulties, or mixed difficulties. When you are advocating for your struggling child’s needs, don’t forget to look into all possible causes. Use your best judgement as a parent to determine what you think is the cause and voice it! Don’t let the “experts” in the room tell you it’s something without exploring all possible causes.
To help you process all of this information, we have created a simple, one-page flow chart designed to guide you in processing all the possible causes behind why your child my be struggling. Get it for free here!
If you need more advice on how to proceed in determining what is causing your child’s reading difficulty, consider booking a consultation or purchasing our course (coming soon!), A Parent's Advantage in Teaching Struggling Readers. Here we do a deep dive into all the things affecting your child’s reading and what to do about it!
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