Education & Parenting

A reading problem: here’s what to look for

August 30, 2024

I remember when my son Harry started school and hit the literacy roadblock. He’d been a happy child up to that point, usually playing outdoors or digging in the sandpit, but once he went to school, he struggled. Reading and spelling didn’t come easy to him. I spent the first year of his schooling wondering if he had a reading problem, but his teacher told me he was fine. I wish I’d known then what I know now.

What Are the Signs of a Reading Problem?

A child with a reading problem may display some of the issues:

Sounds out every word on the page, even if he has already read them.
Doesn’t know the sounds of the letters.
Oral reading is choppy rather than fluent and smooth.
Reads words in the wrong order.
May recognize a word on one page but not on the next.
Substitutes similar-looking words, such as house for horse.
Guess at words instead of sounding them out.
Lacks the skill to sound out unfamiliar words.
Ignores punctuation when reading.
Loses place on the page, skips lines, or rereads lines.
Inserts extra letters in a word when reading. For example, may read tail as trail. Misread words often have the same beginning and ending letters.
Makes up part of the story based on the illustrations or context clues instead of reading the words on the page.
Substitutes words with similar meanings when reading stories. For example, may read said instead of shouted.
Skips small words such as a, the, to, of, were, and from.
Displays poor reading comprehension.
Has a challenging time reading single words on a flashcard.
Resists reading. It’s a natural tendency for children to avoid what they aren’t skilled at.

Is dyslexia the only cause of a reading problem?

Not at all. Dyslexia is one cause, but other issues may be behind a reading problem.

Kids with auditory processing disorder often have problems learning to read.

Harry’s auditory processing disorder hampered his learning. He couldn’t hear the vowel sounds in words and needed speech and language therapy to overcome this challenge. Only then did he make progress with reading.

Visual problems may cause reading problems.

Find a behavioural optometrist to rule out vision problems such as far-sightedness or convergence insufficiency disorder. Harry had a squint when he was born, and although his eyes looked fine when he started school, the lasting effects of the squint meant it was difficult for his eyes to work together to read across a page. Although he could see perfectly, he required SchoolVision prescription spectacles to help with eye tracking when reading.

Might my child not be ready to read?

Absolutely! Sometimes, too much is expected from young children. Some children just aren’t ready to read. For them, it’s helpful to do pre-reading activities to prepare them. Here in New Zealand, children start school on their fifth birthday, but parents may delay their start as long as they go before they turn six. Harry’s birthday is in July, but his first day at school was after the school holiday in October. As our educational year ends in early December, he got a taste of school before the six-week summer holiday but started a full year the following February.

Pre-reading activities such as using wordless books are a wonderful way to help a child understand how stories work. These books use illustrations to create their own stories. One of Harry’s favorites was “You Choose Fairy Tales” by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart. He had hours of fun creating stories using their fairytale characters.

Learning to read takes time. A child might need to see a word thirty times before automatically recognizing it by sight. If your child hasn’t seen a word that many times yet, don’t be alarmed if he still needs to sound it out.

Also, learning to read may be challenging if your child has a low frustration tolerance. It can appear that he has a reading problem even if he doesn’t.

How Can I Help My Child with a Reading Problem?

A mother teaching her son to read — A parent teaching a child to read

If your child has a reading problem, the most important thing to remember is that you CAN help them. Here are some suggestions:

Limit or remove screen time. I follow the teacher/author Matt Eicheldinger on Instagram. In a recent reel, he pointed out children’s book sales are down, and fewer children are reading for enjoyment, yet kids’ digital time is increasing. Parents need to limit screen time for a book to have a chance with a child.
Pick the best time to read. Ensure your child isn’t hungry or over tired and find a quiet spot where older siblings won’t disturb them.
Keep reading time short and fun. Let them stop if they have had enough and give them lots of praise for their efforts. Never mock their mispronunciations or mistakes.
Audiobooks can help older children enjoy longer stories. If you get the physical book, they can follow along.
Read to your child as often as you can. This is especially good during primary school when you can share stories that may be too tricky for them to read alone.
Help them choose books which interest them at the library.
If their reading level is below their grade, look at high/low books. These offer age-appropriate subject matter at a low reading level.
Help them to sound out words they get stuck on, but if there are many tricky words, help them out rather than spoil the enjoyment of the story.

If you are concerned your child is failing to pick up reading, consider a structured reading program such as All About Reading. Using All About Reading, I taught Harry to read in 30 minutes a day before school. The company, All About Learning Press, now only ships within the US, but if you live outside of the US, you may be able to find a local educational resources supplier that stocks All About Reading. If you live in New Zealand, Engaging Minds supplies these resources.