Does your child struggle with reading even though you're practicing at home? Here are three signs that it might be time for a little extra support.
Learning to read is an exciting milestone, but for some children, it doesn't come as easily as we hope.
Maybe you've noticed that your child has a hard time sounding out words. Or perhaps what should be 10 minutes of reading practice turns into 30 minutes of frustration, tears, and a child who wants nothing more to do with books.
As a parent, it's hard to know what's normal and when you should be concerned. You may find yourself wondering, "Do they just need more practice? Will they eventually catch up? Am I worrying too much?"
After 31 years of teaching, I've worked with many children who struggle with reading, and one thing I've learned is that the sooner we recognize when a child needs extra help, the sooner we can begin giving them the tools they need to succeed.
Here are three signs I encourage parents to pay attention to.
1. Your Child Guesses Words Instead of Sounding Them Out
Have you ever listened to your child read and noticed that they seem to be guessing at words?
For example, they see the word stop but say shop. Or they come to a word they don't recognize and immediately look at the picture to figure out what it might be.
Sometimes their guesses are surprisingly close, and other times they're nowhere near the actual word.
This is something I see quite often with struggling readers.
When children haven't developed strong phonics skills, they may rely on the first letter, pictures, or what they think would make sense in the sentence instead of looking carefully at all the letters in the word.
The problem is that guessing doesn't teach children how to read unfamiliar words on their own.
What can you do at home?
When your child guesses a word, gently encourage them to look at the letters and say the sounds they know. Help them blend those sounds together to read the word.
For example, if the word is ship, have them look at sh, say /sh/, then /i/ and /p/, and blend the sounds together.
If your child consistently struggles to do this, they may need more direct instruction in phonics and decoding.
2. Reading Practice Often Ends in Frustration
Does this sound familiar?
You sit down with your child to practice reading. Things start out fine, but after a few minutes, your child begins to get frustrated.
They start squirming in their chair, guessing at words, or saying, "I don't know!"
Before long, you hear, "I hate reading!" or "I can't do this!"
Sometimes there are even tears or meltdowns.
If you've experienced this, I want you to consider something.
Your child may not be trying to avoid reading because they don't want to learn. They may be avoiding it because reading is genuinely difficult for them.
Think about how you would feel if you were asked to do something every day that seemed easy for everyone else but was incredibly hard for you.
Children notice when their classmates can read words they can't. They notice when they struggle with books that other children read easily.
Over time, that frustration can begin to affect their confidence.
What can you do at home?
Try keeping reading practice short and positive. Choose books that match your child's current reading skills rather than books that are too difficult.
Celebrate their effort and small successes. Even something as simple as, "I love how you took your time and sounded out that word!" can help.
And if your child is becoming overwhelmed, it's okay to stop and try again later.
Reading practice should help build skills, not become something your child dreads.
3. Your Child Is Making Very Slow Progress
Maybe your child has been struggling with reading since kindergarten or first grade.
You've practiced sight words, worked on letter sounds, read together every night, and tried different reading activities.
But despite all that practice, progress seems very slow.
Perhaps your child is still struggling to read simple words or continues to forget sounds and words they've practiced many times.
You may have even heard, "Just give it more time. They'll catch up."
While children do learn at different rates, ongoing reading difficulties shouldn't be ignored.
Some children need more than additional reading practice. They need someone to identify which skills are missing and teach those skills in a clear, step-by-step way.
For example, if a child has difficulty hearing and identifying the individual sounds in words, simply asking them to read more books isn't going to address that underlying difficulty.
They need instruction that starts with the skills they haven't yet mastered and builds from there.
What can you do at home?
Talk with your child's teacher about the progress they're making. Ask which specific reading skills are difficult and what additional support is being provided at school.
If your child continues to struggle despite extra instruction and practice, consider having their reading skills assessed.
An assessment can help identify areas of difficulty and guide the next steps.
So, Does Your Child Need a Reading Tutor?
Not every child who struggles with reading needs private tutoring. Sometimes a little extra practice or support at school is enough.
But if you're noticing several of these signs, especially if they've been happening for a while, it may be time to look more closely at what's going on.
One of the things I love most about working with struggling readers is watching their confidence grow as they begin to understand how reading works.
There's something special about seeing a child who once said, "I can't do it," begin to sound out a word independently and realize, "Hey, I read that!"
Those moments are why I love what I do.
And while every child learns at their own pace, the right instruction can make a meaningful difference.
A Little Extra Help Can Make a Big Difference
If your child is guessing at words, becoming frustrated during reading, or making very slow progress, please don't feel that you need to wait until they're further behind to ask questions.
Reading difficulties are common, and there are effective ways to help children develop the skills they need.
My goal is always to help children become not only better readers but also more confident learners who believe in themselves.
