How can I help a struggling early reader at HOME?

Question

Parents and caregivers, if you are reading this message you have reached desperation when it comes to supporting your Struggling Reader. It will be okay, I promise!

I am a special educator, trained in proven reading interventions, and I have worked with a number of Struggling Readers and families. Parents ask me all the time - How can I help my Struggling Reader at HOME?

Answer 1

Reading to your child is always valuable, no matter how old your child is. When you read to your child, you are helping your child understand the structure of stories. You are also showing how to read fluently, with expression. The more you use expression the better; different voices for different characters, changing between soft reading and loud, emphatic reading. If you are unsure about reading aloud, you can borrow books and cd's from the library and listen to them together. It's important to also talk to your child about the story that you are reading. What is the most interesting part, why? Why do you think X character acted the way he/she did? Tell me the story in your own words, or tell me all the important parts of the story. You can talk about what you liked in the story, how you reacted to particular parts of the story or another thing that you would like to share about the story. If you read a non-fiction book, talk about the things that you learned, including what was the most interesting fact.

Another easy thing you can do is to practice things like rhyming, opposites, beginning sounds and ending sounds. You can model the beginning sounds and ending sounds for your child, then ask them to do a word. Try playing a game in which you change beginning sounds - you say something like cat and ask your child to change the /k/ sound to /s/ sound. Make up imaginary words too, to make it fun and funny. Practicing all these oral skills (called phonemic awareness) will help your child when it comes to making a connection between the letters and the sounds that they stand for.

Answer 2

Struggling Reader Home Methods*

⏰ Be consistent. Because that’s how kids learn. Students thrive on consistency and routine, it makes them feels safe. Then the reader can focus on the challenging task of learning how to read, not trying to guess what’s next. Schedule a time to work on reading and try your best to stick to it. Be honest with what your home life looks like.

🔌 Remove distractions. TV noises in the background can distract readers from hearing what s/he is sounding out. Conversation, distracting visuals, etc should be minimized as much as possible.

⏳ Be reasonable. Start with small tasks, drills, and short time periods. Give you and your student time to build up the stamina of working together on what you already identified as a challenge. This will also reduce frustration levels. 15-20 minutes is the max you want to spend on difficult tasks for younger readers.

😊 Try to be Positive. Please try not to take the fun out of reading before your student has has learned. Add some fun read aloud time (you read something the reader chooses) if you notice frustration levels are getting to either you or the reader.

📚 Focus on phonics first! This is the golden rule before engaging in fun comprehension questions. If you don’t know where your student is phonetically, this is where it helps to have an expert! Reach out to your reader’s teacher to get more information. Teachers should have reading assessment data they can share. Also, consider hiring a tutor if this is not an area you feel comfortable. Phonics is explicitly teaching students the sounds that letters and letter combinations make, so students can sound out most unknown words on their own (once all sounds are mastered).

📖 Choose the appropriately leveled book or text, when possible. There are lots of free book resources for early readers online. Please preview each text for a Struggling Reader. If the student struggles to read more than 5 words per page, that book is too hard. Struggling readers will push back on reading the “baby” books or similar language. My four year old calls phonics reader books “not real books.” Try to focus on the positive, but be honest. You can read more difficult books (to the reader) for fun once awhile, but reading becomes even harder when students are constantly struggling.

*All methods above I used with my 4 year old, who can read 1st grade level texts fluently. However, she also received Montessori instruction in a school setting. Please contact me if you want to know the exact materials I used at home.