My Child Is Struggling to Read: When Should I Get Extra Help?
Watching your child struggle with reading can leave you with a lot of questions.
Is this normal? Do they just need more practice? Should I give them more time? When should I start looking for a reading tutor?
Children learn to read at different rates, and struggling with a new skill doesn't automatically mean something is wrong. But when reading continues to be difficult despite instruction and practice, it may be time to look more closely at why your child is struggling.
Getting help doesn't mean jumping immediately to a diagnosis. It means figuring out what your child needs so they can receive the right instruction.
Some Reading Struggles Are Part of Learning
Learning to read is complicated.
Beginning readers are learning to connect sounds with letters, blend those sounds together, recognize common words, understand what they read, and eventually do all of this quickly enough that reading feels natural.
Mistakes are expected along the way.
A beginning reader might forget a letter sound, need help blending a word, or read slowly while developing new skills. What matters is whether those skills are improving with instruction and practice.
When the same difficulties continue over time, that's when I start paying closer attention.
Signs Your Child May Need Extra Reading Help
One difficult reading assignment isn't usually cause for concern. Instead, look for patterns.
Your child may benefit from additional reading support if they:
Have difficulty remembering letter sounds or phonics patterns they've already learned
Struggle to blend sounds together to read words
Guess at words instead of sounding them out
Have difficulty reading unfamiliar words
Read very slowly or with significant effort
Frequently skip, add, or change words while reading
Have persistent difficulty with spelling
Can learn spelling words temporarily but quickly forget them
Avoid reading whenever possible
Become unusually frustrated when asked to read
Have reading skills that don't seem to match their abilities in other areas
Another important clue is how your child responds to instruction.
If a child has received appropriate reading instruction and plenty of opportunities to practice but continues to struggle significantly, simply providing more of the same instruction may not solve the problem.
"Should I Just Wait and See?"
Parents are sometimes told that a struggling reader will eventually catch up.
Some children do need additional time and practice. But persistent reading difficulties shouldn't automatically be treated as something a child will outgrow.
The International Dyslexia Association emphasizes the importance of early identification and intervention for students who are at risk for reading difficulties. Early screening can help identify children who need additional instruction before reading struggles become more significant.
You don't have to wait until your child is years behind before asking questions.
What Kind of Help Does a Struggling Reader Need?
This is where targeted reading intervention is different from simply doing more reading.
If a child struggles to decode words, handing them additional books to practice doesn't directly teach the missing skill.
Instead, we need to figure out where the breakdown is happening.
Depending on the child, instruction may need to target:
Phonemic awareness
Letter-sound relationships
Decoding
Encoding and spelling
Syllable patterns
Reading fluency
Vocabulary
Reading comprehension
Effective intervention should respond to the child's actual needs rather than simply their grade level.
Could It Be Dyslexia?
Sometimes persistent reading and spelling difficulties are signs of dyslexia.
Children with dyslexia may struggle with accurate or fluent word reading, decoding, and spelling even when they have had opportunities to learn.
You might notice that your child understands much more when information is read aloud than when they have to read it independently. They may have strong ideas and vocabulary but find reading and spelling surprisingly difficult.
Dyslexia also isn't simply reversing letters.
If you're wondering whether your child's difficulties could be related to dyslexia, you can read my post "Signs of Dyslexia in Children: What Parents Should Watch For" for a more detailed look at common warning signs.
What Is Structured Literacy?
For children with significant reading difficulties, the type of instruction matters.
Structured Literacy explicitly teaches how written language works. Skills are taught systematically and build upon one another rather than expecting students to figure out patterns independently.
Students receive direct instruction and plenty of guided practice before moving on to increasingly complex skills.
This type of instruction can be especially beneficial for students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.
How Is Reading Tutoring Different From Dyslexia Tutoring?
Not every child who needs a reading tutor has dyslexia.
Some students need targeted support in one or two areas. Others have more persistent difficulties and need intensive, systematic instruction over a longer period of time.
That's why I don't think of reading tutoring as simply "more reading."
The goal is to understand what a student can already do, determine where they are struggling, and provide instruction that addresses those specific skills.
For students with dyslexia or significant decoding and spelling difficulties, I use the Barton Reading & Spelling System, an Orton-Gillingham influenced Structured Literacy program.
You can learn more about this distinction in my post "How Is Dyslexia Tutoring Different From Regular Reading Tutoring?"
When Should You Reach Out for Help?
You don't need to wait for your child to fail before seeking support.
If you're consistently thinking, "Something about reading seems much harder for my child than it should be," that's worth exploring.
Talk with your child's teacher. Look at assessment results. Ask which specific reading skills are difficult and whether your child is making expected progress.
And if your child continues to struggle despite instruction, consider additional screening, evaluation, or individualized reading intervention.
The earlier we understand why a child is struggling, the sooner we can provide instruction that actually addresses the problem.
Helping Struggling Readers Build Confidence
Reading struggles can affect much more than reading.
A child who repeatedly experiences difficulty may begin saying things like, "I'm bad at reading," "I hate reading," or even "I'm stupid."
Those statements matter.
One of my favorite parts of tutoring is watching what happens when a struggling reader begins to understand something that previously felt impossible.
The goal isn't just to get through today's reading assignment.
It's to give students the skills—and the confidence—to become more independent readers.
Looking for Reading or Dyslexia Tutoring?
Tutoring with Cassi Riggs provides individualized online reading intervention, dyslexia tutoring, Structured Literacy instruction, and Barton Reading & Spelling tutoring.
If your child is struggling with reading or spelling and you're unsure what kind of support they need, I'd be happy to talk with you about what you're seeing and whether individualized tutoring may be a good fit.
