Literacy Resources to Help if Your Child is Struggling with Reading
If your child is struggling with reading and literacy, you and the school can work together to help them catch up. Here, we have resources to help you identify the trouble spots, work with the team at school, and practice at home with your child.
Literacy FAQs
Our short pieces about literacy, learning disabilities and how to help if your child is struggling with reading:
- My child struggles with reading. How can I help?
- What can parents do if a child has a hard time reading? Here’s what you can do at school and at home.
- Is your child struggling with reading? Here are 5 ways you can help at home.
- Is your child struggling with reading? 6 ways their school can help.
- What is Response to Intervention (RTI) and how can it help if my child struggles in school?
- One Quick Question: How can the school help if my child is having trouble reading? (video)
- Literacy FAQ: How do I help my child learn to read? (video)
See our Special Education Hub to learn about Services to help your child in reading and other areas.
Frequently Asked Questions about reading and literacy
It can be overwhelming to realize your child needs some extra help with reading. Don't worry, we have your back! Here are some of the questions parents ask us most often about literacy.
- From 3rd grade on, students rely on literacy skills for all other classwork, like science, math and social studies.
- Literacy skills are critical for many life activities. Adults with high-school-level literacy skills get better jobs and are healthier than those with lower skills.
- A good foundation will prepare our children for success in all aspects of their life!
Read more about why literacy is such an important life skill
The first step in supporting your child’s literacy is to recognize where they might be struggling. Ask their teacher which skills to work on. Your child may need to focus on one or more of these components:
- Phonics and Decoding – Phonics is understanding how letters represent sounds. Decoding is using that knowledge to “sound out” words.
- Fluency – The ability to read smoothly and accurately, with expression.
- Vocabulary – The words a person knows.
- Comprehension – Understanding what the text is saying.
- Writing – Putting ideas into words in print.
Learning disabilities do not have anything to do with a person’s intelligence. They are caused by differences in the brain and they affect the way the brain processes information.
Schools can test students for learning disabilities, and help them learn using specialized teaching strategies. It’s important to identify learning disabilities as early as possible and get your child the help they need.
- Dyslexia is common, affecting 5-10% of people. It affects their ability to connect letters to sounds, making it hard to read and spell. Most states require schools to screen for dyslexia between kindergarten and 3rd grade. Ask your teacher if you are concerned. Learn more about dyslexia.
- Dysgraphia affects 5-20% of people. It impairs writing ability and fine motor skills. Many people with dysgraphia will go their whole lives undiagnosed. Learn more about dysgraphia.
- Explore your concerns with your child’s teacher. Ask if they can add some interventions (strategies) to help with your child’s trouble spots.
- Keep in touch with the teacher and support team at school. They can help you monitor your child’s progress and give you ideas on how to help at home.
- If the new strategies don’t help your child make progress, ask the school to do an evaluation to see if they qualify for Special Education services.
Read more about how the school can help.
The first answer is read, read, read! Have lots of books and other print materials at home–ones about topics your child likes. Read to them, let them read to you, and read together. Make it fun and give lots of encouragement!
Ask their teacher for specific ways to practice the parts of literacy they need to work on, like sounding out words or reading fluently. Keep in touch with the school so you can monitor progress and adjust their plan if needed.
All students take state standardized tests in grades 3-8, and at least once in high school. The tests can tell how well your child has learned the material that is required by the state, and also how well the school is educating all its students.
This testing can be intimidating for students who struggle with reading. Your school can help you find ways to help your child practice. Here are some other resources:
Practice for the testing in your state
Louisiana – LEAP is the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program. Louisiana Believes has practice tests for LEAP that you and your child can go through for preparation.