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Reading
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Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

At school
Expert help
Kids' Barn

Expert help
Helping struggling readers
An introduction to struggling readers
Watch the video

Helping your struggling reader at home

Watch the video

Jean Gross, CBE

In Jeans two films she talks about the concerns surrounding childrens reading, why children
might be struggling to read and offers top tips to help support struggling readers. You can watch
each film all the way through or, once the film has started, you can click on the links to the left of
the film to skip to part that is most relevant to you.

What to do if you think your child is a struggling reader

Here is Jeans advice on what to do if you are worried about your childs reading...

When should I worry about my child's reading?

Lots of parents worry about their childs reading its really common. Parents can be pretty
competitive and when you hear the playground chat about how well little Angelina is doing with
her reading, its easy to feel that your child might be getting left behind.
One important thing to remember is that reading isnt a race. Being a good reader might be the
finishing line, but children get there in many different ways and at different speeds. Some start
early, then slow down. Others come to it later but soon catch up.
Another important thing to understand is that learning to read isnt about being clever or not.
Many very clever children come late to reading or may struggle with it for a long time.

Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

So when should you worry? Personally, I wouldnt worry too much about a four- or five-yearold, but I might notice things and just give them a boost at home where necessary, through
activities that focus on fun. So, for example, if I noticed that one of my two lovely twin
grandchildren werent showing an interest in books, I might start taking them to events at our
local library or find picture books about their interests. If I noticed that they werent picking up
letter-sound links, I might play word games with them in the car. There are lots of ideas for games
like these on Oxford Owl, and you can ask your childs teacher for ideas too. They can talk to you
about what your child is doing at school and make suggestions about how you can support this at
home.
Moving up the age range, if my grandchildren werent reading in Year 1, by the time they were
six, I would be worried but not panicked! Id definitely want to ask advice from their teacher. But
I would also know that there was every chance that my child would soon catch up.

Is my child the only one struggling to read?

When you listen to the playground chat you may feel you are the only one whose child is
struggling with reading. But you certainly wont be. Learning to read isnt plain sailing at least
one in six children struggle with reading. Thats the number sixteen per cent who by the age
of 11 arent reading at the expected level. So if you are concerned, youre certainly not alone.

Is my child a struggling or a reluctant reader?

There are two main types of worry that parents have about their childs reading. You may have
noticed that your child doesnt seem interested and wont pick up a book. If they do, they seem to
be able to read the words quite well its just that they dont want to.
We call this group of children reluctant readers and often they are boys. The trick is to switch
them on to reading by using their interests: magazines about computer games, books about
dinosaurs, instructions on how to build a model, comics and adventure stories whatever works.
Click here for more ideas for switching boys on to reading on Oxford Owl.
The second type of worry parents have is when their child just cant seem to remember the
sounds of letters or remember common words like the word the or come from one day to the
next. Reading is a slow and painful struggle, full of umms and aahs and heavy sighs, distressing
for your child and distressing for you to watch. These children we can call struggling readers.

Why might my child be struggling?

Children struggle with reading for all sorts of reasons. They may find it hard to sit still and
concentrate, may have missed a lot of school, may have got so anxious about reading that it
stops them learning, may have speech and language difficulties or a history of hearing loss,
maybe because of frequent colds or glue ear. They may be in the early stages of learning
English, because they speak a different language at home. There may be a history of reading or

Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

spelling difficulties in the family; research does show that literacy difficulties can be hereditary,
when linked to dyslexia.
If you are worried about dyslexia, do talk to your childs teacher. The teacher or the schools
SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) may have a checklist of indicators of dyslexia
that they can go through with you. They will be able to advise on whether further assessment
might be needed. There are good websites you can look at too, such as the British Dyslexia
Associations website: www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
A shared feature of many struggling readers is that they find it hard to process the sounds in
spoken words. They have what is called poor phonological awareness. They dont for example
pick up that a spoken word like coat is made up of three separate sounds (c-oa-t), or that it
rhymes with boat. This makes it hard for them to learn the links between sounds and letters.
Always bear in mind your childs birth date. If they have an August birthday, they will be almost a
year younger than children in their class who were born in September so youd expect them to
be a little behind the average. They may well just need a bit more time to mature before they start
to fly with reading and writing.

What should I do if I am worried?

The best thing to do if you are worried about your child is to talk to your childs class teacher.
Your childs teacher is absolutely the best person to help in this situation. They can set your mind
at rest if they think your child is making good progress, or if your child does need more support
they can talk you through their plans to help.
So ask for a time to chat, say you are unsure and ask whether your child is at the reading level
expected for a child their age. There are lots of different ways schools track childrens progress,
here are a few that your school might use:
Some schools use reading tests that give a result called a reading age like six years six
months. A childs reading age should be at the same level as their actual age, or above this, if
they are keeping up with what is expected.
Other schools assess childrens progress in different ways, based on the National Curriculum.
Again, they will be able to tell you where your child is in relation to what is expected.
They may use a system of colour-coding books, with different colours representing bands of
difficulty. The colour banding differs from reading scheme to reading scheme, so looking at the
colour band of the books your child is bringing home is not always a good guide to how they are
getting on. Again, its best to ask the teacher about this rather than try to work it out for yourself, or
start to compare the books in your childs book bag with those other children are reading!
All children in England now also have a phonics test in the summer term of Year 1, so when they
are around six you will automatically receive information from the school about whether your
child is on track with the phonic skills that are vital building blocks of reading.

Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

For more information on school assessments and levelling click here.

What do I do if I'm told not to be worried, but I still am?

Sometimes when you meet your childs teacher you may be told not to worry, and that itll come
when your child is ready. There are many occasions when this will be true for example for
some children with summer birthdays or who have had a lot of disruption in their lives.
If youre not sure, though, the best thing to do is agree a timeframe with the teacher a period
after which youll meet up again to see how your child is getting on. Do tell the teacher if there is
any history of reading or spelling problems in the family, as this will help them make a decision
about whether or not your child may need extra help.

What extra help might my child receive?

When you talk to your childs teacher, they will be able to tell you about the kinds of extra help the
school can offer. Schools have a range of different arrangements to help struggling readers catch
up. There might be a period of extra phonics teaching or extra reading practice 1:1 or in a small
group with a teacher or teaching assistant.
Schemes like these can be really successful. Lots of research has shown that children can catch
up and keep up when they get the right help. Schools which carefully track progress, assessing
childrens reading before and after a period of support, can often show that children can make
incredible progress.
Parents sometimes worry about their child feeling singled out or embarrassed if they go out of
class for extra 1:1 or group help. Please dont be concerned. Its very common for children to
have extra help at some time or another, and not just for reading. So children just tend to see it as
a normal part of the school day, and they really love the extra attention.
Its true they sometimes miss subjects they like and are good at IT maybe, or PE when they
are having the extra help. But schools try to minimise this by changing the time the help happens
so a child doesnt always miss the same lesson. Bear in mind, too, that the extra help often
happens for a limited period two or three times a week, say, for a half term or a term. It wont go
on for ever and it aims to get your child reading well so they can then take a full part in the rest of
their school learning.

What will I be expected to do if my child is having extra help?

When you meet your childs teacher, they will be able to talk you through the different types of
activities the child will be doing in their extra help in school, and tell you whether there is
anything special you can do at home to help. Some programmes have specific take-home
activities built in.hallo
Sometimes the teacher might ask you to use a reading diary so you can share information about

Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

how your child is getting on, on a regular basis. There is so much you can do to help your child.
There are special ways you can read aloud with them, games you can play and support you can
give to boost their confidence.

Top Tips
Keep anxiety levels down
If your child is struggling, the most important thing is to keep anxiety levels down their anxiety
levels, and yours! Learning to read involves complicated skills, and these can soon go to pieces
if a child gets worried just like yours probably did in the early stages of learning to drive, say, or
mastering a sport, if you got tense and anxious.
Even if your child is not worried about their reading, they will quickly notice your tense face or
ever so slightly impatient voice so just dont go there. Breathe deeply, smile, find some funny
books that you can both laugh at, and dont drag out reading sessions if they are stressful. Keep
them short and sweet, and focus on sharing a book with your child rather than hearing them
read.

Make time to share books

Try to set aside time each day ten minutes or so to read together using books your child has
chosen from the library, or books sent home from school. If you go to the library together, you
might want to help your child choose two books, at different levels of difficulty:
A book youll read together, because it really interests your child but is too hard for them to
read on their own. This might be a book about their hobbies or interests, for example.
A second, easier book which your child will be able to read independently.
A good way to check the level of a book is whats called the five finger test. Open a page of the
book and ask your child to put one finger up for every word they dont know. If all five fingers have
been used up, the chances are that the book is too difficult. So get them to choose again, until
you find one that passes the test.
Do let your child read favourite books over and over again if they want to. Research shows this
will really help them become more fluent readers. And let them read what most grabs their
interest comics, magazines, information books or text on internet sites can be just as valuable
as stories.
Turn the television and the radio off to help your child focus. Always start a new book by looking
through it together and talking about what it might be about look at the cover, the contents page
and the pictures. As you do this, use words from the book that you think may be difficult for your
child to read, and point them out. You might for example say:
Oh, I wonder what Winnie the Witch might be doing with this pumpkin.
I wonder why its amazing.

Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

This kind of chat helps the child by giving them a sense of whats in the book before they start to
read it, and preparing them for some of the words they will meet. This means you are setting them
up for success right from the start.

Take turns to read

Take turns to read is about how to help your child once you have done this initial walk through
the book. Your child might want to read the whole book on their own, and thats fine if it isnt too
difficult. But if it is a book that is a bit hard but still really interesting for them, or if they are at all
lacking in confidence, it can be more fun if you and your child take turns to read. They might read
one page and you the next. Or you can both read out loud together, pointing to the words as you
go.
You can suggest that when your child wants to have a go on their own, they give you a nudge or
knock on the table and then you stop reading and let your child carry on alone until they make a
mistake, or get stuck. At this point you join in again, both of you reading together until the child
signals they want another go on their own. And so on! The important thing is to keep the flow
going and keep your child interested and enjoying what they are doing.

Build confidence
Again, think back to what it was like when you were learning to drive or mastering a sport. There
were probably times when you wanted to give up, so needed lots of encouragement. Its the
same for reading; notice what your child has done well and tell them often. You might say
things like:
You sounded that word out brilliantly, didnt you?
I really liked the way you read that bit in capital letters with a BIG voice.
You noticed that word didnt make sense so you had another go. Well done!
It may sound odd, but it is also important to react positively when your child is struggling or gets
things wrong. You can make clear that mistakes are how we learn. They are essential. Look back
on your own life all learning starts with the ability to say I do not know.
So when your child is stuck, say things like:
Well done, its making you think, you are learning.
Youve got a bit stuck thats OK. What helped you last time this happened?
Thats a hard one good try. Lets say it together so youll remember it next time.

What to do when your child gets stuck

The first thing to do is give them time dont jump in too quickly, just wait to see if they can work
it out by themselves. If they cant, you have a choice. You might want to just tell them the word, to
keep the flow of reading going. Do this if they are looking really frustrated or losing interest. But at

Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

other times you can use simple prompts to help them when they get stuck, like prompting them to
use their phonic knowledge to sound out the letters.
At school they will be taught to say the sounds of a word quickly, in a clipped sort of way (c-a-t
not cuh-a-tuh), so encourage this at home too. Children will also, depending on their age, have
been taught that sometimes a pair of letters make one sound not two for example, that when
they see the letters o and a together the sound will be oa as in boat, or that a and i make
ai as in train. Again, encourage them to apply this learning when they read with you. There is
lots of information on Oxford Owl to help you here.
If there are sounds your child doesnt know, tell them the sounds. Then when you have sounded
the word out together (t-r-ai-n), perhaps using phonic flashcards to show one sound at a time, say
the sounds together very quickly (train) and then say the word. This is called blending. Then run
your finger under the word again, and wait for your child to read it to you on their own.
Sometimes, of course, none of this will work, because youve come to one of those many tricky
English words that dont follow phonic rules words like the, said, once and was where the
letters dont make the sounds youd expect them to. In this case you might encourage your child
to sound out as much of the word as they can. Then tell them the word and get them to repeat it.

Play with sounds

Many struggling readers have particular trouble with what is called phonological awareness
picking up the separate sounds in a spoken word, knowing when words rhyme, being able to
blend separate sounds into whole words. There are lots of simple games you can play to help
build your childs phonological awareness and phonic knowledge. The obvious one is playing I
spy with my little eye something beginning with say p. This is a good one for a car or bus
trip. You might also want, for example, to have fun helping your child make a collection of objects
beginning with the same sound, and put them in a treasure box labelled with the appropriate
letter.
For older children, you might want to play word games in the car where you say two words (like a
labrador and a poodle) and ask your child to swap round the initial sounds ( so ... a pabrador and
a loodle). They can then give you two words maybe something they can see out of the window
to do the sound swap with. Hopefully this will make you all laugh!
Games with magnetic letters on the fridge are good too. You can make a word like coat then
have your child change parts of it. What happens, you can ask, if you replace the c in coat with a
b? With a g? With f and l? What happens if you change the final t for a l or st? What
happens if you change the oa in the middle to oo?
Here are some other games you might like to try:
Games where each member of the family adds a word beginning with the same sound I went
to the zoo and saw a lion... leopard and so on, or I went to market and bought ...
Making an illustrated book with your child, using different adjectives that begin with the same

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sound A dopey dog ... a dangerous dog a dirty dog.

Making up and illustrating silly sentences like Bertie Brontosaurus bites boys
Making a collection of objects beginning with the same sound, and putting them in a treasure box
labelled with the appropriate letter
Rhyming riddles Im thinking of a colour that rhymes with bed an animal that rhymes with fog

Playing word sums adding sounds (Whats pot with an extras in front?) and taking sounds
away (Whats Tom without the t?, Sharon without the sh?)
There are lots more ideas for playing with sounds on this website click here to find out more.

Convince them they are not stupid!

If your child sees their friends reading well, and they cant, they may have started to think they are
stupid. Tell them they definitely arent. Tell them about all the clever and famous people who
struggled with reading when they were at school people like Einstein, Charles Darwin, Hans
Christian Anderson, Orlando Bloom. Its a long list!
You can make it clear that learning to read comes really easily to some people, but for many
others it doesnt its hard work. There will be other skills your child learned easily that cause
problems for their friends: learning to swim, maybe, or to draw, or to put complicated models
together. Everyone is different, and struggling to learn to read does not mean people are slow,
stupid or lazy.

Avoid blame
When you listen to your child it may seem to you that they are just playing up, not trying being
lazy. Youll see them read a word perfectly well one day, then forget it the next. But this is normal
when we are learning a new skill. Our performance is always erratic to start with. We have to
repeat something again and again before it sticks and becomes automatic. Tell your child this,
and let them know that you know they are trying their best.

Read to your child

Keep on reading to your child, as well as listening to them read, for as long as they will let you.
My own children still liked what they called chapter books read to them at bedtime right through
their primary school years. For struggling readers, this is especially important partly to make
sure the child continues to see books as fun and interesting, but also to make sure they dont
miss out on the things that other children learn from reading to themselves. These include new
information, new vocabulary, and the way words and sentences are put together in print
essential learning that helps children become good writers.

Use technology
As well as listening to you reading to them at bedtime, they can listen to talking books on their

Copyright Oxford University Press 2013

MP3 players in the car. They can have fun playing phonics games using apps you can get for
your smart phone. They can help you read text messages. They can use the internet, too, to go
on websites for fun reading activities. There are lots of great ideas out there, from podcasts to
treasure hunts to quizzes and puzzles. You might want to look at the National Literacy Trusts
Words for Life site, for example, and of course Kids' Barn on Oxford Owl.
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Key Issues:
Phonics made easy
Grammar, Punctuation
and Spelling made easy
Encouraging writing
Helping struggling readers
Encouraging reading
Encouraging boys
Reading in the holidays
E-safety, tablets and apps

General questions:
FAQs about reading
Jargon buster
Choosing books
Choosing dictionaries
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