If You Help with One Thing, Help with Reading

It’s understandable that caregivers of children who struggle in school can feel overwhelmed. Their desire to help their child and protect them from feelings of failure can be in conflict with their availability and skills. Adding the title of after-school tutor to the formidable list of parental responsibilities can strain the parent-child relationship, but inaction may not be an option. The farther children fall behind in school, the more challenging it will be to meet curricular and developmental milestones, potentially resulting in decreased confidence and social well-being. If your child is struggling in school and you have limited capacity to support them, make reading your priority. 

A healthy relationship with reading is critical for success in school. Reading impacts our ability to think critically, communicate ideas, relate to others, and solve problems. Understanding text helps students decode instructions, follow directions, and develop and share opinions about information. Confident readers retain their learning better because they are actively constructing knowledge rather than sifting through a sea of text for words they understand. In short, better readers do better in school (Neuhaus Education Center). Therefore, one of the most effective strategies to help a child struggling in school is to nurture their literacy skills. 

There are many ways caregivers can help their children build a healthy relationship with reading. From active engagement to passive support, parents can try the following strategies with children of any age to boost reading comprehension and confidence at home:

• Create a reading-friendly environment. Designating comfortable places and times conducive to reading can help make it routine. Some families find success in removing computers from bedrooms, going to the library, or spending one evening a week reading together. 

• Encourage choice. Reading material is assigned to children all day at school. Allowing them to self-select books at home can improve motivation to read. Even if you think the text is too easy or too hard, children will develop positive associations with reading and are more likely to retain what they find interesting. 

• Ask them to read to you. Driving in the car, bedtime, or any relaxed moment at home can be a good time to ask your child to read to you. Focus on enjoying the time together and understanding the story instead of overcorrecting their reading. Too much attention on finishing the book or getting it all right can be stressful, but asking questions about characters or what your child thinks will happen next can help with comprehension and confidence. Don’t force this one - if your child does not want to read to you, they can try reading to a younger relative, a pet, or even a toy. 

• Model reading. If caregivers take the time to read in front of their children, those children will be more likely to read. Talking through a word you don’t know or a story you think is interesting will demonstrate a growth mindset and critical thinking skills, which normalizes the practice for your children.

• Use the right tools. Rally Reader is a literacy app that takes the stress of reading practice away (for both parents and children). Developing readers can choose the books they want to read, exercise their skills in both silent and read-aloud mode, and receive gentle correction and enthusiastic encouragement from our AI literacy coach that makes reading time extra-productive. Parents can access their child’s dashboard for data on words per minute, trip words, and reading level, which helps inform meetings with teachers. 

When children are struggling in school, caregivers don’t have to feel helpless. Focusing on developing a healthy and positive relationship to reading is an effective way to support academic growth and develop lifelong literacy skills. Read more about encouraging a healthy reading practice at home with the National Education Association and Rally Reader.

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