When our kids are struggling, we naturally think the answer is more. More practice. More correction. More worry. The surprising and happy news? You may actually need to do less. You’re welcome 🙂 Here’s my list of seven things you can take off your plate starting today… to help your struggling reader. Yes, really! Consider this your permission slip to take a deep breath and let go of some pressure (on both of you). You’re already doing far more for your child than you think. You’ve got this!
You can stop fighting for 30 minutes of reading every day.
Books are amazing and wonderful and so full of goodness… they’re just not a great path to progress for our struggling readers. And in my experience, lead to loads of unnecessary resistance.
What your struggling reader really needs? The right kind of instruction paired with the right kind of practice. Plus lots and lots of repetition with single words.
In other words, the most effective kind of practice is spending time with a whole bunch of words, not paragraphs.
My personal favorite way to do this: Practicing with simple, screen-free games. This low-stress approach kicks their brain into learning mode quick and easy. (It’s exactly the kind of practice we build into every Truly Reading lesson — no digging around for the right words or worksheets required.) Games really are one of the best ways I’ve found to make what they’re learning really stick. And be enjoyable for everyone involved!
You can stop correcting every mistake
When your child misreads a word, you may think that jumping in and correcting them mid-sentence is helping them learn.
But that quick correction takes away their chance to notice for themselves that something they just read didn’t sound quite right (a useful skill on its own) then fix it themselves.
Instead, slow down, pause, and wait for what happens.
You’ll be surprised how often your kiddo catches the error then goes back to read it correctly the second time through, all without you needing to do a thing.
What could’ve been a frustrating moment becomes a subtle confidence booster… and super useful practice!
You can stop assuming they’re not trying
I know how much you want your child to be successful. I know because it’s what I want for my kids too. We all do. We want them to learn and grow and be independent and confident. We want them to be able to read, for heaven’s sake.
And they do too.
Struggling readers don’t need to work harder. Believe me, they’re trying way harder than any of us realize. And what looks like laziness or disinterest is often quiet frustration or feelings of failure.
Instead, let go of the idea that more effort is the answer. Your child’s not lazy. You’re not failing. You’re both doing your best. When you take pressure off the plate, you make room for peace. Progress too.
This is exactly why lessons inside the Truly Reading Club are built the way they are — short, doable, and designed around where your kiddo actually is, not where the school year or grade level says they should be.
You can stop feeling guilty about audiobooks.
When my son broke down everytime I put a book in front of him, it wasn’t because he’d suddenly developed a dislike for books overnight. (Or because he was unmotivated, disobedient, uncooperative, or difficult.) He just was now being asked to do something that was beyond what he could actually do.
If you’ve ever been expected to do something that was depressingly too hard, you likely felt frustrated, behind, slow, and probably embarrassed.
Welcome to the world of a struggling reader.
We often call struggling readers reluctant. Whether they’re that way because the too-long, too-hard journey has wrung it right out of them or they simply started out that way, their interest in reading is gone. Books are the way we help them find it.
And the easiest, more enjoyable way to do this is actually quite simple. Don’t use books for instruction, use them for inspiration. And let them dive in… through listening.
Audiobooks, readalouds, shared stories—they all count. Listening grows vocabulary, comprehension, and curiosity. And more importantly, it reminds kids that books are for them, too.
You can stop giving your child every word.
I used to think I was being kind by rescuing my reader whenever they were stuck. I’d offer the word so they could keep reading without missing a beat.
No pressure, no pain, I thought.
What I didn’t realize was that true help looked more like patience. And most of the time, a pause in their reading wasn’t actually a pause of frustration but rather a pause of determination and hard thinking. This is true especially for kids who’ve been given effective phonics instruction and are still working to solidify all they’ve learned.
So instead of immediately providing the word they’re pausing on, give your smart kiddo space to think, try, and figure it out. Encourage them to give it a shot. Your confidence in them shows them they’re capable of figuring it out.
You can stop believing more time always equals more progress.
Sometimes it does. And sometimes it doesn’t.
It turns out, what we’re doing and when we’re doing it matters far more than how long we spend working at it in a single sitting.
And what is so completely comforting is that you just need a little bit each day. Struggling readers often make the greatest gains through small, focused learning and practice repeated consistently over time. Daily short bursts are better than weekly deep dives every time. So just 20-30 minutes, four or five days a week is all it takes. Which, not coincidentally, is exactly the rhythm Truly Reading lessons are built around.
And it gives them so much more potential for progress than just a once a week tutoring session or reading class.
Tiny steps often don’t look impressive on any given day. But they’re exactly how momentum (and confident readers) is built.
You can stop expecting too much (and worrying even more)
I really do know what it’s like to watch your child fall further and further behind and to think the only goal that matters is to see them reach “grade level.”
But, friend, learning to read is hard for a lot of reasons and becomes even harder with obstacles like dyslexia, ADHD, and instruction or reading practice that doesn’t effectively meet them where they’re at.
Reading growth happens in stages. We wouldn’t expect a child learning subtraction to jump straight into algebra.
Reading works the same way.
Struggling readers need support that matches where they are right now, not where we wish they were.
Instead of focusing on where your child “should” be, focus on helping them master the next step in front of them.
What you can do to help your struggling reader
And so, my friend, I hope you’re feeling a little lighter.
You don’t need to pile on more books, more pressure, or more reading time. What your struggling reader actually needs is simpler than that: the skills they’re missing, practice that helps those skills stick, and a path forward simple enough for both of you to actually follow.
The Truly Reading Club gives you just that.
If you want…
- A trusted guide who can answer your questions, cheer you on, and give you a real plan to follow.
- Bite-sized, self-paced reading lessons for your child to fill in the gaps.
- Reading practice that’s quick, engaging and effective.
- Easy skill builders to layer into what you’re already doing (and that don’t feel like homework).
- A consistent, doable routine to build momentum and confidence—for both of you.
Then join us inside for all that (and then some!).
You don’t need to be a teacher. You just need the right tools.
Not ready to jump in? The Truly Reading Starter Pass is a perfect first step and gets you your first week of real lessons and practice games for $37 — and it counts toward full enrollment if you keep going.
Let’s make reading feel doable — and even a little fun — again.
Keep being amazing, friend!
Truly,
Anne