Does Your Child Struggle With Reading?

Most of us do not remember how we learned to read.  To many of us, reading is a seemingly simple task that we do daily without much thought.  However, for many Americans, learning to read is a tedious task that takes a lot of time, effort, and systematic instruction. 

As an educator of 9 years, I have come across many school-aged students and adults with serious reading difficulty.  Over the years, many have developed their own method of reading words or getting by unnoticed by peers, parents, and teachers.  These readers often rely on context clues or the use of illustrations. 

As many of us know, reading is a means to help us understand the world in which we live and indubitably a skill required for success.  Because of this, parents of school-aged children must monitor the reading progress of their child(ren) by assessing them at least twice a year.  Schools, and outside agencies such as One On One Tutoring Service in Philadelphia, can provide this assessment.

Reading can be broken up into the following components:

ü  Decoding

They systematically turn written words into spoken words by matching written letters or letter groups to oral sounds. 

ü  Comprehension

The ability to make meaning out of written words.

ü  Retention

Retaining or remembering what has been read

Struggling readers usually have difficulty with decoding.  A student who has difficulty with this skill will have trouble reading words that they are not familiar with.  Difficulty with this skill is often found in students between the ages of 5 and 11. 

Students who can decode known and unknown words but still struggle with reading are often weak in comprehension and retention.  These students have difficulty understanding word meanings (vocabulary), inability to connect ideas in a passage, differentiating between significant and minor details, or connecting what is read to personal experiences.  Difficulty with comprehension and retention are usually found in students between the ages of 7 and 17

If your child struggles with reading, it is recommended that you seek advice and help.  Testing and instruction can be done at One On One Tutoring Service in Philadelphia, PA.