What to Do at Home When Your Child Is Struggling With Reading
Noticing your child struggling with reading is one of the more worrying things for a parent. Reading underpins almost everything else at school. And the longer a gap isn’t addressed, the wider it tends to get.
Here’s what you can do at home, and when to involve the school.
First: Understand What “Struggling” Means
Reading difficulty comes in different forms. Some children read fluently but struggle to understand what they’ve read. Some understand well but read very slowly. Some struggle with decoding — sounding out words — particularly with less common letter combinations. Some have significant difficulties that have a name, like dyslexia.
Knowing which kind of difficulty your child has changes what you do. “Read more” is useful advice for some kids. For others, it’s like telling someone with a broken leg to walk it off.
Make Reading Part of Daily Life
The single most impactful thing you can do at home is to make reading a daily habit — and to make it as enjoyable as possible. That means finding books your child is actually interested in, not books you think they should be interested in. A child who loves sport might start with a footy almanac. A child who likes drawing might love a graphic novel. The format and topic matter less than the habit.
Read together when you can. Even children who read independently benefit from hearing fluent reading — it models pacing, expression, and how text sounds when it flows.
Take the Pressure Off Practice
Daily reading practice, done right, should not feel like homework. If every reading session ends in frustration, you’re not building a reading habit — you’re building negative associations with reading that will take time to undo.
Keep it short and positive. Ten focused minutes of reading that ends on a neutral or good note is worth more than thirty minutes of stressed, reluctant reading. If a session is going badly, stop early.
Try Reading Aloud Together
Paired reading — where you and your child take turns reading aloud — is one of the most effective home strategies for a child who finds reading hard. Your child reads a sentence or paragraph, you read the next. Sharing the load reduces the pressure, and hearing you read fluently helps them hear what good reading sounds like.
You can also use the “you follow along while I read, then you read the same part back to me” approach. Hearing it first makes their attempt easier.
Watch for Signs of a Specific Difficulty
Some signs that the difficulty may go beyond typical variation and be worth assessing: your child guesses at words rather than decoding them, they lose their place constantly, they read the same word differently each time they encounter it, they avoid reading at all costs, they can’t remember what they’ve just read. These patterns, particularly if they’ve persisted despite support, are worth raising with the school and your GP.
An educational psychologist assessment can identify specific learning difficulties and recommend targeted support. Getting that assessment early — in primary school — gives your child time to build the support structures they need before high school.
Talk to the Teacher
If you’re concerned, raise it with the teacher. They see your child reading every day. They’ll know whether what you’re seeing at home is consistent with what they observe at school. Most schools have reading support programmes, and teachers can usually recommend specific strategies for your child’s pattern of difficulty.
Your Practical Takeaway
Tonight, do ten minutes of paired reading with your child. You go first — read a page aloud while they follow. Then swap. Keep it light and low-stakes. If they stumble, help them without making it a lesson. The goal tonight is just to make reading feel okay, not to fix anything.
[INTERNAL LINK: If reading struggles are connected to a broader pattern of school stress, read our guide on child school stress for a wider look at what might be contributing.]