If reading feels harder than it should for your child, you’re not alone. Many parents tell us they feel stuck between “Maybe this is normal?” and “I don’t want to overreact.” This Reading Troubleshooter Toolkit is designed to help you sort through what you’re seeing, identify whether reading struggles are something to worry about, and understand what kind of support would actually help.
Read through the questions and trust your instincts as a parent. You don’t need a diagnosis to know something isn’t clicking.
Step 1: Should I Be Worried About My Child’s Reading?
Start with these quiz-style questions. Remember that patterns matter more than individual answers, so see whether or not this resonates with the reading problems you’re seeing.
Reading Progress Check-in
Answer Yes or No:
- Does my child avoid reading, even when the material should be interesting?
- Does reading aloud sound slow, choppy, or effortful?
- Does my child guess at words instead of sounding them out?
- Does my child forget words they’ve already learned?
- Does reading take so much effort that comprehension suffers?
- Does my child seem exhausted, frustrated, or emotional after reading?
- Has progress been very slow, even with consistent instruction or practice?
- Do spelling and writing also seem unusually hard?
Results Guide:
- Mostly “No” → Reading may be developing normally.
- A mix of Yes and No → A closer look is warranted.
- Mostly “Yes” → Reading difficulties are likely not just a phase.
Important note: Reading should require focus, but it shouldn’t require constant struggle. When reading is disproportionately hard, there’s usually an underlying reason.
Step 2: What Kind of Reading Problem Might This Be?
Not all reading struggles are the same—and different problems require different solutions.
What Are You Seeing Most Often?
Trouble Sounding Out Words
✔ Difficulty blending sounds
✔ Confuses similar letters (b/d, p/q)
✔ Struggles with phonics rules
Likely Needs:
- Phonological processing support
- Auditory discrimination
- Stronger foundational decoding skills
Reads Words Correctly… But Very Slowly
✔ Accurate but painfully slow reading
✔ Loses place or rereads lines
✔ Avoids longer passages
Likely Needs:
- Reading fluency support
- Processing speed
- Visual tracking and eye movement skills
Can Read the Words but Doesn’t Understand Them
✔ Finishes a page but can’t explain it
✔ Forgets what was just read
✔ Struggles with multi-step directions or reading in other subjects (like math word problems or science textbooks)
Likely Needs:
Reading Is Emotional or Exhausting
✔ Meltdowns or shutdowns during reading
✔ Anxiety, tears, or anger
✔ Suffering strong self-esteem hits (“I’m just bad at reading”)
Likely Needs:
- Reduced cognitive overload
- Stronger core thinking skills
- Confidence-building through success, not pressure
Inconsistent Performance
✔ Some days are fine, others are awful
✔ Skills or strategies don’t “stick”
✔ Progress comes and goes
Likely Needs:
- Strengthened attention
- Memory improvements
- Brain-based skill development
Step 3: Is More Reading Practice Enough?
This is one of the biggest misconceptions parents face. If reading struggles were just about exposure, practice would fix the problem. But when practice leads to:
- Tears
- Avoidance
- Stagnation
- Burnout
…it’s often a skill issue, not an effort or instruction issue.
Reading relies on cognitive skills like:
- Working memory
- Processing speed
- Auditory and visual processing
- Attention & focus
When those skills are weak, reading instruction alone can feel like trying to build on a shaky foundation.
Step 4: What Kind of Support Is Most Helpful?
Here’s how different types of support fit different needs:
Reading Curriculum & Tutoring Help When:
- Skills are mostly intact
- The child learns easily but just needs reinforcement
- Progress is steady, just slow
Cognitive Skill Training Helps When:
- Reading progress has plateaued
- Multiple subjects are affected
- Skills don’t generalize or “stick”
- Effort is high but results are low
At LearningRx Charlottesville, we start with a comprehensive cognitive skills assessment to identify why reading feels hard. This tells us not just what’s going wrong on the page, but what’s happening in the brain during the reading process. From there, training targets the brain skills that reading depends on.
Reading Troubleshooter Summary Chart
| What You’re Seeing | What It May Mean | Most Helpful Support |
| Avoids reading, frustrated | Reading feels too effortful | Cognitive skill evaluation |
| Slow, choppy reading | Weak fluency or processing speed | Processing & visual skill training |
| Can read but not understand | Weak working memory/comprehension | Memory & language-based support |
| Emotional reactions | Cognitive overload | Skill-building + confidence |
| Inconsistent progress | Attention or memory issues | Brain-based training |
| Progress with practice | Skills are developing | Continued instruction |
Final Thought for Parents
The sooner you understand what is causing the struggle, the sooner reading can become something your child feels capable of instead of defeated by.
If you’re ready for answers, a cognitive skills assessment can be a powerful next step.