When kids struggle to read, you’ve probably heard the advice: “Just keep practicing. It’ll click eventually.”

But what happens when it doesn’t click—no matter how many hours of practice, tutoring, or phonics work you do?

👉The truth is, for many kids, reading struggles aren’t really about the books at all. They’re about the brain.

The Myth of “More Practice” for Struggling Readers

Practice is important, but it’s not always the solution. If the underlying skills the brain uses to read are weak, more practice won’t fix the problem. 

👓Think of it this way: if a child has weak eyesight, simply spending more hours looking at a page won’t improve their vision. They need glasses to correct the underlying issue. Reading is the same. If the brain skills that support reading—like auditory processing, memory, or attention—are weak, more practice with books won’t correct the root cause.

You might notice your child:

• Avoids reading whenever possible
• Reads slowly or laboriously, lacking fluency
• Struggles to sound out words even after repeated lessons
• Loses confidence or becomes frustrated easily
• Lacks comprehension because they’re working so hard to read each individual word
• Forgets a word as soon as they’ve read it (so they have to decode over and over)

These can all be signs that your child doesn’t just need more practice—they need stronger cognitive skills.

The Brain-Reading Connection

Reading is one of the most complex tasks our brains perform. It depends on a strong set of core learning skills:

• Auditory Processing: recognizing and manipulating sounds in words
• Visual Processing: remembering and distinguishing letters and words, as well as building mental images to drive comprehension
• Working Memory: holding sounds and words in mind long enough to blend and comprehend them + remembering what you just read
• Attention: staying focused long enough to read and understand
• Processing Speed: moving quickly and accurately from letters → sounds → meaning

If even one of these skills is weak, reading can feel like climbing a mountain—no matter how much your child practices.

When Reading Isn’t Clicking

Many parents tell us they feel stuck in a cycle: more practice, more tutoring, more frustration. The problem is, tutoring focuses on what to learn (books, phonics, rules), while cognitive training strengthens the brain skills behind how we learn.

That’s why some kids make progress quickly, while others keep struggling—even when they’re taught in the same way or have the same amount of practice. The difference often comes down to what’s happening in the brain.

The Hope Factor: Strengthening the Brain

Here’s the good news: cognitive skills aren’t set in stone. With the right kind of training, they can be strengthened—making reading (and all learning) easier and less stressful.

🧠Instead of endless repetition, this research-backed approach gets to the root cause of the struggle and builds the mental tools kids need to succeed.

Final Thoughts When Kids Struggle to Read

If your child is struggling to read, it’s not a reflection of their intelligence or potential. Nor is it a failure on your part for not providing enough opportunities to practice or not reading to them enough. It may simply mean their brain needs some extra strengthening in the skills reading depends on.

More practice isn’t always the answer. Sometimes, it takes looking deeper—at the brain itself.