In all my years as a learning disability specialist and educational therapist I can easily say that about 95% of the students I’ve seen in my 35+ years of teaching kids with reading problems have had reading fluency problems. Reading fluently describes how a skilled reader reads aloud.

Let me give you an example…I met Jason in March; he was in 4th grade.  He had brown straight hair and a great smile, although he didn’t smile very often then. He was floundering; it took what seemed like ‘forever’ to read. He repeated, skipped, and substituted words when he read, too. It was painful to listen to his stilted repetitive reading.  His classmates were zooming right past him. His mom Kate was losing sleep over what to do and how to help him. She had already been told by the school that Jason would most likely be held back.

Kate, at a loss for what to do contacted me and told me what was going on. First I reassured her that there was much that she could do as a parent to help Jason. Then we got started.

I knew we needed to work quickly to get his reading level up so that he wouldn’t be held back. One of the keys to Jason’s improvement was reading fluency training which helped him to sound out words more quickly and read accurately without repeating, skipping or substituting words. By the end of his third session of specific fluency activities he had already improved his reading speed and accuracy. Within several days he went from 30 words per minute to 60 words per minute. His confidence soared.

What Causes Reading Fluency Problems

Reading problems are typically due to a combination of learning skills, areas of perception, that aren’t working as well as they could, should, and can. And you can have a reading problem without having dyslexia or a learning disability.

So, what specifically was going on with Jason?

Jason did not have an actual learning disability or dyslexia. What Jason did have was a variety of areas of perception (visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic) that weren’t working as well as they could have been which impacted his ability to read fluently.

The Most Important Activity A Parent Can Do to Boost Reading

Reading is an invaluable asset that helps us shape our thoughts and actions. By reading, we can unlock our true potential at earth-shattering speeds.

When we allow ourselves to be immersed in new ideas and foreign concepts, we expose our minds to a new way of thinking.  These new perspectives help us gain a competitive advantage over others – and the best part about it, is reading is virtually free! (other than our time of course. :o).

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss