QUESTION: Why is it so hard for my child to transition from reading individual words to reading longer passages or books?
ANSWER:
Every parent wants their child to move from one stage of reading to the next smoothly. However, that’s not always the case.
Transitioning from reading individual words to reading longer passages or books can pose several challenges for some children. It requires the development and integration of various reading components, including phonics, decoding, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary acquisition.
These reading components are interconnected and depend on one another for successful reading.
- For example, strong phonics skills facilitate decoding, which, in turn, contributes to reading fluency. Fluent reading supports comprehension by allowing children to allocate more mental resources to understanding the text rather than struggling with word recognition.
Several factors can hinder your child’s progress in transitioning to reading longer passages or books, and different reading challenges may have some factors in common:
- Attention: Attention is the most important factor in learning and intellectual progress. So, if your child has attention difficulties, they may struggle to sustain focus while reading, leading to reduced comprehension and slower progress in developing reading skills.
- Memory: Poor working memory can impede your child’s ability to retain and process information from the text, affecting comprehension and overall reading progress.
- Motivation: If your child lacks interest or intrinsic motivation in reading, they may be less likely to engage with texts and dedicate the necessary effort to develop their reading skills.
- Emotional Regulation: Emotional factors, such as anxiety or frustration, can interfere with reading progress. Strong emotions can disrupt concentration and hinder comprehension.
If you have ongoing concerns about your child’s reading progress, reach out to me here for a complimentary, personalized Learning Clarity Breakthrough session to work out specific strategies for your child
Florence, I had no idea there were so many components to reading. I have trouble settling down (sustaining focus) b/c I feel guilty, thinking I should be doing this and that Other Things. Any suggestions? Thanks for a great post!
What helps me is planning on paper and designating a time period and priority level for each activity. Then I keep telling myself I have enough time to do the activity on hand (or read) and get to the other things. I always prioritize the 3 most important business goals and personal goals for the week, and work at completing portions of those first thing in the morning, after my devotional time. Sometimes, I hit my target, other times I don’t. And I’m okay with that.
So interesting how it’s all interconnected like that. Great job explaining this!
We unknowingly expect so much of children. If only more parents knew the hard work they must do to learn to read!