Reading Struggles? Aspire Can Help Your Child Succeed!

2 out of 3 children do not get the reading help they need because our schools do not address the main causes of reading delays. Children who struggle with reading because they are poor decoders and cannot sound out words need an intense systematic phonics program to develop them into fluent readers.

If your child:
1) Dislikes reading
2) Rubs their eyes while reading
3) Skips and misreads common sight words
4) Is a poor speller and has poor handwriting
5) Struggles to sound out unknown words

Dig deeper. The leading reason children struggle to achieve grade-level reading, writing and spelling is due to problems with the ability to decode and sound out words. Our school systems push fluency, when the bottom of the reading pyramid is not solid. Fluency can only be achieved when children have the ability to decode 95 – 100% of the words presented on the page.

Fluency cannot be a goal if the child has not yet mastered the skills that come before fluency:

1. Letter-sound knowledge
2. Decoding
3. Individual word reading accuracy
4. All of these facets must flow before fluency and comprehension can be attained. 

Poor decoding and phonemic awareness (the ability to remember letter sounds and use them to sound out words), leads to problems that not only affect reading, but also spelling and writing production. Problems at the bottom of the pyramid affect every literacy skill.

Systematic Phonics Programs address the weaknesses at the bottom of the reading pyramid. Our schools do not teach them to the degree and depth a struggling reader needs.

If your child is resistant to reading, struggles to sound out words, and is not meeting fluency goals, give us a call or take our dyslexia symptom checklist to see if systematic phonics is the key to improving your school year. Don’t let another year go by with your child struggling.

Source for this article: Dr. David Kilpatrick, Essentials for Assessing and Overcoming Reading Difficulties.