Reading works like a key to academic success. The ability to read is essential for economic and social advancement. Learning to read means changing the letters into sound. Slowly converting those sound into words and then into sentences provide the ability to read. Most children understand this knowledge thoroughly, while some find difficulties in learning them.
Why Some Children Have Difficulties Learning to Read?
Generally, good readers understand the basics of alphabets. They efficiently utilize these skills. They have strong vocabulary skills and learn from their own reading experiences. It is difficult for children to face problems related to learning. These problems restrict their reading development.
Learning begins in early childhood. Some parents start educating their children from home only. This provides them with reading experience while developing speaking skills. They show images and words from books that make a child aware of the concept of reading. Children at the beginning fail to understand many times. But they develop eventually.
Children facing difficulties to read are likely to understand things by listening. But they struggle a lot to translate the same words when they look it on a page. It is very wrong to blame them for not putting effort into reading. It may seem easy for everyone. But even after putting a lot of energy, they still read the wrong words. For them speaking a word aloud will be painful. All of which will gradually grow into frustration and disappointment in them. These difficulties in reading develop in a child for various reasons.
Five reasons why some children struggle while reading
- Lack of Phonemic Awareness
This awareness is the skill to listen, remember, and operate individual speech sounds into spoken words. Children need to understand the process to spell a sound correctly. Even the smallest sound can make a big difference in the meaning of words. Learning to spell a word can improve a child’s reading habits.
Identifying and dividing sounds to ease the process of reading is very valuable. Children who are unable to remember sounds have a hard time understanding the conversion of single sounds to words.
- Inability to Process Printed Words and Letters
Sometimes, the human brain becomes unable to remember an image if it is inverted. Some children cannot differentiate between a real image and an inverted image. They cannot distinguish a reflected image as well. For them, all pictures are the same. But letters like p, b and d are different. This difference children find it hard to solve it. They often think all these letters the same. The inability creates confusion in them.
Speaking aloud each letter while teaching will help to clear the confusion in the child’s mind.
- Difficulty in Reading and Speaking at a time
Reading and speaking functions at a time is a difficult task to perform. Some students fear to speak while reading. They also lack clear speaking and tone while reading aloud. These are certain qualities in a child that needs attention. They require to see printed words and convert them at the same time. It is not only necessary to make them learn which sound relates to which letter but also to practice them to speak along with it.
- Language Barrier for children
Different places have different languages. Children who may be good in their native language fail to understand another language, which affects the reading ability. It is a very common factor as most people read and understand their native language well. But that ease does not come with other words. The difficulty can efficiently be dealt with regular practice. Giving proper time to become comfortable will also help a lot.
- Poor Memory
One of the essential elements in the process of learning is to translate a difficult sentence into smaller bits of information. While reading a sentence, memory helps to hold different words and mix them to give a meaning. Forgetting words after some time is a sign of poor memory. Kids who have bad memory lack in organizing things to give sense to a sentence.
Understanding a child’s capability is very important. Although children fail to learn many things, proper attention will support them to overcome their reading difficulties.