Solving the Mysteries of Reading Difficulties in Children

Have you noticed that your child cannot read well? Sometimes this causes him frustration and he does not want to read? Some children face a problem of reading difficulties at an early age, which affects their academic progress and language development. To solve this problem, some methods and techniques can be used to help treat reading difficulties in children. In this article, we will talk about some reading difficulties puzzles and how to solve them, in order to help parents of children improve their reading skills.

What reading difficulties do children face?

Reading difficulties are a common problem that many children face. These difficulties are represented by the inability to read correctly and understandably, and this problem continues in many educational stages.

Among the most important reasons that lead to symptoms of reading difficulties in children, we can mention:

• Inability to concentrate.
• Weakness in memory and comprehension.
• Inability to understand the text being read well.
• These difficulties may also be due to family, psychological, health, or social problems.

Treating this problem requires knowing the symptoms and types of reading difficulties through which reading difficulties in children can be diagnosed.

Symptoms of reading difficulties in children

Reading difficulties are one of the problems that children may face during their education stage. The symptoms of these difficulties are:

• Their reading ability is much lower than expected for their age, which becomes apparent after they enter school.
• Children with dyslexia suffer from various disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and auditory processing disorder, which affect the child's development and achievement.
• Children with dyslexia have problems with poor letter order.
• Inability to hold on to words.
• Inability to concentrate and maintain concentration for long periods.
• Difficulty in expressing ideas correctly is also sometimes noted.

How can reading difficulties be identified in children?

Types of reading difficulties in children can be identified through:

• Note the symptoms we mentioned in the previous paragraph,
• It is recommended to visit a specialist in learning difficulties to evaluate the child and assess his reading level.
• Conducting the necessary tests to determine the type of reading difficulties.

Types of reading difficulties in children

Many children face symptoms of reading difficulties, and these difficulties are divided into several types, including:

• Difficulty identifying letters, sounds, and words.
• Difficulty understanding meaning and concentrating while reading, which can affect their progress in school.
• There are also difficulties related to the incorrect reading method, where the child reads poorly and incorrectly, and it is difficult for him to understand the meaning and remember the words.

Children with reading difficulties should be supported and helped to overcome them, by providing moral support and appropriate training for each type of difficulty .

Treatment of reading difficulties in children

If a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, appropriate treatments and exercises can be applied to develop and improve reading skills in children, which are as follows:

Develop reading skills

Through cooperation between parents and teachers and the use of diverse and innovative educational resources, reading skills can be developed in children with reading difficulties effectively and help improve the child’s performance and progress in school and daily life, as follows:

Focus reading training is considered an effective method for treating reading difficulties in children. Through this method, the child is trained to focus his gaze on each letter and each word individually, which enhances the ability to understand the meaning and verbal and motor focus.

These exercises are presented in a fun and stimulating way that includes games and educational activities through the use of available resources and tools. This helps the child to enhance self-confidence and restore positivity in reading.

It represents an essential part of developing reading skills and eliminating the symptoms of reading difficulties. This type of training works to transform written vocabulary into expressive visual images, in order to facilitate the process of interaction and understanding.

This type of training can be implemented by using expressive pictures, drawings, and simple questions related to the pictures. It is also possible to use videos and other visual aids.

One of the important steps in treating reading difficulties in children is teaching them the correct pronunciation of words. Children can be trained to do this by training them in correct pronunciation, repeating similar words, and training the tongue to form the correct vowel and sound.

Children can also be taught the basics of grammar by pronouncing words correctly and training them to visualize and embody words in their mind, this can help improve linguistic concentration and improve language skills to improve reading and writing.

Memory training and progressive mnemonics are an effective method for improving reading skills to treat reading difficulties in children. Children learn ways to remember and store words in memory better, while the progressive mnemonic technique aims to enhance the use of learned words in sentences in a more focused way.

Overall, these exercises should be implemented in a systematic and gradual manner, in order to deepen children's understanding of vocabulary and improve their visual comprehension abilities. Teachers and parents should remind children of the importance of practicing these methods regularly and integrating them into their daily lives to facilitate remembering words, enhance their reading and learning abilities, and treat symptoms of reading difficulties.

Use reading enhancement resources

Tools and resources that enhance the types of reading difficulties in these children are an essential part of the educational process, allowing the child to fully benefit from the treatment he receives and helping him improve his reading ability. These resources include the following:

• Modern technologies 

Language teaching applications, where experts point out the importance of organizing classrooms and programs for children with learning difficulties, providing appropriate resources for each category of these children, and providing interactive opportunities appropriate for different ages to improve correct reading skills.

Using paper and electronic resources is an effective method for developing reading skills and treating reading difficulties in children. You can use:

• Mind maps and visual diagrams that help children understand difficult texts and better organize their thoughts.
• Employing e-learning programs designed to develop reading skills such as focusing on linguistic and auditory attention, and grammatical and morphological principles.
• Using paper resources such as books, magazines and educational games to motivate children to read and improve their reading difficulties and language levels, which in turn helps improve self-confidence and increase positivity in the reading process.

Learn about: What are learning difficulties in children and how can mothers deal with them?

Employing play and educational activities

Employing play and educational activities is considered an effective method for developing skills and treating reading difficulties in children. Play is the ideal way to attract children’s attention and motivate them to learn in an entertaining and enjoyable way. You can use:

• Various educational activities, such as language games and motor activities, to enhance children's reading skills and develop their language and social skills.
• Interactive books and crafts can also be used to encourage children to read and develop their creativity.

Focus on linguistic and auditory attention

Verbal and auditory language skills are factors that influence the improvement of reading difficulties in children with it. Therefore, focus should be placed on developing these skills by:

• Encourage children to listen attentively and focus on spoken words.
• Speak clearly and make difficult sounds clear to them.
• Employing appropriate language exercises and educational activities that develop the child’s linguistic understanding and improve his hearing ability. This includes auditory activities such as listening to stories and audio songs.
• Play games that teach the child about sounds, letters and words.

Boost self-confidence and positivity in reading

Enhancing self-confidence and positivity in reading is considered an important step in treating reading difficulties in children. Self-confidence and positivity in reading can be enhanced through:

• Provide encouragement and positivity at every stage of learning.
• Use positive motivation by discussing achievements and giving praise and rewards.
• Motivating and engaging children in interactive play activities, and introducing reading exercises gradually, helps improve self-confidence and encourages children to continue learning.

Parent-teacher cooperation

The cooperation of parents and teachers is essential to treat all types of reading difficulties in children, by:

• Parents can use tools and resources available at home and employ play and educational activities to enhance children's reading skills.
• Paying attention to linguistic and auditory attention and enhancing self-confidence and positivity in reading.
• Children's teachers can use paper and electronic tools in the classroom and effectively develop reading skills.
• They should focus on training children in the method of focused reading and visual comprehension exercises.

In general, teachers and parents should work together to improve reading abilities and eliminate the symptoms of reading difficulties in children.

Take the initiative to know: Types of learning difficulties

Learning Disabilities Therapy Sessions

There are sessions to treat academic and developmental learning difficulties from Al-Madrasa.com , which gives parents the opportunity to receive appropriate support for their child and treat reading difficulties in children with many advantages provided by these sessions as follows:

• Online sessions, you can receive them anywhere.
• Possibility of choosing suitable times, morning or evening.
• Confidential interactive specialized session via Zoom.
• By specialists in treating different types of reading difficulties.
• Use all modern and advanced educational resources.
• Continuous follow-up with the child and parents to reach an appropriate treatment for reading difficulties in children.