My child is struggling with reading — now what?

It's more common than you think

Many children hit a plateau somewhere in their reading journey — a sound they keep mixing up, a level they seem stuck on, a sudden reluctance to pick up a book. If this is where your family is right now, you are not alone, and it is not a sign that something is fundamentally wrong. Reading is a skill built in stages, and almost every child gets stuck on something along the way. The good news is that these plateaus are usually specific and fixable, not deep or mysterious.

Common reasons a child struggles with phonics

• Gaps in specific sound-letter correspondences. A child might have solid single-letter sounds but never quite locked in a particular digraph or vowel pattern — and that one gap quietly trips up every word that contains it.
• Moving through levels too fast without mastery. If a child was pushed ahead before a skill was secure, later material builds on a foundation that isn't quite there yet.
• Limited reading-aloud practice at home. Decoding is a skill that needs regular use — even confident readers get rusty without it.
• Mixing up similar-looking letters. Letters like b/d or p/q are genuinely easy to confuse at this age, and it usually resolves with more exposure and a memorable way to tell them apart.
• Low confidence leading to avoidance. A child who has struggled once or twice may start avoiding reading altogether — and less practice makes the gap wider, which lowers confidence further. This cycle is very common, and it's also very reversible once it's named.

What actually helps

The instinct to just "read more" is well-meaning but often too vague to fix a specific gap. What tends to work:

• Identify the specific sounds or patterns causing trouble — not "reading in general," but the exact digraph, blend or pattern that's tripping things up. Once you know what it is, it's a small, solvable problem.
• Short, consistent daily practice beats long, infrequent sessions. Ten focused minutes a day builds far more than an hour once a week.
• Read aloud together without correcting every mistake immediately. Let your child finish the sentence, then go back if needed — this builds fluency and confidence first, which matters just as much as accuracy.
• Use a structured, systematic phonics approach. A method like Letterland revisits and reinforces all 44 English sounds methodically, rather than assuming a sound is mastered just because it was taught once.

When to consider extra support

If your child continues to struggle significantly despite a few months of consistent practice, or shows ongoing frustration and avoidance around reading, it's worth bringing in additional structured support — a fresh, systematic approach can catch gaps that home practice alone tends to miss.

If you have a specific concern that something more may be going on — for example, a possible learning difference such as dyslexia — it's reasonable and responsible to raise this with your child's school or a paediatrician. We're not in a position to diagnose anything, and we wouldn't want to guess at something that deserves a proper professional assessment. But for the great majority of children, what looks like "falling behind" is a normal, specific phonics gap that responds well to the right kind of practice.

How Edufarm's Letterland Phonics programme helps

Edufarm teaches phonics through Letterland, a DfE-validated systematic synthetic phonics programme for children aged 4–7. Classes are kept small — 5–10 students per certified teacher — specifically so that individual gaps are caught and addressed rather than lost in a large group. The method covers all 44 English sounds methodically across three progression levels, so nothing is left to chance or assumed learnt.

For children who are already behind, Level 3 is designed for K2–P1 children and is particularly effective for students who are struggling with English decoding or spelling. A few terms of structured Letterland closes gaps that "just read more at home" advice won't fix, because it addresses the root cause — missing phonics knowledge — rather than the symptom.

Is my child behind if they're still struggling with phonics in P1?

Not necessarily. Children develop reading skills at different rates, and some phonics patterns simply take longer to click than others. Plenty of P1 children who are still working through digraphs or blending catch up quickly once the specific gap is identified and practised. It becomes more worth addressing directly if the struggle is broad and ongoing rather than a few tricky sounds — but it's rarely a reason to panic.

Should I worry this means my child has dyslexia?

Most reading struggles are not dyslexia — they're ordinary gaps in phonics knowledge that respond well to structured practice. Dyslexia is a specific, diagnosable learning difference, and only a qualified professional can assess for it. If your child's difficulty is persistent, significant and not improving despite consistent support over time, it's reasonable to raise it with your child's school or a paediatrician — but that's a conversation for a professional, not a conclusion to jump to on your own.

How long does it usually take to close a phonics gap?

It depends on the size of the gap, but most children who receive short, consistent, targeted practice see clear improvement within a few months. A single missing sound pattern might close in a few weeks; broader gaps across many sounds can take one or two terms of structured input. Consistency matters far more than intensity — regular short sessions beat occasional long ones.

Does Edufarm offer help for children who are already behind?

Yes. Edufarm's Letterland Phonics & Reading programme includes Level 3, designed for K2–P1 children and particularly effective for students who are struggling with English decoding or spelling. Classes are small (5–10 students), so gaps are caught and addressed individually rather than lost in a large group. See our full guide on what Letterland Phonics is and how it works →