Overcoming Obstacles When Reading AAR Stories

One of the most important things you can do when teaching your child to read is to provide lots of reading practice. That’s why the All About Reading program includes such a wide variety of activities, games, and decodable stories. But sometimes things don’t go perfectly according to plan!

Learning to read can be hard work! Many kids see this as a fun challenge, but some kids just get discouraged.

So what do you do if your child hits a roadblock and suddenly doesn’t enjoy reading the short stories?

This post will give you lots of solid ideas to get your child back on track—and enjoying reading again. Let’s dig in!

Determine What Is Making the Stories Difficult for Your Child

The first step is to get to the root of the problem. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is your child working in the correct level? (Check out our placement tests or contact us for placement help.)
• Have you been moving through the lessons too quickly? (If so, back up a few lessons and slow the pace.)
• Is your child guessing at words instead of decoding? (If so, start with the tips in this article on Breaking the Word Guessing Habit.)
• Have you been following the lesson plans as written? (If not, strongly consider including each lesson component without skipping any. Each element is important.)
• Does your child have vision problems? (Check out the signs of vision problems in children.)
• Is your child actually making good progress, but the stories just seem harder or longer than he would like? Does he have a short attention span? Or maybe he has extremely high expectations for himself. If so, the tips in the next section will be invaluable!

6 Ways to Help Your Child Read Short Stories

After you’ve ruled out underlying reading issues, you can tackle the problem head-on. Whether you’re using All About Reading or not, here are some suggestions:

Set a timer. Have your student read until the timer goes off. Choose the length of time according to your student’s ability and attention span. You may need to start with a short time such as three minutes, and then gradually build up to ten minutes.

Divide the story into two or three parts. Have your student read just one section in a sitting. Bookmark the page. At the next reading session, have your student listen as you reread the part he has already read, and then have him continue reading on his own.

Reread. Rereading stories from previous lessons will help your student gain fluency and confidence. During subsequent readings, your child will be “warmed up,” allowing him to experience better comprehension and helping him to enjoy the stories more.

Try buddy reading. Split up the reading duties by reading with your student. Alternate pages by reading a page yourself and then having your student read the next. For more practice, try buddy reading twice, switching pages each time, and then have your child read the story on his own.

Review. The more familiar a child is with the words in a story, the easier it will be for him to read the story. So be sure to spend plenty of extra time reviewing words with flashcards, activities, and Practice Sheets before reading the story.

Encourage your child. Reading stories takes a lot of mental effort—especially for kids who haven’t yet developed automaticity (the ability to read the words without conscious thought). The other tips in this section will help as your child develops automaticity, but be extra supportive in the meantime.

Do you have a child who is struggling with the stories? Sometimes it only takes a little extra push to build a child’s motivation to read, but if your child continues to struggle, please know that we are here to help.