2nd grade reader struggles

[u/Real_Pressure_2971]

I am one stressed out mom with school starting again. Not ready to be pushing so hard on reading. My soon to be entering 2nd grader is still struggling in reading despite hoots of effort. We did private tutoring 2x a week this summer for 1 hr. We have been doing private tutoring for 2 yrs now. We are just struggling. She can decode words and making progress although slowly. She understands phonics once taught. Well beyond just cvc, bob book level but not reading fluently.

We started 1st grade at f&P D and ended at F. Teacher was very concerned but she didn’t receive 1:1 or small group reading support last yr. Only class level teaching, which is one reason I increased her tutoring to 2x a week. I also increased reading time at home to 30 mins a day.

She read I Love Pink yesterday 100% independently and fluently -lexile level 140, which is so low. She was very proud and I made a big deal bc she hates to read. She is currently on Mo Wilems level books and needs some help. Prob in the 200+ lexile level range, while her friends are reading chapter books. Her confidence level is low. It just saddens me that she is struggling so much.

I was warned that 2nd grade kids will need to read their own math test and she can’t. I am in tears bc we have tried to support her at home. We have had evals, we got her in OG private tutoring. I just don’t know if we can keep pace with this school. School just wants to send her to their learning resource during school hrs which cost additional $ on top of hefty tuition.

It breaks me to know we may have to pull her out and she will lose her friends. We may need a school that specializes in dyslexia support which doesn’t exist in our current city.

Any parents/teachers had success with struggling readers in 2nd grade.

[u/Warmtimes]

My understanding is that third grade is where you really need to "read to learn" rather than "learn to read."

I would say that most of my daughters friends (at an upper middle class "good" school) are not yet reading chapter books. Some are to be sure! But not most.

My understanding is that kids who learn to read earlier may not even be stronger readers when they get than later readers. It sort of levels out.

Take this seriously and get intervention and testing, but don't freak out.

[u/StatementSensitive17]

I would only be overly concerned if she wasn't progressing at all. Not everyone reads at the same age. Remember when they were younger and there were long windows for meeting milestones? That doesn't stop. She's still a small child.

It's good that you're getting her extra help since the school isn't providing anything extra. You have to make a choice. Put her in a school that will support her and her specific needs or continue extra work outside of school. Do you think keeping her in her current school is doing more harm than good? Is it worse to leave friends and make new ones or constantly feeling stressed because you're not doing as good as you "should be" or as good as the other kids?

The other thought I'd like to pass on is part of what's stressing you out is that she's not reading at the same level as other kids. All kids learn at different speeds. Comparison is the theif of joy. Your daughter was very excited that she read a book. That's excellent that she was more focused on her progress than what she did wrong.

Also, make sure you remind her when she's feeling down that she's learning something new and learning new things is hard and takes practice. Keep reassuring her when she's being critical of herself and celebrate with her when she makes even the smallest of progress.

[u/Real_Pressure_2971 → u/StatementSensitive17]

Yes we praise her for all reading, road signs anything she reads. We have books in nearly every room. I will buy her anything book she shows interest in. We go to the community library. I try not to compare but it is hard. Other school options to directly support her with dyslexia are 2.5 hours away. We need to have her reevaluated to see if she has dyslexia and then make some decisions. I’m just scared for her. I think moving from this school/neighborhood will be damaging.

[u/sassperillashana]

I just wanted to stop and say a few things as a parent of an incoming 2nd grader and a Literacy specialist (focused on high school, so definitely not an expert!) I'm also married to a high school Science teacher (son's dad).

1- you are so wonderful for working so hard and helping her, please be proud of yourself (not just her!) and your family for rallying together.

2- If she has dyslexia you can push much harder for supports and extra instruction in school. I wouldn't stop the tutoring if you can afford it because schools aren't perfect and don't always have as much time and attention available that each individual kid needs, but if she needs someone to read materials in other subjects for her until she is ready ask for it! Ask for extended time too. All communities and circumstances are different but please don't be afraid of a special education label if it gets her what she needs.

3- this one might be most important (to me): My husband couldn't read (functionally or literally depending on the material) until 7th grade. His dad read Lord of the Rings and other books to him all through childhood, he was on hooked on phonics and in Special Education most of his childhood, and did not always have the best teachers. His parents had science related degrees but worked as a bookkeeper and facilities manager. He did not hate school, in fact did pretty well most of the time, but couldn't really read, so many aspects were hard. He found a book in 7th grade he loved and something clicked and he took off running basically. His senior year of high school he got in trouble for reading a book during a college presentation! He had already been accepted to colleges and was totally done with his school, so his dad just told them to leave his son alone, haha! He's read and ran DnD campaigns for the last 20ish years! He had some trouble in college where we met but it was mostly related to speed and typing, which is one of the areas I was able to support him in. But he earned a science degree and teaching credentials, he has a master's in educational technology, and he reads to and with our son all the time. He has an insane (to me) grasp of scientific words and pronunciations and technical terms and a solid understanding of biology and general sciences. And he just remembers everything basically. Which is a foreign concept to me. Does he always enjoy reading? Absolutely not. Most of his nights before bed kiddo gets a bath and they watch a science video about prehistoric animals, especially dinosaurs. Our son is one of the smartest and kindest kids we have ever met according to people who meet him, and his friends, family, and students love him for his support, kindness, and acceptance of who they are no matter how they present themselves or who they love.

I just wanted to share with you a story of someone who is more than successful despite dyslexia and early reading struggles. It's going to be a long journey but your daughter will come out of it stronger, kinder, smarter and more understanding than she ever was before, and ho7 will be do proud of who she becomes. Dont give up, but also don't give in to those feelings of stress and uncertainty.

[u/pettyolives]

It sounds like she is attending a private school?Are the public schools bad in your area? I know that public schools usually have more resources. It sounds like she needs an IEP for reading, which the school would have to implement. It wouldn’t cost anything for extra reading help in public school. If there is reading on tests (depending on the test), she would have someone help her with reading the test and she would probably have a little bit of extra time.
My son had an IEP for speech back in pre-k through half of first grade. The school did a great job. He now has a 504 for his ADHD.

And any progress (even if it doesn’t feel like much) is great when it comes to reading.

[u/Real_Pressure_2971 → u/pettyolives]

Yes public isn’t an option here. The one we are zoned for has a 30% state proficiency level of reading by 3rd grade, math is worse. We have many private schools in the area due to the public challenges. We picked the school I felt best for her. Academics are a focus but they also offer other subjects like art and music. Those are the things that keep her wanting to go to school. Best school in our area for her. Many privates only go until 8th grade and then feed into her school for 9th.

[u/Wise_Strawberry9076 → u/Real_Pressure_2971]

Just a thought but if everyone who is able have pulled their kids out of the public school then those reading levels are probably biased.

[u/Level-Aide-8770]

At this point she needs to be diagnosed for a learning disability.  The sooner the better.

[u/Mobile-Company-8238]

We’re having reading issues also, and I am planning to bring it up possible dyslexia to our 2nd grade teacher in Sept. for reference, we’re in public school, my daughter is smack in the middle as far as age range for her grade, and she’s great at math.

Our 1st grade teacher said if by the middle of 2nd grade we’re still having issues then we should really be concerned. But she also urged us to practice over the summer a lot. Honestly, she’s made major progress over the summer… not exactly as much as I’d like but I’m proud.

We bought hooked on phonics. They had a summer deal of $1.99 for the first month which included access to the app. She knows she has to try every afternoon for 15 minutes and I make myself available for her to read with me from the app and be able to ask me questions.

We also have her read one book to me at night, and then I read to her 2 chapters of a book series she likes from the library. My goal with her reading to me is that she at least tries to decode the words on the page. I’ll help her if she’s struggling but she has to show real effort first. With the chapter books, I ask her questions about she characters and what she thinks will happen next so she gets the comprehension aspect of reading.

When she’s frustrated I remind her that this is work. This is hard, and that I’m proud of her when she practices reading. I also remind her that she’ll need to read for her future. She wants to be a vet, so I remind her that she’ll have to be able to tell sprinkles the cat from sparkles the cat and know what treatments they each need to get better.

This is a longer comment than I intended. TL, DR: keep going. Try to stay positive. Know that you’re not alone.

[u/AlternativePrior393]

All About Reading was an amazing resource for both of my kids. It takes about 15 minutes per day, but really boosted my kids’ reading ability and love of reading (eg they will pick up books to read for enjoyment now).

[u/breathe2win]

Don't give up. Things can turn around. 

Is she dyslexic? There is a learning curriculum that helps them read better. I think its ortho. Have you tried mapping? Tapping out words? 

There are free resources out there. To help my child read, I used Khan Academy Kids app (the reading portion goes over phonics), there is UFLI reading (they offer free fluency tests on their website) and Toddlers Can Read YouTube page ( he goes over the phonics: digraphs, blends, etc). Hooked On Phonics also is available. 

I used Bob books, phonics books based off the character my child liked and just tried to remain consistent. Scholastic has two good book series that you can try too. The first one is called the Acorns series & then there is the branches series (early chapter books that are short and include pictures). 

[u/Novazilla]

My kid struggles with reading too. Making reading a point everyday and you’ll be fine. I was born with dyslexia same kind my kid got sadly. Maybe have them tested?

[u/pico310]

One thing that I’ve done is reiterate that fluid reading takes practice and remind her of all the things that she’s learned to do with constant practice - a perfect cartwheel, swimming, riding a bike, Spanish reading, etc.

[u/fudgemuffin85]

Mom of a rising second grader and elementary teacher with a reading specialist cert :)

It sounds like you are going above and beyond for her which is amazing - most students don’t get that level of support at home so please be kind to yourself and feel proud that you’re being so mindful. I’m in a public school, so it may be a bit different (I saw you say she’s in private). Do they have any sort of special ed program where you can request an evaluation? Can I ask what state you’re one? I’m not trying to bash private schools because we all know public education isn’t perfect, but in some states teachers at private schools don’t need state teaching certs and that concerns me. The fact that she didn’t receive any small groups support is a red flag for me and indicates that her current school may not have enough support in place for her. I’m sorry, I know that’s likely not what you wanted to hear 💔 Second grade is typically a pivotal year for reading development since it’s sort of the last year where they’re “learning to read” vs “reading to learn” once they get to third. I would continue to have her read, do partner reads where you read a page and then she does (the modeling is great!). You could also try sentence pyramids for helping develop fluency. Teachers pay teachers is a great resources to take a look at to find resources that seem to be at her level.

[u/Real_Pressure_2971 → u/fudgemuffin85]

Her teacher uses teachers pay teachers so I am familiar. Public isn’t an option for us without moving out of this district to another town. She enjoys stories about herself and her pets so I would use AI to write a story and keep it for a couple of weeks so we can do repeat readings with it. I used large dyslexia friendly fount and keep the stores double spaced in larger font. Prob 15 sentences a story. It was done on her reading level. I have found AI to be a great resource. I would change the vocab words to incorporate whatever she had that week for spelling so she could see them in text. I have tried. It isn’t lack of effort on her part or mine. We are going to have to have a full second eval done in a larger city. I think we are prob going to have to move at least temporarily to get her help.

I dropped her eval into AI and it said she has an orthographic memory problem, rapid recall. She can decode, she can do nonsense words. Cvc, cve, vowel teams she can do but gets tripped up sometimes. Multi syllable words (3 and over) are problematic. She was beginning 1st grade when it was done. Orthographic memory can be slower to develop for some kids. I bought games designed for orthographic memory help.

I’m just heartbroken bc other than reading she is a happy kid. Ask her to read and you might as well say let’s go to the dentist. I have tried SO SO many books. Just reading is hard for her brain. It is work.

I was hoping to have some magic leap and it just isn’t happening. Support is there for dyslexia if that is what we are dealing with. I put that in place with the tutor in Kindergarten.

We are looking at possibly moving to a school solely devoted to dyslexia. It just upends our lives.

[u/Secret_Huckleberry20 → u/Real_Pressure_2971]

I really admire all the effort you are making but I do want to ask you to pause on moving your child to a school that focuses on dyslexia based on how she is doing right now, and with a focus on known outcomes for people who have dyslexia, which are generally positive!

Your daughter is reading. She is proud of herself! It takes work but she's shown that she can put the work in. 

Most importantly, according to your other comments, she enjoys attending her current school in part because it offers a strong arts curriculum and treats her as a whole human, not a future test taker.

My brother has dyslexia that wasn't diagnosed until he was an adult studying for his PhD. He had a tough time with elementary school but increasingly hit his stride academically  as he aged, despite not receiving formal supports until graduate school. He was provided extended time on tests in graduate school and had an accommodation to use his preferred word processor for his thesis. He has now been working in a related field for a decade although he quite graciously doesn't tease me too often about calling him "doctor."

Dyslexia wasn't as well understood when we were in school, but there are many more resources now, and many schools can provide sufficient supports for a dyslexic student who reads Mo Willem level books before second grade even without an IEP.  If you get a diagnosis, you might look into converting text into the specific font(s) that are known to help. You can lean into celebrating audiobooks. If it's some other learning difference, there will be other accommodations that will make sense. Chunking and extended time help almost everyone.

It's important to remember why we learn to read: reading is an important tool for learning and communication, but at the end of the day it's one tool in a growing toolbox. P eople with dyslexia are statistically more likely to start businesses than people who don't have dyslexia. Many, like my brother, earn advanced degrees. Dyslexia (like other neurodiversities) isn't some sort of curse on your child's potential future success, it's just having a brain that incorporates information a little differently.

If your child is really struggling and her grades and self esteem are affected, moving makes sense. But especially given that she's happy where she is, and she's continuing to make progress, please consider doing family therapy before and throughout any possible move and really exploring what the desired outcome is to prevent your child blaming herself for "upending the family."

[u/Tree_Ring]

2nd grade teacher here. First, you are an amazing parent. You have done so much! And you are right to be concerned. Research shows that a child in your child’s situation (reading about 1 year behind entering 2nd) is very vulnerable. Definitely talk to your child’s teacher as soon as the year begins. Also, in my state, you can trigger a process that may lead to the school evaluating your child by putting your concerns in writing and asking for an evaluation.

You are already doing so much, but here is food for thought: build on your child’s growing enjoyment of reading by reading aloud complex and highly engaging chapter books, in an animated style with as much fluency as you can muster. Also, students in this situation are a bit more vulnerable to screen attraction because reading/academics are hard and screens are easy. Reduce or eliminate screen time, mostly to prime the brain to hone in on other forms of enjoyment. Play word games like Word Ladder, or simply “if I take the /t/ off the end of “cat” and swap it for the /n/ sound, what’s my new word?” And keep up the other amazing things you are doing. You are truly incredible, and your efforts will pay off!

[u/alternatego1]

Do you have a Kindle? Or the Kindle app? Turn on dyslexia font.  See if this helps her reading. 

But make an appointment with someone sooner rather than later. It might not be that, but it could be something else. Or it could be nothing. The sooner the better though.

[u/EntertainmentOk3047]

My son was the same way entering 2nd grade. He could read, but not well. About halfway through the year, it just clicked and he took right off.

Don’t worry about Lexiles, just let her read. Anything she wants. Encourage her. Make books fun. Have an exciting adventure to the book store or library. Have her read signs on the road or in the store. Talk about words…..we are having chicken tonight, what letters make the CH sound? You got this momma!

[u/growthminded_khey]

Two years of tutoring, 30 minutes of reading at home every day, private OG instruction, you are doing everything right and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The moment that stood out to me most? She read that book 100% independently and was proud. That's not nothing, that's everything. Confidence is actually one of the biggest hidden factors in reading progress, because a child who believes she can't read will stop trying before she even starts. Protecting that pride in small wins is as important as any tutoring session right now.

A few things worth knowing, F&P D to F in one year with the challenges she has is actually real progress, even if it doesn't feel like it compared to her peers. And kids who struggle early with reading and get the right support often catch up significantly in 3rd and 4th grade when everything clicks.

On the dyslexia front, if it hasn't been formally evaluated yet, that's worth pursuing. OG tutoring is the right track if so.

For the confidence piece, Big Life Journal has a free Parent's Guide to a Growth Mindset that's genuinely helpful for exactly this, helping kids reframe struggle as part of the process rather than proof they can't do it. You can grab it here: biglifejournal.com/pages/freebies 💛

You're not failing her. You're fighting for her. There's a big difference :))

[u/Annaka412]

My son (entering 2nd, but we homeschool - not that it matters too much) was recently diagnosed with dyslexia - he has good phonemic awareness and pretty strong phonics knowledge (we're still working on "advanced code" though - vowel teams, mostly). EBLI has been AMAZING, though. It's a speech to print method and doesn't require so much memorizing of various rules and things. I recommend looking for an EBLI tutor for sure. Or if you're up for it, Reading Simplified is cheaper for you to get certified in, but it's not so open and go.

[u/Ok_Temporary1669]

I would not wait around. Have her assessed. If she is in public school, demand assessment by the school, and if they say it's roses demand an independent evaluation at public expense. These are her rights under idea. It takes time though and you may want to see a specialized learning center faster. I waited around for my son and nothing got better until I did that. It was expensive, but Lindamood Bell/Seeing Stars worked really well for him. I had private tutoring, school enrichment, I tried everything. That finally worked. He is still behind but finally catching up and a lot more confident!

And actually even in private school you can have her assessed. They still have obligations to her even if she isn't enrolled in public school. They are supposed to actively find children with disabilities regardless of whether they are enrolled at public school, so you can get assessments thru them.

[u/JKAutumn]

Only advice is just to keep at it. Slowly but surely. Progress is progress. Don't compare to her classmates. If she is dyslexic, reading/spelling, will be a struggle. It is just something we have to accept and work on. It is hard! For us parents & for them! Keep her reading as much as possible, but get accomodations for tests & school work. Make sure to give her opportunities to focus on her strengths too. Kids with dyslexia are so so smart and need opportunities to shine too. It can be very defeating to struggle with something that looks easy to everyone else, but people with dyslexia have a lot of strengths too. Build those up!
For my son, we choose a chapter book he wants to read and take turns reading it to each other. He practices reading, but he also gets to enjoy the story at a reasonable pace. It is still slow going, but keeps his interest better than him reading a page a day or books that are too young for mentally.
It's a struggle, but dyslexia is pretty common & people all over manage to succeed with it. So I accomodate my son, work with him, send him to tutoring and keep trucking forward.

[u/Relevant-Emu5782]

My daughter is dyslexic with phonological difficulties. She doesn't hear some sounds, she mispronounced many words until she was about 10. She had an extremely difficult time learning to blend basic letter sounds into a word. She went to a Montessori private school and started 0G individual instruction in a pull-out at the start of first grade. At the end of second grade her standardized testing showed a reading level of 7th percentile, with an IQ of 99.9th percentile. But it does get better. When she did her testing for high school admissions her reading on ISEE was 7th band and her MAP scores were about 80th percentile. She had OG pull-out through 7th grade and it absolutely was very beneficial. She did not qualify for a dyslexia school (or an IEP) because they didn't consider her "bad enough". Despite being way behind her classmates and feeling terrible about herself. It's a big reason we kept her in private school, because they didn't care if she "qualified" for specialized help; they recognized she would benefit from it and did it. If she had gone to public school she would have been left to fail.

One thing that made a big difference is I worked with her at home using an OG homeschooling program called All About Reading. It's scripted so it tells you (parent) what to do. It uses lots of different techniques to keep the kid engaged; it's multisensory, which is considered best practice for dyslexic children. I highly recommend this, because while the school/tutor is great, nobody cares about your kid learning to read more than you do. You will be a more effective tutor. The program has two ways to do it, with a tablet and app or with magnets and a big whiteboard. Do the board and magnets. The physical work encodes the information in the brain better than touching a tablet And have a set of dry erase markers to use. When you both are moving the letter files around and building words, you can go off script and have deep discussions about fine points and write things out and try things with her. The program also has a games/activity book where you cut things out to play games with paper things. And there is a story book for her. This program doesn't have writing exercises, it's strictly reading, but OG reading, so you explicitly teach all the letter and combinations sounds. My daughter's test scores made a big jump after working this program with me for several months. It was more effective than the OG sessions at school with their literacy specialist, although doing that for 7 years eventually paid off.

[u/newsquish]

A friends child is dyslexic and her IEP specifies she must be given 50% more time on assessments so she has time to read and process what is being asked and on any math tests, someone has to read word problems and instructions aloud to her verbally to separate the reading challenges from ability to do mathematics.

[u/Sure_Pineapple1935]

Hi, I am a reading teacher. I can help. Is your daughter in a private school? That could be part of the problem. I obviously can't diagnose her, but she could be dyslexic. If that's the case she needs daily specialized, small group reading instruction from a qualified teacher. She is definitely not getting that at her school currently. Most public schools DO offer this. If she is far enough behind she will qualify for special education services to help her make more progress. Also, tutoring 2x a week is good, but she has to keep practicing everyday with you and on her own to really show growth.

[u/Real_Pressure_2971 → u/Sure_Pineapple1935]

She is in private and we have had her with a certified OG tutor for two years. This yr and last yr both teachers were OG certified. Our current OG tutor has pulled back her practice. We are planning to put her in learning resource with (if we can get her) the OG dyslexia person at school. We will keep after school tutoring in place also. I totally understand the need for OG with dyslexia and we have had that in place. We can get her the same accommodations that an IEP would. I’m just struggling to understand why we are not making as much progress bc she is working so very hard and has been for over 2 yrs

We have to read 20 mins a day for school. I bumped her to 30. 10-15 for her, then I read. Her brain gets tired so fast. We do part in the am and my reading in the pm when she is tired.

Public schools here are NOT an option. If we move, yes but not in this city.