Understanding how children learn to read—especially when reading is hard
Learning to read is one of the most complex tasks the human brain is asked to master. For parents of children with dyslexia, this process can feel confusing, emotional, and overwhelming. You may wonder why reading seems so difficult for your child and how you can best help.
While parents are not expected to be literacy experts, understanding how children learn to read can make a powerful difference. When you know the ingredients that build strong reading skills, you are better equipped for helping a child who struggles with reading—and for advocating for the right kind of instruction.
Think of reading like following a recipe. When all the ingredients are present and added in the right order, reading comes together smoothly. However, if an ingredient is missing or underdeveloped, the final result won’t turn out the way we expect—no matter how hard a child tries.
Let’s break down the essential ingredients in the recipe for reading, using a science-based approach designed to support dyslexic learners.
Ingredient #1: Vocabulary and Background Knowledge
Building meaning before reading begins
First and foremost, strong reading comprehension depends on vocabulary and background knowledge. Children do not primarily learn new words by reading them on their own. Instead, they learn words through listening, speaking, and shared experiences long before print enters the picture.
From an early age, children build vocabulary through conversation, storytelling, and being read to aloud. As a result, when they later see those familiar words in print, their brains can connect letters to meaning more efficiently.
Similarly, background knowledge plays a major role. When children read about topics they already know something about—animals, sports, places, or events—they understand text more deeply, even if the reading itself is challenging. Research consistently confirms this principle within the science of reading for parents to understand and apply.
Helpful ways to build this ingredient include:
Talking with your child often
Reading aloud at all ages
Exploring a wide range of topics, books, and real-world experiences
Ingredient #2: Phonological Awareness
Hearing the sounds inside words
Next comes phonological awareness—one of the most critical foundations of reading and one of the most common areas of difficulty for children with dyslexia.
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. Importantly, this skill is entirely oral. It does not involve letters or print.
When we ask a child to “sound it out,” we are asking them to:
Break a word into individual sounds
Hold those sounds in memory
Blend them together in the correct order
If this skill is weak, decoding becomes guesswork rather than a reliable strategy. Not surprisingly, research shows that phonological awareness difficulties are one of the strongest predictors of dyslexia. This is a key reason explicit instruction is essential in helping a child who struggles with reading.
Ingredient #3: Print Awareness
Understanding how written language works
Once children develop strong oral language skills, they begin learning how print works. Print awareness includes understanding that:
Books have a front cover, title, and author
We read from left to right
Words are separated by spaces
Punctuation affects meaning
Children naturally develop print awareness through frequent exposure to books and print-rich environments. For example, when adults point to words while reading aloud or talk about what they see on a page, children begin to internalize these concepts.
This ingredient serves as an important bridge between spoken language and formal reading instruction.
Ingredient #4: Letter and Word Recognition
Connecting letters to sounds accurately
Now we reach one of the most visible steps in how children learn to read: connecting letters to sounds. Because the brain was not designed for reading, this process must be taught explicitly and practiced repeatedly.
English makes this especially challenging due to:
Uppercase and lowercase letters with different shapes
Letters that represent more than one sound
Many spelling patterns learned over time
As children receive effective instruction, they begin to store words efficiently in their brains through a process called orthographic mapping. These words become automatic—not memorized through guessing, but learned through sound-symbol connections.
Strong readers build thousands of these mapped words, allowing reading to become faster, easier, and more accurate.
Ingredient #5: Reading Fluency
Making reading sound smooth and meaningful
Once decoding becomes more automatic, fluency can develop. Reading fluency means reading accurately, smoothly, and with appropriate expression.
Fluency matters because it reduces the mental effort required to read. When children no longer have to struggle with every word, they can focus on understanding what the text means.
On the other hand, slow and choppy reading makes comprehension exhausting. Fluent reading, by contrast, sounds natural and allows children to enjoy reading rather than endure it.
Ingredient #6: Comprehension
Understanding and making meaning
Ultimately, comprehension is the goal of reading. It is the ability to understand language—both spoken and written.
Many children who struggle with reading comprehension actually understand language very well. The challenge is that decoding requires so much effort that little energy is left for meaning. When decoding, word recognition, and fluency improve, comprehension often follows naturally.
Every stage of reading instruction is working toward this outcome: meaningful understanding of text.
Ingredient #7: Motivation
Helping children want to keep going
Finally, we can’t overlook motivation. Learning to read is hard work, especially for children with dyslexia. Children need a reason to persist.
Positive reading experiences, encouragement, and instruction that meets a child’s specific needs all contribute to motivation. Research shows that success builds confidence—and confidence fuels persistence.
While motivation cannot replace effective instruction, it can greatly amplify its impact.
Bringing the Recipe Together
Supporting struggling readers with confidence
Strong reading does not happen by accident. It develops when vocabulary, phonological awareness, print knowledge, decoding, fluency, comprehension, and motivation all work together.
When a child struggles with reading, it is rarely due to laziness or lack of intelligence. More often, one or more ingredients in the reading recipe need strengthening. Just like baking, you cannot skip steps or rush the process and expect consistent results.
The good news is that reading difficulties are understandable—and addressable—when instruction aligns with the science of reading for parents and educators alike.
At Read Write Learning Center, we partner with families to identify which ingredients may be missing and provide targeted, evidence-based instruction. With the right recipe and the right support, every child can become a confident reader who not only reads—but understands and enjoys what they read.
