Reading and writing
Learn what can cause trouble with reading and writing, including dyslexia and learning disabilities. Get strategies to help struggling readers and tips to improve writing skills.
Jump to section:
Tips and strategies
- Quick tipTake turns reading.
Reading long books or pages can feel overwhelming. Sharing the load can make it feel more manageable. Try reading aloud together and trading off pages. This gives kids a break and lets them hear fluent reading.
- Quick tipModel fluent reading.
Read naturally, with emotion or tone that matches the words you’re reading. If you’re not comfortable reading out loud, kids can listen to audiobooks to hear fluent reading. You can also ask another adult or an older sibling to help out.
Podcast
Dyslexia: More than mixing up letters
When kids have trouble learning to read, families may wonder about dyslexia. But what exactly is dyslexia? And what are the signs to look out for?
More resources
Watch
Listen
Read
All articles
- Edgy books like “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” can encourage a reluctant reader
- The question I’m always asked about my son’s dyslexia
- Dyslexia testing results: What they mean for instruction and supports
- Retelling: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Written expression disorder fact sheet
- Video: A doctor learns about dyslexia through his daughter’s reading struggles
- Video: Why is dyslexia diagnosed more often than dyscalculia?
- Video: Navigating life’s changes with dyslexia
- Why kids have trouble understanding or remembering what they read
- How software and apps can help with writing challenges
- Assistive technology for reading
- Assistive technology for writing
- 9 ways to build phonological awareness in pre-K and kindergarten
- 8 study tips to help middle-schoolers with dyslexia
- Video: A mom and son on their homeschooling experience
- Video: How art helped a struggling student better understand himself
- Video: Michelle Carter wins Olympic gold with dyslexia and ADHD
- Understanding dyslexia in your child
- Download: Graphic organizers to help kids with writing
- 6 multisensory techniques for teaching handwriting
- Dyslexia: Questions from families answered
- A day in the life of a child with dyslexia
- My advice on how to enjoy reading with ADHD or dyslexia
- Dyslexia and depression
- Video: New England Patriot Lawrence Guy on overcoming stigma and being your best
- Video: Elijah Ditchendorf, a high school science whiz who has dyslexia
- 7 study tips to help grade-schoolers with dyslexia
- Celebrity spotlight: Anderson Cooper no longer hides his dyslexia
- Video: Stanley Cup champ Brent Sopel on hiding reading struggles “behind his stick”
- Video: Gavin Newsom opens up about his dyslexia
- Video: Brad Falchuk on thriving with dyslexia
- Video: Being a scientist with dyslexia
- Video: The journey from student with dyslexia and ADHD to special education teacher
- Video: LeDerick Horne, poet and activist with learning disabilities
- Video: A high-schooler with dyslexia discovers her passion
- How I feel when I write a paper
- Understanding why kids struggle with writing
- What is dysgraphia?
- What’s the difference between structured literacy and balanced literacy?
- Video: A Harvard graduate on growing up with dyslexia
- Video: Dyslexia and the fear of reading
- Video: How does dyslexia play out in different languages?
- Video: Dyslexia and the brain
- Is dysgraphia the same thing as disorder of written expression?
- Video: The journey from a child with dyslexia to an illustrator teaching through comics
- Video: How a great teacher helped a student with dyslexia find her path
- Video: Middle-schooler teaches future teachers about dyslexia
- 10 Oscar winners with dyslexia
- Elected officials with dyslexia
- Video: The journey from a child with dyslexia to an award-winning researcher
- Celebrity spotlight: “Henry Danger” actor Jace Norman uses dyslexia to his advantage
- Video: Talent agent Ari Emanuel on having dyslexia and raising kids with dyslexia
- Video: Parenting a daughter with dyslexia and ADHD
- 8 ways to use virtual assistants as assistive technology
- When do kids learn to read?
- Why some kids struggle with spelling
- 5 things not to say to your child about dysgraphia
- Thicko: A personal story by Dekko Comics’ Rossie Stone
- High school sports star with dyslexia shares how he overcame reading struggles
- The long, winding road to identifying my son’s learning issues
- 5 things not to say to your child about dyslexia
- Make dyslexia about strengths, not shame
- 5 questions with Sean Douglas, media maker with dyslexia
- “Dear teacher, I have dyslexia,” explains fifth grader in self-advocacy video
- What is Accelerated Reader?
- 8 reasons kids might read slowly
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for grade-schoolers with dyslexia
- I used to think my daughter with dyslexia just needed to try harder
- Understanding my son’s dysgraphia helped me advocate for him
- How my son with dyslexia became an early self-advocate
- My 6 stages of grief: The path to understanding my son’s dyslexia
- The unexpected connection between handwriting and learning to read
- Classroom accommodations for dysgraphia
- When a child has dyslexia and dyscalculia, treat the math challenges separately
- 8 tips for talking to your child’s teacher about dyslexia
- Writing trouble: Conversation starters to use with your child’s teacher
- 5 ways executive function challenges can impact reading
- Learning a foreign language with dyslexia
- 7 fun summer books for reluctant readers in grades 6–8
- 7 fun summer books for reluctant readers in grades 9–12
- Reading trouble: Conversation starters to use with your child’s teacher
- Reading to my son: 5 ways I get ready as a dyslexic dad
- Types of reading disabilities
- Representation matters: 4 books about kids of color that I love to read to my son
- Escape from confusion dyslexia art
- Teacher to teacher: How I use dyslexia as my teaching superpower
- Classroom accommodations for developmental coordination disorder
- How a student with dyslexia changed my teaching career (and my life)
- Skills that can be affected by dyslexia
- Why I love my dyslexic brain
- Can dyslexia cause headaches in kids?
- 7 things I wish people knew about parenting kids with dyslexia
- How to help kids with reading at home
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for middle-schoolers with dyslexia
- What my daughter with dyslexia taught me about learning to read
- 6 strategies to teach students self-regulation in writing
- 9 great books for reluctant readers in middle school
- FAQs about vision and dyslexia
- 9 key facts about learning disabilities and ADHD
- 6 summer learning apps and games for tweens and teens
- 5 great back-to-school books for kids in grades 1–4
- Stealth dyslexia: How some dyslexic students escape detection
- Video: Interview with Silvia Ortiz-Rosales, teen with dyslexia
- How does optical character recognition help kids with reading issues?
- Dyslexia laws: What they are and how they work
- The first assistive technology I recommend to parents
- What is structured literacy?
- My middle-schooler doesn’t want to talk about dyslexia with teachers. What can I do?
- Alaskan family uses passion for longboard skateboarding to put the spotlight on dyslexia
- Why is fourth-grade writing so hard for some kids?
- My voice does the writing — with a little help from dictation technology
- One of my scariest moments as a child with dyslexia? Reading aloud during Passover
- Treatment for kids with dyslexia
- Learning and thinking differences that cause trouble with spelling
- Teaching teens who struggle with reading: What can help
- FAQs about dyslexia and learning music
- Types of tests for dysgraphia
- Why I celebrate technology as a go-to for kids with dyslexia
- 6 reasons why kids refuse to read
- Types of tests for dyslexia
- Where to get free books for your child
- 5 adults with dyslexia share the first book they loved
- “What’s the point of a book with no words?”
- Signs of written expression disorder
- Understanding written expression disorder in your child
- A day in the life of a child with written expression disorder
- What is written expression disorder?
- Do kids with dyslexia have trouble following directions?
- Dyslexia and anxiety in kids
- 5 ways dyslexia can affect kids socially
- Classroom accommodations for dyslexia
- A day in the life of an employee with dyslexia
- Signs of dyslexia at different ages
- The difference between written expression disorder and expressive language disorder
- Change a letter: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Paragraph shrinking: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Phonics blending: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Spelling irregular words: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Spelling regular words: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Sight words: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Vocabulary words: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Written expression disorder in middle school: 4 self-advocacy scripts
- IEP goals for reading: What they look like
- 8 expert tips on helping your child with dysgraphia
- Classroom accommodations for written expression disorder
- 7 secret fears about dyslexia
- Workplace supports: Trouble with reading and writing
- Dyslexia tutoring: What families need to know
- FAQs about reversing letters, writing letters backwards, and dyslexia
- Did Albert Einstein have dyslexia? 4 reasons I think it’s possible
- Elkonin sound boxes: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- What is multisensory instruction?
- Parent pep talk: Coping with your child’s diagnosis
- Download: Summer reading logs
- 7 ways to encourage your child to read over the summer
- Video: My experience with dyslexia and bullying
- Teacher tip: The most fun way to build reading skills for back to school
- What is dyslexia?
- Dyslexia signs in adults
- How dyslexia is diagnosed in adults
- The difference between dyspraxia and dysgraphia
- Beyond books: 6 fun things for kids to read
- 5 questions with the author of “The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell”
- Dyslexia in adults
- The difference between decodable and non-decodable words
- Teacher tip: A simple highlighter trick to help your child with writing
- What is Orton–Gillingham?
- Written expression disorder in grade school: 5 self-advocacy scripts
- 6 skills kids need for written expression
- 7 common myths about dyslexia
- 11 children’s book authors with dyslexia
- Why is my third grader suddenly having trouble reading?
- 8 multisensory techniques for teaching reading
- 15 phonics rules for reading and spelling
- 5 great grade school books about kids who learn differently
- Teacher tip: Improve your child’s handwriting with this drawing exercise
- 7 ways to help kids with slow processing speed take notes in class
- 5 tips to help kids with ADHD focus on reading
- Third-grade retention laws: What you need to know
- 9 books that explore and embrace difference
- Messy handwriting in kids: What you need to know
- How to help your child break up a writing assignment into chunks
- Where to find free assistive technology tools for reading, writing, and math
- Where to find free audiobooks and digital text-to-speech books for your child
- No time to read to your child? 6 ideas to try
- Rapid automatized naming tests: What you need to know
- 5 common myths about dysgraphia
- What research supports Orton–Gillingham?
- 7 ways to boost your child’s vocabulary
- What is phonological awareness?
- When do kids know the alphabet?
- Reading skills at different ages
- 11 books to help kids build a growth mindset
- Why reading in your home language helps kids become better readers
- 4 steps to choosing books at your child’s reading level
- 10 ways to encourage your high-schooler to read
- 9 great books for reluctant teen readers
- 5 reasons graphic novels can help kids with reading
- 8 modern classic books for kids in grades 3–5
- Lexile levels: What you need to know
- 9 free public library resources for your child (and you)
- 7 modern classic books for middle-schoolers
- Wilson Reading System: What you need to know
- Learning challenges that can impact typing
- Questions to ask about the school’s reading instruction
- 6 fine motor skills activities for kids
- 8 ways to build phonological awareness in grade-schoolers
- 8 ways to build phonological awareness in middle-schoolers
- How speech-language pathologists work with kids
- 10 terms to know if your child has trouble with handwriting
- Valentines made easier: Ideas from an occupational therapist
- 9 reasons kids don’t finish their reading homework
- What does a reading specialist do?
- Teaching handwriting to young kids: Important or outdated?
- 8 tips to help young kids develop good reading habits
- 10 ways to encourage your preschooler to read
- 6 ways to help your child improve handwriting
- What is decoding?
- When do kids learn how to rhyme?
- Dictation (speech-to-text) technology: What it is and how it works
- Word prediction technology: What it is and how it works
- 7 ways to support your child’s reading when you don’t like to read
- The difference between audiobooks and text-to-speech
- Download: Graphic organizers to help kids with reading
- Video: How first graders show they understand what they read
- Community picks: 13 books for struggling readers
- 12 great books for reluctant readers in grades 3–5
- Writing skills at different ages
- 8 great ways to encourage your grade-schooler’s writing
- Reading speed and fluency: What you need to know
- 9 films that feature dyslexia
- Understanding why kids struggle with reading
- Summer reading for kids who learn and think differently
- Download: Multisensory reading and writing tools
- Why do some kids write numbers backwards?
- What are sight words?
- 6 essential skills for reading comprehension
- Video: How to choose books for kids who struggle with reading
- Video: Why do ADHD and dyslexia co-occur so often?
- Video: The journey from a kid with writing issues to a professional writer and speaker
- Video: Journalist Byron Pitts on faith, family, and overcoming reading challenges
- Video: What reading fluency looks like in fifth grade
- Whisper reading: What it is and how it works
- Lorraine Bracco, star of “The Sopranos,” on how she used humor to cope with dyslexia
- 4 reasons kids get anxious about reading — and how to help
- Video: Inside a reading intervention
- How to help young kids with handwriting
- How to teach kids with dyslexia to read
- 2-minute tutorial: Pencil grips for kids
- How software and apps can help with reading challenges