A Guide to Online Reading Programs For Struggling Readers

Every child learns at their own pace—especially when it comes to reading. Some children will quickly develop critical reading skills, whereas others will struggle to keep up with their peers. If your child is falling behind, it’s important to ensure they receive additional instruction outside of the classroom. Fortunately, there are countless online reading programs that are designed to help struggling readers become strong, confident readers.

How to Spot A Struggling Reader

Knowing how to spot the signs that your child is struggling to read is key. If you don’t recognize these signs, you won’t be able to get your child the help they need to succeed. As a result, they could continue to fall further and further behind their classmates in reading.

Some of the signs of a struggling reader that you should look for include:

Not showing an interest in reading.
Failing to remember and/or recognize letters or familiar words.
Struggling to sound out words.
Reading in a choppy, uneven manner.
Being unable to answer questions about what they are reading.
Skipping over words or sentences when reading.
Guessing how to pronounce a word rather than taking the time to sound it out.
Being unable to read books at their current grade level.

If your child is exhibiting one or more of these signs, it may be best to use an online reading program to help them improve their reading skills.

What Are the Common Causes of Reading Difficulties?

You must understand why your child is struggling to read in order to ensure they get the help they need to overcome their reading difficulties. Some of the most common causes of reading difficulties include:

Inadequate instruction at school
Dyslexia
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Hearing loss
Poor vision
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Inexperience/Lack of reading practice

Knowing why your child is struggling can help you identify the best ways to help. For example, if your child simply has not had enough practice reading, encouraging them to read on a daily basis can drastically improve their reading skills. But if your child is struggling due to a learning disorder such as dyslexia, reading on a regular basis may not be enough to help them overcome their challenges.

What to Look For When Choosing An Online Reading Program

It can be hard for parents to determine which reading programs are worth trying and which are not. Don’t waste your child’s time on an ineffective reading program. Look for an online reading program with these qualities:

Variety of content: A reading program should give your child access to a wide variety of content so they can choose stories that they are interested in reading. Plus, if there’s a significant amount of content, your child can practice reading for hours without ever having to read the same story twice.

Age-appropriate content: Make sure the reading program you choose is designed for readers at your child’s grade level. If the program is designed for older readers, your child may be forced to read text that is far too advanced for them to decode and understand.

Measurable results: It’s best to choose a reading program that allows you to track your child’s progress. This way, you can ensure that the reading program is effective and your child is actually improving their reading skills.

Real-time correction: The program you choose for your child should also be designed to correct your child’s mistakes in real time. For example, if your child mispronounces a word while reading aloud, the reading program should immediately correct this error. This is the only way that your child will learn from their mistakes.

Multi-sensory experience: The most effective reading programs provide children with a multi-sensory experience. For example, the program may read aloud to your child while they follow along with the text on the screen. This engages two senses and creates a unique experience that will keep your child’s attention.

Price: Another factor that parents should consider when choosing an online reading program is the price. There are many affordable reading programs available, so you should never feel like you have to break the bank to get your child the reading help they need.

Finally, make sure you choose a reading program that your child will actually enjoy. After all, it will be far more challenging to get your child to commit to a reading program that they don’t find interesting or entertaining.

What Are Some Good Online Reading Programs For Struggling Readers?

If your child is a struggling reader, it’s important to take the time to find the right online reading program for them. Start by looking into some of these top online reading programs for struggling readers:

Readability: This app is designed with responsive speech recognition and artificial intelligence technology, which allows it to read aloud to your child, listen to your child read, and instantly correct pronunciation errors so your child can learn from their mistakes. Plus, Readability also asks your child questions about what they are reading to keep them engaged and check their comprehension.

Book Adventure: Help your struggling reader develop a genuine love for reading with the Book Adventure program, which turns reading into an adventure. Using this program, kids can play games and engage in fun activities to work on their reading comprehension skills.

ABC Mouse: This online program, which is designed to help children ages 2 through 8, consists of over 850 lessons divided into 10 different levels. Your child will start by learning about phonics and letter recognition. But as your child advances through the levels of the program, the curriculum will become harder and harder.

StudyDog: The StudyDog reading program is designed for children in pre-K through second grade. The methods used to teach reading in this program are backed by research and approved by the National Reading Panel.

Into the Book: This program is ideal for children that are struggling with reading comprehension. It is designed to help children improve comprehension by tapping into their background knowledge, visualizing text, making inferences, and summarizing what they read.

Read Theory: This online reading program is suitable for readers of all ages and skill levels. Through Read Theory, your child will have access to thousands of exercises that are proven to help kids improve their reading Furthermore, the program will adapt to your child’s skill level, so the exercises will automatically become easier or harder depending on their performance.

Remember, every child is unique, so a program that works well for one child may not be effective for another. Don’t be afraid to test out several programs before deciding which one is right for your child’s needs.

What is the Best Program to Teach Reading?

There are a number of different online reading programs to choose from, but none that come close to the Readability app. Using this app is just like working with a private reading tutor with one exception: kids can use Readability anytime, anywhere.

Education experts and teachers have praised Readability for its ability to help struggling readers improve their decoding, fluency, and reading comprehension skills. Parents can even see how far their kids have come by looking at the app’s dashboard to see their performance metrics.

Ameeta Jain

My latest project is truly where my happy place is, helping children. I’m a mom to two amazing souls who are my inspiration to be better, do better and strive for more. As a technology entrepreneur, I’ve had the privilege to contribute to the advancement of humanity through tech.

My passion has always been to ensure the end user of our products enjoys huge benefits. We are taking the world of education by storm with industry first reading and comprehension learning technology that levels the playing field for all kids. With over 20 years of tech experience and an army of child development professionals, reading specialists, and experts in education, I created Readability.