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.
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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?
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Story elements graphic organizerPDF
Main idea graphic organizerPDF
Retelling graphic organizerPDF
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All articles
- Video: Parenting a daughter with dyslexia and ADHD
- 8 great ways to encourage your grade-schooler’s writing
- FAQs about reversing letters, writing letters backwards, and dyslexia
- Download: Graphic organizers to help kids with writing
- Download: Graphic organizers to help kids with reading
- 8 multisensory techniques for teaching reading
- Can dyslexia cause headaches in kids?
- 8 modern classic books for kids in grades 3–5
- 9 key facts about learning disabilities and ADHD
- Vocabulary words: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- Lexile levels: What you need to know
- Skills that can be affected by dyslexia
- Written expression disorder in grade school: 5 self-advocacy scripts
- Classroom accommodations for written expression disorder
- Written expression disorder in middle school: 4 self-advocacy scripts
- The difference between written expression disorder and expressive language disorder
- Elkonin sound boxes: An evidence-based literacy strategy
- What is written expression disorder?
- 6 essential skills for reading comprehension
- Why does my child spell a word right one day and wrong the next?
- 10 ways to encourage your high-schooler to read
- 5 common myths about dysgraphia
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- Video: New England Patriot Lawrence Guy on overcoming stigma and being your best
- 5 things not to say to your child about dyslexia
- 5 ways dyslexia can affect kids socially
- Written expression disorder fact sheet
- Download: Summer reading logs
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- Treatment for kids with dyslexia
- Wilson Reading System: What you need to know
- When do kids know the alphabet?
- What is multisensory instruction?
- 7 ways to encourage your child to read over the summer
- Reading skills at different ages
- Classroom accommodations for dyslexia
- Signs of dyslexia at different ages
- What is dyslexia?
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- How to help young kids with handwriting
- Why kids have trouble understanding or remembering what they read
- Understanding why kids struggle with writing
- Why do some kids write numbers backwards?
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- 15 phonics rules for reading and spelling
- Dyslexia in adults
- Dyslexia signs in adults
- What is dysgraphia?
- When do kids learn how to rhyme?
- What are sight words?
- What is decoding?
- What is phonological awareness?
- What is Orton–Gillingham?
- What is Accelerated Reader?
- How speech-language pathologists work with kids
- How to help kids with reading at home
- Dyslexia and anxiety in kids
- Assistive technology for reading
- Assistive technology for writing
- 6 skills kids need for written expression
- Understanding written expression disorder in your child
- Types of tests for dyslexia
- Understanding dyslexia in your child
- FAQs about vision and dyslexia
- Why reading in your home language helps kids become better readers
- 7 common myths about dyslexia
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- Celebrity spotlight: Anderson Cooper no longer hides his dyslexia
- 12 great books for reluctant readers in grades 3–5
- More states mandate screenings for reading challenges in young kids
- What research supports Orton–Gillingham?
- Reading speed and fluency: What you need to know
- Why are vowels so hard for my child?
- When do kids stop writing letters backwards?
- How to teach kids with dyslexia to read
- Why doesn’t dyslexia go away after proper reading instruction?
- My 6 stages of grief: The path to understanding my son’s dyslexia
- Is dysgraphia the same thing as disorder of written expression?
- How does optical character recognition help kids with reading issues?
- My middle-schooler doesn’t want to talk about dyslexia with teachers. What can I do?
- Is it OK that my second grader is learning to read by memorizing words?
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- What I’ve seen: 7 signs a student needs explicit reading instruction
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- 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
- Video: A doctor learns about dyslexia through his daughter’s reading struggles
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- Video: Navigating life’s changes with dyslexia
- How software and apps can help with writing challenges
- 9 ways to build phonological awareness in pre-K and kindergarten
- 8 study tips to help middle-schoolers with dyslexia
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- 6 multisensory techniques for teaching handwriting
- Dyslexia: Questions from families answered
- A day in the life of a child with dyslexia
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- Video: Elijah Ditchendorf, a high school science whiz who has dyslexia
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- How I feel when I write a paper
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- Video: How does dyslexia play out in different languages?
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- Celebrity spotlight: “Henry Danger” actor Jace Norman uses dyslexia to his advantage
- 8 ways to use virtual assistants as assistive technology
- When do kids learn to read?
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- 5 things not to say to your child about dysgraphia
- Thicko: A personal story by Dekko Comics’ Rossie Stone
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- The long, winding road to identifying my son’s learning issues
- 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
- 8 reasons kids might read slowly
- 5 self-advocacy sentence starters for grade-schoolers with dyslexia
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- How my son with dyslexia became an early self-advocate
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- The first assistive technology I recommend to parents
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- Where to get free books for your child
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- “What’s the point of a book with no words?”
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- Change a letter: An evidence-based literacy strategy
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- 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
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