My daughter is 12 years old and reads at a 3rd grade level, but she can memorize songs and everything else. It seems that she doesn’t focus. What should I do for her? She’s going into the 6th grade and I don’t want to have her be so far behind. Can you help, and is it possible for her to catch up?

Yes! It’s quite possible for her to catch up and be reading at grade level. Maybe not overnight, but she’s never too old to begin again, and figure some things out. But first you need to determine what part of the reading process she is struggling with. Why is she only on a 3rd-grade reading level when she is 12 years old? Is there something that she doesn’t understand about the reading process? Does she not clearly understand the connection between the sounds of each letter and then what they say in a word. This is called blending, and it is an important step in learning to read. Phonetic reading programs are very good at teaching that blending connection. Did she learn to read using phonics or was her beginning reading education strictly sight-based reading? That might answer a lot of questions for you. Is there an eye problem–have her eyes checked out? Does she learn better by seeing things, or hearing things, or touching things–or some combination? Is there a disorder that might be slowing her down, that once diagnosed and treated could make all the difference? There are a myriad of dynamics that can come into play here, and starting to ask some of these questions is the first step.

I would have a long and healthy discussion with her last year’s schoolteacher. What did this teacher notice about your child’s development and delays with her language, reading, comprehension development? What about the teacher the year before? What were her observations? Has she been in any resource-type classes and have they helped? If she hasn’t been, why not? If she has been and she hasn’t been helped that much, why not?

There are wonderful elementary school programs that can help answer these questions as well a pediatricians, school counselors, and teachers. Start talking to everyone you can and getting as much help as you can. It’s not too late and getting her as far as she can this last year of elementary school will be worth every effort as it’s much harder to get individualized attention in many Jr. High’s. It will take a concentrated effort on your part as the parent and on her part as the student, but it’s very possible to get answers to these questions and then start solving them.