I need some assistance with helping my two sons with reading. They are 7 and 8 years old. My 8-year-old has more trouble. My other son was on second grade reading level in the first grade but it has decreased so he needs more help. I try myself, but I am not teaching material. I do get frustrated at times.

Don’t get discouraged—it’s difficult for almost everyone to teach their own kids. I can work wonders with many small readers, but have a few of my own kids who gave me fits. It’s common. That’s why we have teachers in the first place. Not everyone has the same package of talents and gifts–we need all kinds.

I have all boys, so I know it’s rather difficult to get boys to want to read much. I have a great reader, and then one who would rather be anywhere else, doing anything else than reading a book. Nonetheless, reading is not optional, so you’ve got to be a bit tricky.

First of all, you need to ask yourself why are they struggling. Is there some basic concept here at the beginning level of reading development that they are not getting? Is there something missing in their development that is critical to the reading process? Do they fully understand how the alphabet letters fit together or are they just trying to memorize and then recall every word in our language? Different parts of the country/school/teachers, have different ways to teach reading. Some ways work better with some kids than other ways. What reading methodology are your boys working on? Perhaps under that methodology, they aren’t “getting it” and might need a different approach to have it make sense to them. A close and constant discussion with their teachers would be in order to make sure that they maintain their reading level, and don’t fall any further behind.

Be patient, keep working with them. Read to them every night. Letting them pick a great children’s classic and reading them a chapter a night will be a great opportunity for all of you. Let them see you read individually–let them see how valuable reading is to you. It’s so important. It sounds like you’re doing a great job. Keep going—keep working at it. Get some help from their teachers and the school. Good luck to you!