How to Help Your Child Enjoy Reading Again—Even If They Struggle

When Reading Feels Like a Battle

Few things feel more painful for a parent than watching your child struggle with something that’s supposed to be inspiring, relaxing—even fun. For many children aged 6 to 12, reading becomes a source of stress, frustration, or boredom. Maybe they dread reading homework. Maybe they say, “I hate books.” Or maybe they avoid reading every chance they get, and you’re left wondering: what happened?

Reading doesn’t click for every child at the same time, and that’s okay. Some children don't feel confident reading out loud at school. Others find decoding words exhausting or can't seem to focus on a story. It's easy to conclude they're "behind," but reading is far more emotional than we think. How a child feels about reading often shapes how well they do with it.

Making Room for Different Learning Styles

Some kids are visual learners. Others are auditory. Some need to touch, explore, or act out a story to really connect with it. If your child struggles with traditional reading assignments, it doesn't mean they’re not capable—just that they may need a bridge to meet the story on their terms. Learning through play and alternative formats can reignite interest in stories and text without pressuring your child to 'perform.'

One small but game-changing idea? Bring stories into everyday moments—on the walk to school, during dinner, or even on car rides. Some apps allow written lessons to become audio adventures. One such tool transforms texts into audio narratives where your child becomes the hero of the story, using their first name. That shift—from passive reader to main character—can make books suddenly feel alive.

The Role of Confidence in Reading

It’s easy to equate reading fluency with intelligence, but nothing could be further from the truth. Kids are sensitive to the social pressure around reading, especially when classmates boast about reading chapter books or when read-alouds turn into moments of shame for those who stumble.

If your child has started saying things like “I’m just not good at reading,” it’s time to rebuild their self-trust. Words matter. Instead of focusing on what they’re not able to do (yet), praise their effort, curiosity, and growth. Research consistently shows that self-confidence plays a major role in how easily children tackle challenges.

You can also reintroduce reading in ways that don’t trigger anxiety. Choose books with large fonts or images. Read aloud together. Let your child pick the topic—even if it’s spiders, secret agents, or Pokemon. Remember: enjoyment should come before mastery. When reading feels safe and joyful again, learning follows.

Strategies That Don’t Feel Like Homework

Reading doesn’t have to mean chapter books and bookmarks. It can be a recipe you cook together, game instructions, comic books, or text bubbles in a video game. The key is to shift reading from a task to an experience.

Here are a few ideas that work beautifully for reluctant readers:

• Audio Immersion: Let them listen to the same story they’re reading. Hearing fluent reading while following along builds confidence and pacing.
• Quizzes As Games: Some tools let you take a photo of a lesson and turn it into a personalized quiz. Kids love the interactive challenge—and you avoid repeating drills.
• Story Re-enactment: Act out the scene with toys or draw the sequence step-by-step.

Incorporating tools and apps creatively can ease resistance. One family we spoke to transformed their son’s reading assignments into nightly “missions,” using a learning app that would narrate the lesson as an audio quest, starring him as the central character. His attitude changed from "I have to read" to "What adventure are we doing tonight?”

Accepting Their Pace—And Yours

We often forget that parents are learners, too. The pressure to get it right—to have our child reading at grade level, catching up, closing gaps—can be overwhelming. But what if you measured growth not by speed but by relationship?

Your warm voice reading together at bedtime, your shared laughs over a silly comic, your gentle encouragement after a fumbled word—these are the things your child will internalize long after the test scores disappear.

It might help to read why learning clicks later for some kids and how to embrace your child's individual learning pace. These pieces offer helpful mindsets for the days when progress feels painfully slow. Because sometimes, the most meaningful progress isn’t in the words read—but the bond strengthened while reading them.

Let Curiosity Lead

The goal isn’t just to make your child a strong reader—it’s to help them find joy, meaning, identity in what they discover through story. That begins with trust: trusting their pace, interests, and the many ways children learn.

So bring books to life. Make space for detours. And let your child’s story—however unusual the plot—unfold with curiosity and care. You’re doing better than you think.