If you are teaching a child with dyslexia to read, there is a good chance you've wondered at some point:

Is this actually working?

You're using an Orton-Gillingham-based reading program. You're doing your best to be consistent. Maybe you're teaching reading three to five days a week, or perhaps your child works with a dyslexia tutor.

But progress still feels so slow.

Your child learns a phonogram one day and seems to have completely forgotten it the next. They successfully sound out a word on one page and then stare blankly at the exact same word two minutes later.

Meanwhile, you hear about another child who suddenly "took off" with reading at age eight or nine, and you begin to wonder:

Do we need a different reading program? Are we doing something wrong? Is my child making enough progress?

One of the most important things to understand about dyslexia reading progress is that it often doesn't look like the steady, predictable progress we expect. And slow progress doesn't necessarily mean that reading instruction isn't working.

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Why Learning to Read With Dyslexia Takes Longer

Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference. Skills that become automatic relatively quickly for typical readers often require much more explicit instruction and repeated practice for a child with dyslexia.

There is also an enormous range of severity among people with dyslexia. A child with mild dyslexia may begin to read independently at nine or ten and then develop fluency fairly quickly. A moderately dyslexic child may not reach that point until ten, eleven, or twelve. And some profoundly dyslexic students may continue working toward fluent reading well into their teenage years.

That difference isn't about intelligence. There are many underlying weaknesses associated with dyslexia that can affect how easily a child learns to read, including:

• phonemic awareness
• rapid automatic naming
• working memory
• auditory processing
• visual processing
• executive function

The particular combination and severity of these weaknesses can have a tremendous impact on how quickly a child progresses through reading instruction. This is one reason comparing your child's reading progress with another child's can be so misleading.

Reading Progress With Dyslexia Is Often Uneven

One of the most confusing things about teaching kids with dyslexia to read is that progress rarely moves in a straight line. You may teach a new phonogram and have your child repeat it perfectly.

The next day?

It's as if they've never seen it before.

They may successfully decode a word on one line and then fail to recognize the same word on the next page. You may see a leap forward followed by a plateau—or what feels like one step forward and two steps back. Sometimes accuracy improves while fluency remains painfully slow.

All of this can make it tempting to assume that your reading program isn't working. But rather than looking only for big jumps in reading level, it helps to start noticing the smaller changes that tell us important skills are developing.

What Does Dyslexia Reading Progress Actually Look Like?

Progress may be much more subtle than suddenly jumping two grade levels or independently reading a chapter book.

Instead, watch for things like:

• Recognizing sounds and phonograms more quickly
• Blending sounds with less effort
• Decoding unfamiliar words instead of guessing
• Remembering previously taught concepts more consistently
• Making fewer errors
• Catching and correcting their own mistakes
• Reading for slightly longer periods before becoming tired
• Needing fewer prompts from you
• Reading with increasing fluency
• Sounding less robotic and more natural while reading
• Becoming more willing to attempt unfamiliar words
• Showing greater confidence around reading

One of my favorite signs of progress is when a child stops automatically guessing at an unfamiliar word and begins using the strategies they have been taught to figure it out.

That is a big deal!

When you notice it, point it out:

"I love how you used your strategies to figure out that word."

We want our kids to recognize that successfully using a reading strategy is progress—even when reading is still difficult.

Don't Let Spelling Fool You

Another reason parents sometimes worry that their child isn't progressing is spelling. Reading and spelling are related, but spelling is a more demanding task. When reading the word beach, for example, a child sees the letters in front of them and decodes them.

When spelling beach, they have to retrieve the sounds and determine which spelling pattern represents each sound. And English gives them plenty of possibilities! That is one reason spelling often develops more slowly than reading for kids with dyslexia.

A child may therefore be making meaningful reading progress even while spelling continues to lag behind. Lots of review and repeated exposure are important. This is also one reason I like reading programs that allow children to progress through reading at their appropriate pace while giving them additional time and practice with spelling.

Measure Your Child Against Their Own Baseline

When we're trying to determine whether a child with dyslexia is making enough progress, grade-level comparisons aren't always particularly helpful.

Instead ask:

Where was my child six months ago compared with where they are today?

This can be surprisingly difficult to see when you homeschool. Think about a niece or nephew you only see twice a year. They walk through the door and you immediately think, When did you grow six inches?! Their parents probably didn't notice it happening because they see them every day.

Reading progress can be like that.

When you sit beside your child day after day, the small improvements can be almost invisible. That's why I love having a few simple ways to document growth.

6 Simple Ways to Track Reading Progress

1. Keep a Simple Reading Progress Log

Every week or two, use a short unfamiliar passage that is at your child's current reading level and record a few basic observations.

You might track:

• Words read correctly during a timed passage
• Number of prompts needed
• How long your child reads before becoming fatigued
• Number or type of errors
• Self-corrections
• General observations about confidence or frustration

The important thing isn't what happens during one particular reading session.

Look for trends over time.

Also, don't test using a favorite book your child has read repeatedly. Familiarity and memorization can make the results misleading. Use something unfamiliar but appropriate for your child's actual reading ability.

Get the Reading Tracker

2. Make Monthly Reading Recordings

This idea came from a mom in my mentoring group, and I love its simplicity. Every month or so, record your child reading aloud for 60 seconds. Date the recording and save it. Several months later, listen to an older recording and then listen to the newest one.

You may hear changes you weren't noticing day to day:

• smoother blending
• fewer pauses
• greater expression
• faster word recognition
• fewer prompts
• more confidence

You can also play the recordings for your child so they can hear their progress.

3. Create a "Too Hard" Bookshelf

Set aside books your child would like to read but that are currently a little beyond their ability. Every couple of months, pull one out and try it again. A book that was frustrating or impossible six months ago may suddenly be manageable.

You can also do the reverse: keep a collection of books your child has successfully read. Watching that stack grow gives both you and your child a visual reminder of progress.

4. Save Old Schoolwork

Keep occasional samples of:

• handwriting
• copywork
• dictation
• spelling
• written narration

Every few months, compare an older sample with something your child is doing now. Again, you're looking for growth over time rather than perfection today.

5. Keep a "Mastered Words" Box

If your reading program uses word cards, keep difficult words in a review section. Once your child can read a word instantly and automatically, move it into a "mastered" section. Over time, your child gets to see the pile of mastered words grow. It's a wonderfully concrete way to make invisible learning visible.

6. Keep a One-Line Feelings Log

Reading progress isn't only about words per minute. Once a week or every few weeks, ask:

"How did reading feel today?"

Write down your child's answer. Over time, you may begin seeing changes such as:

"Really hard."

"Okay."

"That wasn't as bad."

"Pretty easy."

Growing confidence, reduced anxiety, and greater willingness to attempt difficult words are meaningful signs of progress too.

Why Reading Sometimes Seems to Suddenly "Take Off"

Something interesting can happen after years of slow, painstaking reading instruction. Suddenly, the pieces begin coming together. I've jokingly referred to this over the years as "middle school magic" because I've seen it happen with so many kids during those years.

Part of what is happening is the cumulative effect of years of successful decoding practice. Every time your child successfully sounds out a word, the brain has another opportunity to store that word for future automatic recognition. This process is called orthographic mapping.

In the beginning, very few words are mapped. Reading is heavy lifting because almost everything requires conscious decoding. But that learning is cumulative.

Week after week and year after year, more words are being stored for increasingly automatic recognition. Eventually, enough pieces can come together that reading begins to feel dramatically different.

Faster.

Easier.

More fluent.

Sometimes it seems almost as though it happened overnight.

It didn't.

Those years when it seemed like almost nothing was happening were building the foundation for what you're seeing now.

What Should You Do While Your Child Is Still Learning to Read?

This is extremely important.

Don't make your child's entire education wait for reading to catch up.

Continue providing explicit reading instruction and remediation, but give your child access to information at their intellectual level, not simply their reading level.

That can include:

• audiobooks
• read-alouds
• documentaries and educational videos
• discussion
• hands-on learning
• assistive technology

These are accommodations, and homeschool families teaching children with learning differences should feel free to use them liberally.

Your child's reading level is not their intellectual level.

We want to continue strengthening weak areas while simultaneously feeding their strengths, curiosity, knowledge, and intelligence.

When Should You Be Concerned About Reading Progress?

Slow progress and no progress aren't necessarily the same thing. There are times when continuing to wait isn't the best option.

I would look more closely if your child is receiving appropriate, explicit, systematic, cumulative reading instruction but you are seeing very little measurable growth over a meaningful period of time.

Other things that might concern me include:

• increasing reliance on guessing rather than decoding
• continued inability to retain very basic concepts despite extensive practice and review
• persistent difficulty applying previously taught skills
• very little improvement despite consistent, appropriate instruction

First, make sure you're using an appropriate research-based reading method and that you're using it consistently. If you are and your child still isn't progressing, it may be time to investigate whether other underlying weaknesses are interfering with learning.

Testing can sometimes reveal significant difficulties with working memory, auditory or visual processing, executive function, phonemic awareness, rapid naming, or other areas that help explain why progress has been unusually difficult.

And remember: the severity of a child's dyslexia does not determine their future potential. One of my own children was profoundly dyslexic and had significant weaknesses in several of these areas. Today, he is a successful adult and entrepreneur who has learned to lean heavily into his strengths.

Reading struggles tell us something about how a person learns. They do not tell us what that person is capable of becoming.

Progress Is the Goal—Not Someone Else's Timeline

Of course we want our kids to learn to read. We want to provide effective instruction, and we want to be as consistent as we reasonably can. But "catching up" can quietly become the goal that controls our entire homeschool.

And when we're constantly comparing our children with traditional learners—how quickly they read, how independently they work, how long they can focus—we can create enormous frustration for both our kids and ourselves.

Instead, use the right methods. Be consistent over time. Pay attention to growth. Adapt instruction when your child needs it. Protect their confidence and your relationship with them. And keep the rest of their education moving forward while their reading skills develop.

Your child doesn't need to learn to read on someone else's timeline.

Your job is to give them the instruction and support they need, watch carefully for growth, and continue feeding their mind while those skills develop. Sometimes progress is obvious. And sometimes we simply need to learn how to see it.

Additional resources:

FREE Reading Progress Tracking Guide

It can be surprisingly difficult to see reading growth when you're working with your child every day. This free resource includes a simple Reading Progress Log for tracking changes in accuracy, prompting, stamina, fluency, and other signs of growth, along with 6 simple, low-pressure ways to make reading progress more visible to both you and your child.

→ ⁠[DOWNLOAD THE FREE READING PROGRESS TRACKING GUIDE]⁠

Best Orton-Gillingham Reading Programs for Homeschoolers Not sure whether you're using the right approach? Read my comparison of Orton-Gillingham-based reading programs that parents can use at home.

⁠→ [READ THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM PROGRAM COMPARISON]⁠

Processing, Memory & Executive Function Class Bundle Sometimes a child's difficulty with reading isn't only about dyslexia. Weaknesses in processing, working memory, and executive function can make it much harder for a child to retain and efficiently use what they're learning.

This bundle will help you better understand these underlying areas of learning, how they can affect your struggling learner, and how to strengthen each area for faster progress.

⁠→ [LEARN ABOUT THE PROCESSING, MEMORY & EXECUTIVE FUNCTION BUNDLE]⁠