5 Signs Your Child May Be Struggling With Decoding (And What You Can Do Next)

Does your child guess at words, rely heavily on pictures, or seem to struggle when they come across a word they haven't seen before?

For many parents, it can be difficult to know whether these challenges are a normal part of learning to read or a sign that their child may need additional support.

One important skill to understand is decoding. Decoding is the ability to use letter-sound relationships to read written words. When children develop strong decoding skills, they are better able to approach unfamiliar words instead of relying on guessing or memorization.

Here are five signs your child may be struggling with decoding.

1. Your Child Guesses Words Based on the First Letter

You may notice your child looks at the first letter of a word and quickly says a different word.

For example, they may see the word horse and say house.

This can be a sign that your child is not carefully attending to all of the sounds and letters in the word.

Try this at home: Encourage your child to slow down and look all the way through the word. Ask, “What sound does each part of the word represent?”

2. Your Child Relies Heavily on Pictures

Pictures are wonderful for supporting comprehension, but children should not need pictures to figure out most written words.

If your child frequently looks at the illustration and guesses a word that would make sense in the story, they may be relying on context instead of decoding the printed word.

Try this at home: Point your child's attention back to the word and ask, “What do the letters tell us?”

3. Unfamiliar Words Are Especially Difficult

A child may appear to read familiar books well but struggle significantly when given a new book or unfamiliar words.

Sometimes children memorize frequently encountered words or even entire parts of familiar books.

Strong decoding skills allow children to apply their knowledge of sounds and spelling patterns to words they have never seen before.

4. Reading Feels Slow and Frustrating

Does reading quickly lead to frustration, avoidance, or statements like “I hate reading”?

Reading can feel exhausting when a child has to work extremely hard to figure out individual words.

When decoding becomes more automatic, children have more mental energy available to focus on understanding and enjoying what they read.

5. Your Child Has Difficulty Sounding Out Words

You may notice your child struggles to break words into sounds or blend sounds together.

For example, they may have difficulty blending:

/m/ /a/ /p/ → map

These skills are closely connected to phonemic awareness and early decoding development.

So, What Should You Do Next?

If you notice one or more of these signs, begin by paying attention to patterns.

What types of words are difficult? Does your child struggle with vowel sounds? Blends (bl, sl, st)? Digraphs (th, sh, ea, ou, etc.)? Longer words (multi syllable words)?

Understanding why a child is struggling is an important first step in providing the right support.

At Ms. Miller's Reading Cottage, my goal is to help parents better understand how children learn to read and provide practical resources for supporting young readers at home.

🏡 Explore more reading tips and parent resources here on The Reading Cottage Blog.

Reading assessments for K–3 students are also coming soon.