Are Your Students Struggling with Reading and Writing Tasks?

If you're a teacher or a parent of a struggling reader, especially an older student, you may have noticed the following challenges:

• Difficulty getting started on tasks that require reading and writing.
• Struggling with stamina—they begin strong, reading fluently, but then start stumbling over words until it becomes a jumbled mess.
• Trouble with comprehension—they can read aloud well but struggle to summarize or recall what they’ve just read.
• Forgetting instructions—they have difficulty remembering the steps of an assignment at school.

If these issues sound familiar, anxiety, underdeveloped executive functions, and a history of reading failures may be playing significant roles in their difficulties.

The Essential Components for Supporting Older Struggling Readers

What can we do?  

For older struggling readers, overcoming these challenges requires more than just practice—it demands a strategic, multifaceted approach. Research shows that explicit, direct multisensory learning methods are highly effective in helping students improve their reading skills. These methods engage multiple senses simultaneously, reinforcing the learning process and making it more accessible. However, that’s only part of the solution.

Data-driven assessment is another crucial element. Regular assessments allow educators to track progress, identify specific areas of need, and adjust instruction accordingly. By using data to inform instruction, teachers can provide targeted interventions that accelerate reading growth.

But academic skills alone are not enough. Older struggling readers also need support in developing better executive functions and mindfulness strategies. Years of failed reading attempts can lead to significant stress and anxiety, which further can hurt their ability to succeed. Strengthening executive functions—like planning, self-monitoring, and task management—along with mindfulness practices can alleviate this stress and help students approach reading with a calmer, more focused mindset.

The Connection Between Reading Struggles and Executive Function

Research suggests that for many students who face reading challenges, there are often concurrent issues with executive function. Executive functions are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks successfully. When these skills are underdeveloped, reading and writing can feel like overwhelming chores, which can heighten anxiety for both the student and their caregivers.

Successful reading involves more than just decoding words; it requires the coordination of various executive functions, such as:

• Self-regulation: Managing one’s thoughts and behaviors.
• Self-monitoring: Continuously assessing how the process is going.
• Effort regulation: Putting forth the necessary effort to complete the task.
• Goal setting: Establishing clear objectives.
• Task planning: Strategizing the steps needed to accomplish the task.
• Time management: Organizing and allocating time efficiently.
• Following multi-step directions: Executing complex instructions without losing focus.

Given how essential these skills are for learning—especially for tasks that a student struggles with—it’s no surprise that students with weak executive functions often feel frustrated or overwhelmed by reading tasks. This often leads to avoidance behaviors.

The Impact of Stress and Anxiety on Literacy

When we’re stressed or anxious, our performance often declines. High levels of stress can trigger a fight-or-flight response, which can temporarily "shut down" the executive functions of the brain, making it difficult to think clearly. This can manifest as avoidance behaviors that may seem uncooperative but are actually stress responses.

For instance, when faced with a reading or writing task, you might observe your student:

• Fight mode: Crumpling up work or throwing objects out of frustration.
• Flight mode: Constantly asking to leave the room, get a snack, or engage in any distraction. You may find yourself needing to stay close by just to keep them on task.
• Freeze mode: "Playing dead" by putting their head down on the desk or freezing up entirely.

I’ve heard it said, and I also believe, that "Behavior is communication." Students may avoid literacy tasks because they are embarrassed about their skills, fear making mistakes, or have experienced repeated failures in the past. This anxiety can lead to negative self-talk, such as "I'm not good at reading," which can quickly spiral into learned helplessness.

Integrating Executive Function and Mindfulness Strategies

To truly support older struggling readers, it's crucial to address not only their academic needs but also their emotional and cognitive well-being. Strengthening executive function and integrating mindfulness practices can help students manage the stress and anxiety associated with reading tasks.

By improving executive functions, students can better plan, focus, and complete their reading tasks. Mindfulness practices, such as deep breathing or guided relaxation, can help them stay calm and focused, reducing the impact of stress on their reading performance.

Strategies for Teachers and Parents

Avoidance and reluctance to engage in literacy tasks are often rooted not only in skill deficits but also in gaps in executive function, self-regulation, and the ability to manage stress and anxiety. Therefore, it’s crucial for parents and teachers to ask: How can I design reading tasks in a way that helps my reader keep their thinking brain engaged? What support do they need to succeed?

Building executive function and reducing anxiety is an ongoing process, not something that can be addressed once a week or periodically.

Here’s where you can start:

• Offer choices: Allow students to choose the topic, book, or method of reading.
• Make it meaningful: Incorporate relevant and engaging topics that resonate with the reader.
• MODEL reading strategies that good readers use.  Do it outloud- so they can hear your thinking.  Do it for them, with them, often and systematically.
• Use multi-sensory approaches: For example, you can integrate movement into the writing process, provide visual aids for instructions, and have students repeat directions back to you to ensure understanding.
• Personalize reading strategies: Tailor strategies to fit the individual needs of each reader. 
• Incorporate coaching and mindfulness: Techniques like deep breathing or mindfulness practices can improve mood, behavior, and motivation.
• Incorporate coaching and mindfulness: Techniques like deep breathing or mindfulness practices can improve mood, behavior, and motivation.

Final Thoughts

Helping older struggling readers requires a holistic approach that not only addresses their reading skills through explicit, direct, and multisensory instruction but also supports the development of executive functions and mindfulness strategies. By incorporating these elements into your teaching or parenting practices, you can help your students not only improve their literacy but also build the confidence and resilience they need to overcome years of reading challenges and succeed in all areas of life.