
If your little one is struggling with their ABC’s or if you have concerns that your older child might be suffering from Dyslexia, you’ve come to the right place.
Is it time for your little one to learn how to read? Reading is an invaluable lifelong skill that opens whole new worlds of adventure for your child. Not only is it important for general day-to-day life and career prospects, reading books ignites your child’s imagination so that they can believe that anything is possible. But getting to that glorious stage of independent reading takes a lot of time and practice.
We sit down with Kristy Jones, a reading expert, Founder and Managing Director from The Reading Specialists to learn more about the best techniques to teach our kiddos to learn to read. We also chat about warning signs and what to do next if you think your child needs additional help.

Hi Kristy! Thanks for your time today. Can you share with us a little about yourself and your background?
Thanks for having me! I’ve lived in Singapore for 7 years, having moved from Sydney, Australia with my husband and then three-year-old son back in 2017. We’re a global family. I was born in New Zealand, my husband is British, my son was born in Australia and even our dog is Irish.
I’ve been working in literacy research, assessment and intervention for 15 years. My husband and I moved from the UK to Sydney in 2008 and I started working at the Macquarie University Department for Cognitive Science and stayed for almost 10 years. During that time, our research was focused on best practices for helping children with reading disabilities and difficulties improve their literacy. We also established The Reading Clinic, conducting assessments and intervention to help people of all ages who struggled with reading.
I feel so lucky to be able to help people improve their literacy skills and feel great satisfaction out of seeing their achievements. I fell into this career by chance, however now I see it was a path I was always destined to take given my passion for reading and the fact that I come from a family of teachers!
How did the idea for setting up The Reading Specialists business in Singapore come about?
I loved what I did at Macquarie University and had visions of joining a similar institution in Singapore that might replicate what we were doing at The Reading Clinic. However, I soon realised that what we were doing at Macquarie University was unique in the sense that our programs were not only best practice, but each program is tailored to the individual’s specific needs, giving a child-led approach. This gives the student the best possible chance to improve their literacy skills. To continue doing this, I set up The Reading Specialists at the end of 2017 and we’ve been growing steadily ever since.

Can you share your tips on how to best help a preschooler learn to read?
There are 3 simple tips that I would give to parents to help a preschooler learn to read.
1. Use finger tracking and ‘careful reading skills’
Encourage your child to use what we call ‘Careful Reading Skills’ or finger-tracking. This is a simple but important strategy. Finger tracking simply means using your finger to trace under each word as you’re reading it. Sometimes our eyes move ahead of what we’re reading and for a child that finds reading tricky this is not helpful. This simple strategy helps the eyes to focus on the letters and the words that they’re reading instead of skipping ahead.
2. Develop comprehension skills and widen their vocabulary through pausing and asking questions about what they are reading
As you’re reading with your child you can also develop their vocabulary. Ask them if they know the meanings of words that may be new or unfamiliar to them, and if they don’t know the meaning explain the definition. There’s strong evidence to suggest that a good vocabulary leads to good comprehension skills, helping with reading proficiency.
3. Praise! Praise! Praise!
If a child is praised when they read a word or sound out correctly, even after needing corrections, this helps the correct sound or word stick in their memory, and gives them confidence to keep going even when things are tricky.

What are some of the most common learning disorders that lead to trouble reading, and how do I spot the warning signs?
Have you noticed that your child avoids reading? When they do read, is the process slow and laborious? You may notice that your child has a lot of trouble remembering and recalling the sounds letters make or reading ‘sight words’. Couple this with a family history of reading difficulties or dyslexia, or slow language development, and you might have reason to seek additional support. Often, a diagnosis of neurodivergent conditions, such as ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder will also present with reading difficulties.
Another consideration is if your child spent their early reading years during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of schooling that some children experienced in countries with prolonged lockdowns may mean that they have fallen behind the expected reading level for their age, and they just need time and support to catch up.

How do I know if my child is just lazy, doesn’t like reading, or has a real problem with reading?
Over the past 15 years I have helped hundreds of children and am yet to come across a child who struggles with reading that I would label as ‘lazy’. Rather, they avoid reading because it is difficult, they feel embarrassed, or they lack confidence, which may be due to an issue with how the brain processes written language, so there may be a genuine reason as to why a child exhibits these characteristics.
We often have children come to us showing one or more of these characteristics coupled with neurodivergent diagnoses, however once they’ve started a reading intervention program, and have seen what they can achieve we often see a ‘lightbulb’ moment where the child suddenly understands ‘how reading works’. Their confidence starts to build and their literacy begins to improve.

How can a group like The Reading Specialists help?
Firstly, we can help by having a conversation about your concerns. We often have children referred to us by teachers or Educational Psychologists, however some parents have an indication or a feeling that their child has a reading problem but don’t have anyone to provide guidance around whether the concern requires additional help or not. We offer a free 30-min consultation to go through this with parents and give our recommendations.
If we are able to assist your child, we will conduct an assessment that looks at each individual element of reading, spelling and phonemic awareness to help a child become a proficient reader. From this assessment we find the areas that require focus and create a tailored intervention program for your child’s 1:1 sessions with their dedicated Reading Specialist. During your child’s time with us we will continue to do assessments to keep you updated on your child’s progress. If your child goes to one of our partner schools we can also assist with sessions during school hours (subject to availability).
Thank you for sharing your insights, Kristy! Interested in a free consultation? Please email [email protected] or visit The Reading Specialists for more information.