Help! My Child Skips Small Words When Reading
Does your child skip small words when he’s reading?
Skipping small words is actually a very common problem that we usually notice when our children are reading aloud, but the truth is that many adults skip words as well.
Interestingly, the most commonly skipped words are small, high-frequency words such as the, in, on, a, and of.
These are function words that a child cannot visualize, and since the sentence can still be comprehended without them, the words are easily skimmed over.
In addition, shorter words are much more likely to be skipped than longer words, and predictable words are more likely to be skipped than non-predictable words.
Why Do Readers Skip Small Words?
When I first explored the reasons for skipping small words while reading, I was surprised to find out how much research has been done on this topic. Generally, researchers wanted to study the way the eyes move during the process of reading: how they track, how they jump forward to the next word or phrase, and how much text is taken in at a single glance.
I’ve cited the research at the bottom of this post, but for our purposes, the main thing we need to know is this:
As a person reads, their eyes jump forward to the next word or phrase, and in this process, small words can be missed.
Longer words or unusual short words grab our attention, while smaller common words are more likely to go unnoticed.
In addition to the scientific explanation, there are several other reasons a child may skip words:
- Your child may be reading too fast. Children who read too quickly tend to think that “good readers are really fast readers.” But skipping small words is just one of the many issues that can crop up if a child reads too fast.
- Your child’s eyes are moving faster than he can say the words. If this is the case, he may have actually seen the word, but he didn’t actually speak it aloud. People speak at a rate of approximately 180 words per minute, while the average person can silently read 230 words per minute.
- Your child may have vision problems. There is a vision issue called convergence insufficiency disorder. With this vision disorder, the eyes have great difficulty focusing, and small words are often skipped.
- Your child may have dyslexia. Skipping words can be a symptom of dyslexia. If you suspect dyslexia, this checklist may be helpful.
- Your child may be unable to decode the words. If you point out the skipped word, is he able to read it? If not, the real problem may be that the reading material is above his comfortable reading level. He may need additional instruction in phonics and decoding.
- Your child has suddenly begun to skip small words. Some children who were previously reading small words with no problem may suddenly begin skipping them. This can be a natural occurrence as your child is developing as a reader. He may be moving from the beginning stage of reading one word at a time to the more advanced stage of taking in a phrase at a time. This could solve itself in a few weeks as your child figures out the best speed for smooth reading.
3 Ways to Remedy This Problem
If your child doesn’t have a vision or decoding problem, the tips below will help your student pay attention to smaller words when reading.
- Have your child point to each word as he reads it. He shouldn’t just slide his finger under the sentence—he should actually point to the word being read. After he stops skipping words, discontinue this practice.
- Record your child reading and play back the audio. This may help him recognize the fact that he is skipping words as he is reading.
- When your child skips a word, ask him if the sentence he just read makes sense. Then have him reread the sentence again to see if he can correct the issue.
The Bottom Line on Skipping Small Words
- Word skipping is a common scenario that happens to children and adults.
- Children skip words for many reasons.
- The solution will depend on the reason behind the word skipping, but there are many ways to remedy this issue.
Brysbaert M, Drieghe D, Vitu F. (2005). Word skipping: Implications for theories of eye movement control in reading. In: Underwood G, editor. Cognitive processes in eye guidance (pp. 53-77). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Choi, W., & Gordon, P. C. (2014). Word skipping during sentence reading: effects of lexicality on parafoveal processing. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 76(1).
Drieghe D., Rayner K., & Pollatsek A. (2005). Eye movements and word skipping during reading revisited. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31, 954–969.
Ehrlich, SF & Rayner K. (1981). Contextual effects on word recognition and eye movements during reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 20, 641–655.
Fitzsimmons, G. & Drieghe, D. (2011). The influence of number of syllables on word skipping during reading. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 736–741.
Hyönä J. (1995). Do irregular letter combinations attract readers’ attention? Evidence from fixation locations in words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 21, 68–81.
Rayner K., Slattery, T.J., Drieghe, D., & Liversedge, S.P. (2011). Eye movements and word skipping during reading: Effects of word length and predictability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37, 514–528.
Does your child skip words when he is reading? Have you discovered any helpful tips?
Photo credit: Rachel Neumann
Vanessa Jensen
says:My son skips words or adds words that aren’t in the sentence he’s a 4th going on 5 th grade.
Bonita Hall
says:My child tends to skip words sometimes. I figured out his brain is working much faster than his mouth when he is reading out loud. I am trying to get him to slow down.
Merry
says: Customer ServiceGood observation, Bonita! Here are 10 Helps for Kids Who Read Too Fast: https://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/child-reads-too-fast/
Vanessa ali
says:My daughter has a problem when reading she adds letters to words or include words when reading
Merry
says: Customer ServiceHi Vanessa,
Our article on how to Break the “Word-Guessing” Habit has some great strategies for working on this: https://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/break-the-word-guessing-habit/
Letter Tiles are really helpful because you can show the way she said the word, and then change out the tiles that are incorrect for the actual word–it gives kids a really concrete picture of what they said incorrectly and how the word is different from what they thought it was.
Margaret Gore
says:My son frequently skips words I think it is due to not being able to decode some of the bigger words with Val combinations sounds that he never learned. I’ve been looking into using that all about reading program and all about spelling to remedy some of his deficiencies.
Merry
says: Customer ServiceGood thought, Margaret! Gaps in phonogram knowledge can definitely interfere with decoding skills.
Kerry F
says:Love the help in understanding the steps in reading
Christine Brick
says:I just noticed my daughter starting to do this! Very helpful!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad this was helpful for you, Christine. If you need anything, let me know.
shana levy
says:good suggestions
Gale
says:Thanks for this. My child admitted that he intentionally skips small words. I was suspecting dyslexia before but after the last time I talked with him about it he talked about how his vision drifts/moves around, and not I think I need to see an eye doctor in stead. I followed the link on convergence insufficiency disorder, and a lot matches up.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSounds like you have a plan, Gale. I’m glad you found this helpful and I hope you find the source of his difficulties.
Jes
says:This was very helpful
Hana
says:My son reads it completely wrong. He is unwilling to sound out the letters at times (keeps on guessing) and other times even after sounding out, he still reads it wrong. I don’t understand why he would sound out the letters for longer words and do better at reading them than these short words!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceHana,
I’m so sorry your child is having problems with this. I think you may find our Break the “Word Guessing” Habit blog post helpful.
When he has trouble with a word, go to the letter tiles and have him use the blending procedure (detailed in our Helping Kids Sound Out Words blog post) to sound the word out. Once he can read it correctly with the tiles, then go back to the written sentence.
I hope this helps some, but please let me know if you have questions or need anything else.
Loren
says:Very interesting, Thanks for the tips at the end to help overcome the skipping
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Loren. Let me know if you have any questions or need more help.
Teniele
says:Mine tends to guess what the small words are instead of reading them. Gets them right sometimes but sometimes not!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceTeniele,
You may find our Break the “Word Guessing” Habit article helpful as well.
When your child misreads a word, wait until the end of the sentence. If he or she doesn’t catch the error, ask if what they read makes sense. You want him or her to reread the sentence correctly, but you want to encourage thinking about what was read so that he or she starts to catch the errors without your prompting.
Let me know how it goes or if you need more ideas.
mel kirkby
says:The word skipping affects fluency and enjoyment of reading out aloud.
Michele
says:Love this! Thank you so much for sharing!
Maria Younan
says:Great article! Thank you!
Michelle Hunt
says:Thank you so much for a very informed article and giving such easy and useful tips to try. I love learning from your articles.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re so welcome, Michelle! I’m very happy to hear that this article has been helpful to you. Let me know if you need anything.
Shannan
says:This is a great post. Thank you for sharing
Sally
says:My 11 year old is a speed reader when reading to himself but stumbles over basic words when reading aloud. I persevere because I think he needs to slow down and really look at the words. This will also help with his spelling.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSally,
There is a chance that he has trouble reading aloud because he reads so quickly. Those that read quickly read faster than normal speech so that they are processing the end of a sentence while their mouth is still speaking the beginning of the sentence. I had this problem when I was around your child’s age and it took a lot of practice for me to be able to slow down my reading to the speed I could comfortably speak so that I could read aloud well.
While being able to read aloud is a good skill to have, if his comprehension when reading silently is very good then don’t worry about his troubles reading aloud too much. Do work on it and practice it, but realize it is a separate skill.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Amanda
says:My 7yo does this all the time. Is vision is fine but I have wondered about dyslexia because he does have a few other problems with reading. Some good ideas here to think about. Thank you.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Amanda.
You may find our Dyslexia Resources page helpful. Let me know if you have questions or need more information.
Rebecca Yarnold
says:Excellent tips, thanks so much! My youngest often skips short words, excited to try these suggestions out!
Kelly-Lee Moesker
says:Thank you,
This has been very helpful!
Anita
says:This was helpful. My daughter has a rare kind of epilepsy which effects her processing & therefore her reading. Some helpful suggestions that are definitely worth a try
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad this was helpful for you, Anita. Let me know if you need further help or have questions.
Sabrina
says:Thanks for the tips!
Lindsey
says:These were some great tips…thank you!
Nora Belley
says:My 8-y-o often skips short words as he is trying to read too fast (impatient character). I stop him and get him to go back to the beginning of the sentence, but unsure if that is a good strategy. The above tips are very helpful!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceNora,
I’m glad this was helpful for you. If you haven’t seen it yet, also take a look at our 10 Solutions for Kids Who Read Too Fast blog post.
Asking him to reread a sentence well let him know that it is important that he read each word. It can be helpful. You might also consider doing some echo reading. You would read a sentence or two at a good speed with full expression. Then you would have him read the same sentences as closely as possible matching your expression and speed as close as possible. Do this for approximately five minutes a day, or whatever is a comfortable length of time for your child. Add in lots of praise when your child shows even a bit of improvement.
Let me know if you need more ideas or help.
Adebisi Babayemi
says:As a child practice reading by moving their hand below each word with reasonable pacing of the finger to the next word, it will become a good habit. This will prevent them from skipping words.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAdebisi,
Yes, moving a finger under each word as it is read is very helpful. Thank you.
Kate
says:I’ve been trying to fix the word skipping problem for a while. My son has gotten better but one thing that’s causing problems for him is figuring out where to breathe when reading. He is in level 3 and reads pretty fluently but he takes a breath mid-sentence and skips whatever word is next. It’s like he’s breathing in and saying the word at the same time so it comes out as a skipped word. Any ideas on teaching where to breathe when reading aloud? Thanks so much!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceKate,
If he is reading the word as he is breathing, he really isn’t skipping the word. It sounds like he is to someone listening, but he is getting the word in. This is a slightly different problem than truly skipping words.
I assume he doesn’t have trouble figuring out when to breathe when he speaks. He needs to learn to read aloud with the same pace and rhythm as he speaks. Reading aloud well is a skill, and it takes practice. Good readers often read faster silently than they can speak comfortably, and this causes a rushed reading aloud. If this is happening with your son, take a look at our 10 Solutions for Kids Who Read Too Fast blog post.
You can work with him on phrasing. We discuss that in our How to Develop Reading Fluency blog post. The blog post talks about using phrasing or “swooping” to help students that are reading one word at a time. However, it can also help those that are reading too many words in one breath as well. We naturally do phrasing when we speak aloud. Think of that last sentence. When spoken aloud, it comes out as, “We naturally do phrasing,” then a very slight pause then we finish the sentence. We pause between the two clauses of the sentence. We pause longer between one sentence and the next. You can encourage your son to breath after a sentence, or at commas for long sentences.
Also, try echo reading. You read a few sentences with full expression and phrasing, and then your child reads the same sentences, matching your expression and phrasing as closely as possible. Do this for approximately five minutes a day, or whatever is a comfortable length of time for your child. Add in lots of praise when your child shows even a bit of improvement.
I hope this helps, but let me know how it goes.
Molly
says:This is good. I have a second grader who regularly skips those small words. I think I’m going to try recording him and playing it back. Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Molly. I’d love to hear how it goes.
Amanda O'Neal
says:I really like the idea of recording the child reading and playing it back for him/her. I have a couple kids on whom I’m going to try this.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’d love to hear how it goes, Amanda. Many kids really enjoy listening, or watching if you use video, themselves reading. It’s motivating to them, but also helpful for them to hear where they need to practice more.
Talia
says:It seems the only words that my daughter skips is the first words in sentences. I have her use her finger to point to each word. She skips the word. I highlight and underline the first word. She skips the word. I have her go back and reread it. She skips the word. I am beside myself as to what to do.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceInteresting, Talia.
One thing that has helped some students is to record them reading. Record her as she reads a page. Then have her listen to what she read. Ask her if what she read makes sense, if it is missing anything. I suspect she might be reading the first word silently, or subconsciously, so she is unaware that she isn’t saying it aloud. It makes sense to her as she reads because she has internalized the word somehow but she should hear that it isn’t making sense when listened to. Discuss with her how missing those words is important and that you need her to read each and every word aloud.
When she skips the first word, wait until she finishes the sentence. Then tell her, “Oops, you skipped a word. Try again.” If she then skips the same word, stop her, point to the word, and say, “You skipped this word. What does it say?” Have her read just that word. Then have her restart the sentence and reread it.
Do this for every sentence if she skips a word. Keep it lighthearted and try not to get frustrated (or at least not to show it). Keep it short to limit her frustration.
Hopefully, the stopping and rereading will help her to want to be more careful and take the time to make sure to saw each work aloud. However, it may take some time to break this habit.
I hope this helps, but please let me know how it goes over the next week or so.