They say, raising kids is a lot like tending a garden. Now that fall is here, both need extra attention. If you’re reading this, you probably struggle to mix tutoring your kid and gardening.

The challenge can feel even more frustrating with reading, a skill that requires constant attention until your child achieves full fluency. Luckily, as parents, we can create systems to tend our gardens and offer meaningful help for struggling readers.

For starters, by pairing gardening and reading tutoring, parents can balance both. Let’s say, you’re planting or watering — it doesn’t mean that your child can’t read aloud or listen to an audiobook nearby. Secondly, parents can also use digital reading classes for kids that allow for uninterrupted outdoor time, while their children practice with a professional tutor. More on that below!

Streamline Garden Tasks to Have More Time for Learning

Gardening is not particularly exciting at all times — it usually requires mundane tasks like watering, weeding, and fertilizing. By reducing the amount of time spent on maintenance, parents can free up their schedules to help their child with reading.

Smart gardening shortcuts

• Use mulch. Mulching is great for keeping the soil moist and weeds-free.
• Set up drip irrigation systems. Imagine the hours you save every month with automatic watering.
• Opt for more low-maintenance plants. Some plants, like herbs, perennials, or native plants, require less attention, but keep your garden looking full and flourishing.

These small adjustments can make all the difference, mainly by minimizing the time you spend tending your garden, freeing more time and space for helping your child with reading.

Make Reading Part of Your Gardening Routine

When children fall behind in reading, parents often panic, not knowing which reading strategies for struggling readers will work. The answer is — short, but consistent practice works best.

At the same time, I absolutely believe that parents don’t have to separate reading practice from gardening. After all, it can all happen in the same place and become a safe space to build curriculum for struggling readers. The benefits of this approach are family bonding and setting helpful habits.

Easy Ways to Combine Reading with Gardening

• Label plants (together!). Encourage your child to write or read labels, think – “tomato”, “basil”, or “lavender”. It’s a great and easy practice for kindergarten and elementary.
• Read garden-themed books. Short stories about plants, bugs, and farming connect reading to what they actually see in real life.
• Listen to audiobooks while tending the garden. Audiobooks are great for practicing active listening, which is an essential reading skill.

Now, let’s move to more practical tips that will help you conquer the reading struggles of your kid.

Tips for Parents to Help with Reading at Home

• Offer choice. Let your child pick stories, books, and topics they enjoy — that will motivate them to read.
• Create a routine. 15 minutes a day of daily reading is better than hours-long reading practice on weekends.
• Read together before bed. Create those tuck-ins into an easy, no-pressure reading session.

When I get asked, “How can parents help their child with reading?”, I always recommend these reading strategies to create a positive environment and keep stress low.

How Brighterly Reading Program Helps Struggling Readers

Brighterly is an online reading and math platform for K-9 that connects US students with professional tutors for one-on-one learning. Last year, over 200K parents joined Brighterly, giving an average Trustpilot rating of 4.5 stars. Let’s see below how the platform’s

reading programs for struggling readers improve ELA skills.

Expert Tutors Specialized in Teaching Online

The Brighterly platform only cooperates with tutors with excellent teaching skills and a proven track record of helping students with reading. They’re experts in creating a safe, supportive space for children to gain reading confidence.

Reading Lessons Designed for Every Student

When you book a free demo session, the platform’s team assesses your child’s reading skills and knowledge gaps to design an adaptive curriculum. This learning plan is fully adapted to the child’s educational needs and designed to deliver stable progress in an optimal time.

School-Aligned Learning Plan

Online reading help for struggling readers doesn’t always provide structured support in alignment with the Common Core, which is reflected in these Kumon reviews. This is not the case with Brighterly, where your child reinforces what they learn in school through learning standards provided by the Common Core. This ensures your child stays on track academically.

Some of the other benefits of Brighterly include:

• Free demo session, with no credit card or registration required — see if you’re a match.
• Build in lessons into your schedule — make learning a part of your child’s day.
• Brighterly offers free resources like reading worksheets and assessments for solo practice and learning gaps.

Encourage Independence and Responsibility

Both reading and gardening teach responsibility. Parents can let their children manage small garden tasks while practicing reading skills:

• Ask your child to create a checklist of garden tasks. Write it on a piece of paper, and read it aloud together.
• Track plant growth in a journal — write a few notes each week.
• Older kids can research gardening tips online and share their findings by reading them aloud.

This is how you creatively approach reading in your garden, while also fostering responsibility.

Achieve Balance: Teach Reading Through Gardening

It may seem impossible at first, but parents can actually save time in the garden while supporting their struggling readers at home. Small adjustments like mulching, setting up a watering system, and choosing easier plants can free up some time for learning.

Making reading a part of your gardening routine is also an excellent opportunity to incorporate helpful reading practice. Labeling plants, reading garden-themed books, and listening to audiobooks while in the garden are all super beneficial and can strengthen your family bond in no time.

And finally, hiring a trusted reading tutor can give you all the time you need for gardening while your little one is receiving personalized guidance, building confidence, and making steady progress with their reading skills.