BaseCamp Live Helping Children Read Well the Hard Books with Sara Osborne
Nov 11, 2025
Sara Osborne, Assistant Professor of English and author of 'Reading for the Long Run,' shares her insights on helping children tackle challenging texts. She discusses why classics can be daunting and how this struggle fosters growth. Sara emphasizes honest assessments through journaling and forming supportive networks to identify skill gaps versus emotional hurdles. Her start-small strategy includes using rich, short texts and paired audio to build reading stamina. She also highlights the importance of nurturing a lifelong love of reading and the character-building aspects of persevering through tough materials.
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Family Reading Journey
- Sara Osborne taught her first two daughters to read using Susan Wise Bauer's Ordinary Parents Guide and they became voracious readers.
- Her third child faced vision problems and surgeries that made learning to read a much longer, harder journey for the family.
Reading Skill Is Neural Training
- Culture and technology reshape neural pathways and can erode deep reading for everyone, not just struggling readers.
- Sara compares rebuilding reading skill to training new brain routes through repetition and consistency.
Keep A Reading Journal
- Keep an honest assessment journal logging date, environment, symptoms, text, and emotional cues to find patterns in reading struggles.
- Use that record with professionals to discern skill deficits from vision, emotional, behavioral, or environmental causes.
