Vision: The Hidden Foundation Schools Often Miss

When I first met “Sam,” a bright 2nd grader, her teacher described her as capable but inconsistent. Some days she breezed through reading assignments; other days, she seemed restless, distracted, and prone to giving up. During silent reading, Sam often rubbed her eyes, lost her place, or asked to go to the bathroom, anything to avoid the page. Her test scores suggested she was falling behind, but it wasn’t because she couldn’t think. The real problem was something no one had noticed yet: her visual system wasn’t fully ready for the demands of classroom learning.

Subtle Signs

When we think about vision in the classroom, most of us picture an eye chart on the wall. If a child can read the letters from twenty feet away, we check the box: vision is fine.

But here’s the thing — vision is so much more than eyesight.

Many parents and teachers assume vision issues show up as a child who can’t see the board clearly. But struggles with visual skills often appear in many subtler ways. For instance:

• Frequently losing their place when reading

• Skipping lines or words

• Mixing up letters (like b and d)

• Complaints of headaches or tired eyes

• Avoidance of close-up work

• Rubbing eyes or squinting, even when their eyesight is fine

• Difficulty copying from the board

• Slow, effortful reading despite strong comprehension when listening

These aren’t signs of laziness or lack of motivation, they’re often signs that the eyes and brain are working too hard to keep up.

Movement Connections

Here’s what schools often miss: strong visual skills don’t develop in isolation. They’re built through early movement experiences. When a baby crawls, rolls, or rocks on hands and knees, the eyes are constantly practicing tracking, convergence, and coordination with the body. These playful milestones wire the brain for the complex visual work that reading and writing demand later on.

If a child skipped or rushed through crawling, or didn’t get enough active play, some of those visual–motor pathways may still be under construction. This doesn’t mean it’s too late, it just means movement-based interventions can help fill in the gaps.

A Quick Check for Parents and Teachers

Parents and Teachers don’t need to become vision specialists to identify students with these challenges. Here is a Simple Parent/Teacher Friendly Way to Assess Eye Tracking:

Materials:

Tongue depressor with a sticker, pencil with eraser, something to “track”

Ask Child to “watch the item”.

Slowly move the item along the horizontal plane 5-6 times. Note if the student wants to move their head. If they do move their head, rest a finger on their chin but do not correct them verbally to keep their head still.

Repeat along the vertical plane.

As you move the item, watch closely to see if they want to move their head to track, if their eyes track smoothly or make small skips, jumps, or move ahead or behind the tracked item. Watch carefully at the midline and edges of the eyes.

Digging Deeper After completing the above activity, ask them to answer simple questions, or list animals at the zoo, count by 3s, etc., while you move the item to track another 5-6 times. This places a cortical task on top of the pre-cortical task of tracking and will give insight into if the cortical (“smart/thinking”) brain is doing the work of the pre-cortical (“automatic”) brain.

If a student’s eye tracking is mature at the pre-cortical level of the brain, their eyes will track  smoothly, like a knife through butter.

For more detailed information, grab our “What Schools Might Miss: VISION” page here.

The Big Picture

When visual skills are overlooked, students may be misidentified as inattentive, unmotivated, or even behaviorally challenging. But when we recognize vision as a brain-based skill set shaped by movement, we open the door to new solutions. Supporting these hidden foundations doesn’t just make reading easier — it makes learning less frustrating and far more joyful.

Take the Next Step

If any of the signs above sound familiar, your student may be working harder than they need to just to keep up. The good news? With the right support, these visual–motor skills can be strengthened — opening the door to easier reading, greater focus, and more confident learning.

• Parents: Book a FREE Screening to uncover your child’s visual–motor strengths and gaps.

• Educators: Schedule a FREE Discovery Call to learn how movement-based strategies can support your students.

  
  

Let’s give every child the strong visual foundation they need to thrive in school — and beyond.