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Learning to read is an important step in every child’s development. Some kids learn to read at a slower rate than other kids. But just when should you be concerned by a child’s reading progress?
A good way to determine whether your child is learning to read at a healthy pace is to track various reading milestones. By comparing the age at which they reach these milestones to the average age, you can get a good idea as to whether they are ahead or behind other kids.
Many kids who are initially slow to pick up reading are able to catch up with the right support. This catch-up process is important given that reading is key to all forms of education – if a child’s literacy skills are behind, they can end up falling behind in other subjects too. Some kids may just need more encouragement, while others may have conditions like dyslexia that need to be diagnosed and accounted for. This post offers more advice on how to help your child hit each milestone.
Table of Contents
Learning the alphabet
Learning the alphabet is fundamental to reading – without knowing all the individual letters, kids have no chance of being able to spell out words.
Many kids are able to recite the alphabet by 3 years old. However, most kids are not able to link each individual letter to each sound until they are 4 years old.
If kids are still struggling to recite the alphabet by 4 years old and are unable to link letters to sounds, it could be important to work on this. There are many ways in which you can do this.
The ‘alphabet song’ is typically the way in which most kids learn the alphabet. From musical toys to Cocomelon videos, there are many ways in which kids can learn this song. Alphabet puzzles, fridge magnets, blocks and electronic toys can meanwhile help kids visualise each letter. You can point to each letter and sound it out, encouraging kids to do the same and testing their knowledge until they can identify every letter. By turning it into a game, you can make it more fun. Just make sure to take a break if kids start to get frustrated!
Spelling their name
The first word that many kids learn to spell is their name. In fact, most kids can recognise and write their name by the age of 3 ½.
Obviously, kids with longer names can take longer to learn how to write their name. However, if your child cannot spell their name by 4 ½, it could be important to focus on ;earning this skill before they get to school when recognising and writing one’s name can become essential.
You can help kids learn to write their name by simply writing it out and asking them to copy it. You can also get kids to trace their name or colour in their name to familiarise themselves with it. For longer names, consider teaching them to write each letter individually first.
Reading simple words
By the age of 4, some kids are able to identify a few basic words like ‘dog’, ‘cat’ and ‘it’. However, most kids don’t truly start learning to read until they are 5. Generally speaking, most kids will know at least 20 sight words (simple words that they can read without sounding out) by the end of their first school year.
If your child is struggling to read any basic words by the end of the first year, consider helping them along by using word cards or by writing words on paper. Reading to kids and following the words with your finger can further familiarise kids with words. You can also quiz your kids by pointing at words and getting them to identify them.
The first signs of dyslexia may present themselves at this age, but generally kids need to be a bit older to get tested, so just try to help kids who are struggling as much as you can.
Reading multisyllabic words/digraphs
At age 6, kids start to sight read multisyllabic words. Schools may start to incorporate these words into spelling tests. At age 7, the number of multisyllabic words that your child can identify should increase noticeably.
If kids are struggling with these words at 7 years old, you can help them by considering resources like this three syllable word charts freebie. You can also buy word cards with multisyllabic words on. Reading to your kids can also help kids to learn these words.
Kids will start learning digraphs ( sounds like ‘ch’, ‘sh’ and ‘oa’) at age 5, but may not master these until age 6. By age 7, most kids will know the majority of these digraphs. These sounds can also be learnt through word cards, puzzles and charts.
Age 7 is when kids can generally start being tested for dyslexia. If kids are still struggling with basic words at this point or muddling up letters, it could be worth considering an assessment. This site explains more about getting tested for dyslexia.
Figuring out new words independently
Age 6 is also when kids start to work new words independently by sounding out the letters. You may notice your child reading signs and labels out loud slowly letter by letter. By 8 years old, kids may start learning to spell the majority of words by independently reading them.
You can encourage your child to figure out new words for themselves by pointing to signs and labels and asking your kid to read the word out loud. Getting kids to read sentences of books they’ve never read before out loud can also help with this skill.
Reading books
Most kids learn to independently read basic books between the ages of 6 to 7. Once kids feel comfortable reading basic books, they may move onto longer books and eventually longer books without pictures (the ability to form mental pictures usually doesn’t occur until 8 years old).
While most kids will be expected to read books by their teacher, a lot of kids will never voluntarily pick up a book. A love of reading is something that has to be developed early – as early as when your child is a baby if you can. Reading to your child regularly can create a comforting familiarity around books. Kids are then more inclined to seek out books themselves and read them once they develop the ability to read. Fail to read books to kids before the age of 5, and you’ll find that most kids don’t have any instinctual interest in books (although some people do learn to love books later in life).
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