Reading can be hard, but supporting your emerging reader doesn't have to be! We've compiled a list of the most important skills for children to master in order to be successful readers.
Reading is a complex skill, made up of many individual sub-skills, cognitive processes, and relationships between those skills and processes.
Adults can easily forget just how difficult reading be. As a fluent adult reader, when you read something, you don’t think about all the complex processes that go on “behind the scenes,” like:
Recognizing a symbol is a letter,
Understanding that the letter relates to a sound,
Knowing that the sound is part of a syllable,
Stringing together syllables to create a word,
Understanding that the individual word has meaning, and finally
Comprehending how the word relates to all the other words around it
(Except now you are definitely thinking about all of these skills and processes)
In order to learn to read, children have to acquire (and eventually master) each of these skills and strengthen these cognitive processes. However, just like each child has their own unique personality, they will have their own unique reading journey.
Since every child is different it can be difficult to know whether or not your young reader is “on-track."
This is why we’ve assembled some helpful information about core skills and milestones for reading development by age. The better equipped you are with relevant information, the better equipped you will be to support your child’s learning development.
The skills in bold are “Foundational Skills” that are the most important indicators of reading development at a particular age. These are imperative building blocks for children to develop as readers. Children should develop Foundational Skills at each level before they move on to the next level of reading. If each of the Foundational Skills are not developed appropriately, children may struggle with reading or develop compensatory skills that do not fix the issues, but rather mask them.
These lists are extensive, but they are not exhaustive. There are many more indicators of your child's reading ability. And remember, all children are unique in their development, needs, and reading journey. If you are concerned or have any questions, we are here to help.
Pre-K
Can produce rhymes
Can follow one- to two-step directions
Recognizes familiar signs (like stop signs, street signs, store signs ex: “Target”)
Recognizes familiar labels (toys, food, clothing)
Begins Producing letters
Begins identifying sounds at the beginning of words
Understands some letter-sounds
Retells stories that have been read to them
Recognizes characters
Experiments with writing
Kindergarten
All skills from previous grade, plus...
Retells stories that have been read to them.
Can understand plot in more detail (problem-solution; beginning, middle and end; cause and effect; predict what will happen)
Recognizes some familiar words within reading
Identifies the beginning, middle, and ending sound in spoken words (by the end of Kindergarten)
Identifies the beginning, middle, and ending sound in written words (by the end of Kindergarten)
Can write "Consonant Vowel Consonant" (CVC) words (ex: cat, map, hop, put, ten, pig) independently
1st Grade and 2nd Grade
All skills from previous grade, plus...
Identifies the different in sound between long and short vowels
Able to break words into syllables
Able to use the syllables to phonetically spell words
Able to read familiar books and books with shorter word patterns.
Uses a mix of pictures and writing to share ideas and demonstrate understanding of a story.
3rd Grade
All skills from previous grade, plus...
Read chapter books more independently (but still enjoys reading them aloud with friends, teachers, and family)
Begins to understand that subtext of stories - hidden meanings, humor, etc.
Corrects himself or herself when reading aloud
Writes sentences that structurally make sense with noun and verb agreement
Uses well developed sentences with phonetic spelling to share ideas and demonstrate understanding of a story
Uses appropriate patterns to spell long vowel and short vowel words. (Example: Train can be spelled “trane”; night can be spelled “nite”)
When writing or spelling words, all sounds within the words are represented (Example: Happily could be “hapile”. There is a letter or group of letters that represent every sound).
4th Grade and Beyond
All skills from previous grade, plus...
Read different genres - biographies, fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, mystery, and poetry, and understands the structure and nuances of each group
Read to Learn - reading to acquire knowledge and learn something new. By 4th grade, school has transitioned from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." Children are expected to acquire knowledge and work through new concepts via independent reading.
Uses comprehension strategies - making predictions, drawing conclusions, asking questions, cause and effect, characterization, plot, problem solution.
Developmentally, children should be proficient at reading by 4th grade - If your child is struggling with any of these skills by the time they have reached 4th grade, reading intervention is necessary.
Possible Indicators of Reading Challenges to Watch for
Sight Word Struggles - While I am not a huge fan of flashcards for learning sight words, they can be a helpful tool to assess your child’s mastery of those words. If your child is struggling with recognizing sight words after repeated practice (over 30 exposures), this can be a red flag that your child is having trouble with letter-sound connections and orthographic processing, especially in isolation. This would be something to investigate further.
No Questions, Too Many Questions, or Quirky Questions - Questions are great! Sometimes, as parents and teachers, it can be exasperating to constantly be answering questions from our little ones, but questions show that your child is thinking about what they are reading, watching, or experiencing. It’s also important to note that there are different types of questions that children use in their learning in different ways. Critical Thinking Questions are questions that are not specifically addressed by information that has already been presented. Answers must be inferred. Examples are “Why do you think s/he did that? Or, “What do you think is going to happen next?” Clarifying questions clarify literal meaning of information that has been explicitly presented. Examples are, “Where are they?” Or “What just happened?” Seeing a combination of both question types from your child is a great sign. However, if you feel like your child is asking an extremely high number of clarifying questions while you are reading an age-appropriate book or watching an age-appropriate show, this could be a sign that he or she is struggling with comprehension. If your child isn’t asking any questions, it can be helpful to pause while reading and ask them clarifying and critical thinking questions. Finally, if your child consistently asks “quirky” or “left-field” questions, don’t discourage it. Ask them clarifying questions in return to better understand their thought processes. Although it can be hard, try not to laugh or respond sarcastically to their thinking - remember, they don’t have as much experience with the world, so more of their ideas are “new” and they are building connections and making sense of things for the first time.
Writing Letters Backwards - Letter reversals are age-appropriate until 3rd grade. If your child is still reversing their letters (or numbers) in or beyond 3rd grade, this could be a sign that your child is struggling with literacy.
Writing Avoidance - If your child seems to be avoiding writing, it could be a sign that they are struggling with literacy. However, writing avoidance can be a difficult thing to assess - is a child avoiding writing because it is hard, because they are worried about spelling, because they struggle with organizing their ideas, does it hurt their hand, are they focused on letter formation versus ideas, etc? One way to see how your child develops his or her ideas is to allow him or her to dictate a story to you or to the computer. Do his or her ideas make sense? Do they follow a logical pattern? Is there a beginning, middle, and end to their story? The ability to organize and present his or her ideas logically is a foundational skill, and only once that has been mastered can they move on to translating those ideas into written text.
Finally, It is important to consider your child’s unique situation, age, and level of development. Just as every baby learns to walk at a different pace, every child learns to read at their own unique pace. The important thing to remember is that they can and will learn to read!
Each child’s learning journey is unique, and takes support from a team of parents, teachers, and specialists to help them realize their full potential.
If you have any concerns about your child’s reading, please feel free to reach out to us at Foundations Whole Child Development, your child’s pediatrician, or your child’s school. With the right understanding of your child's unique strengths and challenges, you can build a lifelong love of learning.
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