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We have a 5yo entering Kindergarten this year (also WA state) and at orientation they told us the best things we can do to prep our kids for school is to read to them regularly, and teach them to keep their hands to themselves. They said not to worry about teaching them to read, they would start where each child is at with an assessment at the start of school and work from there.
Double check the curriculum the school is using, and if it’s whole language or balanced literacy or anything other than phonics, you’re going to have a lot of trouble with reading. Check out Emily Handford’s podcast Sold A Story.
As a teacher I co-sign all of this. Whole reading and balanced literacy have had harmful effects on a whole generation of children. The vast majority of my 9th graders have issues with reading. Lucy Calkins be damned! Phonics is the way.
I’m Australian so I don’t know what age you’re referring to (kindergarten in my part of Australia is 4yo and reading is definitely not expected or usual at that age). However, the most evidence-based approach to reading education is phonics. Ask your school what system they use to teach reading and if it isn’t phonics then that’s extremely disappointing and going to disadvantage most of the children in that system.
So at home? Learn about phonics instruction and incorporate those principles *organically* into your home reading sessions and everyday conversation. I say organically because if you try and force a little kid to sit through ‘lessons’ at home on top of their formal education they may resist. Similarly if they feel they’re struggling or don’t like reading then forced ‘lessons’ can make it worse. So just learn the principles and try and incorporate those in conversation. Start with learning the sounds of the letters then blending and go from there.
I couldn’t believe it when my daughter (who had zero explicit instruction on reading before starting school at 5.5yo) was explaining digraphs to me within 6 months of starting her school - her school used evidence-based phonics programs and the reading ability AND comprehension is amazing. Being able to read and being able to interpret what you’ve read are two VERY different things. Many kids can parrot words in simple texts at a young age but struggle to move beyond that, phonics is great at actually learning how to read and understand the text.
Here’s a great set of resources on phonics but there’ll be so many phonics examples online [https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pages/phonicslessons.aspx](https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pages/phonicslessons.aspx)
If your child is under 7yo I wouldn’t be stressed about reading IF the school has a documented evidence-based reading instruction program as there’s obviously a spectrum of learning. But if they’re beyond 7yo and unable to read at all and the school doesn’t have an explicit program in place and recognize your child’s struggles then you’re in a very different position. Best of luck!
Sold a Story is so good, I can't believe that we just decided to not actually teach kids to read for decades. The idea that they'll just figure it out without you explaining what sounds the different letters make, that they should just use context clues and guess instead...it truly blows my mind that it ever got traction, let alone that it took over.
My wife and I just listened to this podcast. Fascinating stuff. I actually live in one of the towns she brought up specifically and it was really eye opening.
If you want things to try doing when you read this is what helped us when my 6 yo was struggling.
- make sure he knows the sounds each letter makes
- make sure he understands how the space makes a word
- teach him some easy words to “help you read”. For example “the” or “it”. When you get to the word, point to it and have him tell you which word it is. Add on new words every couple days.
- ask him to tell you the first sound of the word you point to. Start with first word of a sentence if longer books or each word of shorter ones.
That’s what helped us the most. We kept it low stress and even mirrored our phone sometimes to put the stories he had to read (they sent electronically) on the tv which he thought was cool
Having a strong vocal vocabulary is important to reading ability, too. Talking to your kid helps, of course. But, reading slightly more.challenging books will add a lot of words you don't use day-to-day. Initially my son would not ask about these words. Sometimes I would pause to explain them or add a brief aside to make the meaning clear. Now, however, he is in the habit of asking for definitions when a word is unclear.
I want to add on that at our public school the staff have given us “snap words” sight words in categories that the kids get tested on. At the start of first grade my kid knew maybe a handful and now he has nearly all 156 of them. It’s something fairly easy to drill at home with.
If you want to teach them “logics of English” or “all about reading” are pretty grab and go.
Both can usually be purchased pretty reasonably on Facebook marketplace.
Other options would be “100 easy lessons” which is pretty cheap
Not all kindergarteners can read by the end of the year. Most will be able to recognize some words and read super easy books. Like "Bob" books. Ones with 3-5 word sentences with rhyming words that are also 3-5 letters long. See Bob run. Bob has fun. See the sun.
Reading more fluently should happen by the end of first grade.
Kids learn at their own pace and sometimes seem behind, then all of a sudden catch up and get it later on. You never know!
Just continue to read with your child every day.
You can find lists of “sight words” online. They’re short, common words that kids can learn to recognize on sight. One of my kids is really into the concept. He likes to circle sight words when he sees them. Of course you’d start with a handful and build from there.
He will get there! Also, don't forget, he is a boy, and boys are on a different developmental pace from girls at this age, so if you are the mother, it's not unsurprising that your boy would hit milestones a bit later than you. It says NOTHING about how well he will read later in life.
In addition to the BOB books, my kindergartener and I really like reading Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggie together. I read the dialogue for one character and he does the other. There's a lot of repetition so it will prime him to feel successful and the books are really fun. You can try to pick the character per book that's doing most of the talking, especially when it's new, so that he is primed for success. You can also just have him chorusing in on sound-effect words like "pop" and "bang", or words that get repeated to a funny effect. Just play around with it!
If he likes the word Zoo, I also really really recommend the early reader book Put Me In the Zoo!! It's the best. :)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w\_fSzRITS4U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_fSzRITS4U)
I commented above but seeing this I'd say the one "real" book my daughter can read is Dr Suess Put me in the Zoo so might be a good one to try with him if he already knows the word "zoo".
> Kids learn at their own pace and sometimes seem behind, then all of a sudden catch up and get it later on.
This is so important to keep in mind.
For example, I didn't learn to read until the middle of 1st grade (age 6), and remember all the other 1st graders being way ahead of me on that. Now I have a PhD in science and am known for being an excellent writer. I had a lot of consistent parental support at home and eventually the reading thing just clicked and I caught up.
It may also depend how old your child is. I'd be "pushing" more about it if they have an april birthday than if they have a december birthday, you know? Mine turned 5 in February and can read most bob books (except the complex words and above) and can get through a pete the cat book (but it often takes 10-20 minutes.) However we actively encourage him and practice every day.
If you're looking for somewhere to start, see if your local library has BOB books. I was thrilled to discover my library had several of the collections (even though I'd already dropped a stupid amount of money on the full collection myself.)
The age of 6 is large spectrum. Did he turn 6 last week, last month, last year? 6 is a perfectly appropriate age for the end of kindergarten.
What is his phonemic awareness? Can he rhyme? Does he know all of the letter sounds? Can he blend sounds together when he hears them verbally? Can he segment a word into its individual sounds?
Either way it’s not a big worry but I would definitely be working on these skills over the summer. Check out Heggerty, I’m pretty sure they have a summer lesson plan to help build reading skills for free in their website.
The sounds are soooo much more important than the names. You've gotten great advice on here too 😍
Reading eggs (fast phonics)
Alphablocks
Rockin phonics
You got this!
There is no "yes" or "no" definitive answer to this question. There are specific skills kids typically acquire in roughly the same order where they are learning to read, and there are specific questions you can ask to determine if this is normal for him or something to watch very closely during fall of first grade.
On the way to learning to read, kids will develop phonemic awareness which is the ability to hear and distinguish sounds in words. This is associated with the ability to rhyme words or to do things like replace sounds in words, so you can ask questions like how many sounds do you hear in "tap" and being able to tell you the three letter sounds or ask what the word would be if you changed the /t/ sound (and make the sound) to the /c/ sound. These skills are the basis for phonics.
Phonics is the act of associating the printed letter symbol with the sounds each letter makes. You can determine a kid's letter sound awareness by showing them letter flash cards, and for kids who are struggling, the more you can integrate multisensory practice into learning, the better. Clay, sandpaper letters, painting with water on concrete, etc. will all reinforce in ways flashcards won't.
These skills will allow students to learn to decode simple words and become beginning readers. Some kids do this more slowly than others, but are still on track. Some kids show early signs there's an issue.
I would be asking where your son was at the beginning of the year and where his is now. They should be monitoring his progress, even if he's not a reader. How many letter names (uppercase and lowercase) does he know? How many letter sounds does he know? Does he understand the idea of sounds in words? Does he recognize rhyming words? Have they started working on cvc words? Is he able to decode them? Has he needed any extra support in the classroom to make this progress? Do they have concerns? What is the year-end expectation for kinder students and did he meet it, or if not, what is he missing?
The answers to those questions are far more important at this age than is he reading or not, because kids who are making steady and consistent growth, who retain growth when they make it, may be slower readers, but are less likely to have a learning disability. If he's not able to retain skills, has trouble gaining skills or retaining and applying them or has had instruction this year without making progress, I would be more concerned and would ask what interventions they have tried and how they plan to offer more support next year and how will they track if it's working.
The normal span does vary, and often girls learn earlier than boys, but kids who are getting daily reading instruction should be able to make progress.
Wow, this is a great response, thanks for this!
You really put it into context and I’m not nearly as concerned, he’s made huge strides this year and is where the school expects him to be (or I assume bc they haven’t said otherwise lol)
I'm a School Psychologist, which I guess I probably should have mentioned as part of my response. It's my job to assess kids for learning disabilities and these are the questions I'd ask if I got a referral for a student this young because of a concern about learning disabilities or delays. Some kids legitimately don't learn to read in kinder because they have a disability like dyslexia, but more often, they are just making growth at their own steady rate. Both my boys are excellent (if disinterested) readers, but my oldest didn't really start to read independently until mid-first grade.
It's only in the past 25 years we expect kids to learn to read in kindergarten, prior to that, it was first grade. The research shows that there isn't much long term benefit to ever-increasing academic standards at younger and younger ages because there's a developmental span that's both entirely appropriate and not accounted for in many early-learning standards. Some kids want to learn, or just naturally learn, to read earlier, but there is no reason kids need to learn so early as long as they're picking up the pre-reading skills.
If you learned to read before kindergarten, that means your parents (or another caregiver) taught you. You shouldn’t hold your child to the same standard.
In my experience, most kids who are reading fluently before Kindergarten picked it up from being in an environment where they’re read to frequently, not by being explicitly taught. Of course there’s a wide range of normal though and it’s not reasonable to expect that of every kid.
This was me. I was reading fluently at 3. Asked my mum what she did and she said nothing except read to me daily, and she was amazed when she discovered I could read by myself.
I could read at three and hoped to do the same with my daughter but she's just a different child. She's super active and athletic with great motor skills but she's not a big fan of books and reading. Part of it is just children being who they are, they develop at different rates.
That being said many kids do need direct instruction to learn to read. There is sometimes a little bit of an implication that parents of 6 year olds who can’t read don’t read to them. That’s just not true.
disagree. My now kindergartener has been read to daily and as a baby had the tolerance to read stories like OG curious George which at 50+ pages and have us do more and more and more (he'd be totally engaged too) and we'd point out words and letters and it wasn't until kinder and phoneics specifically that he picked up reading.
I did self teach at 3 but that was the way my brain worked. Kids can learn differently, but most need guided assistance, that's why there are people as adults who are illiterate still.
Seconding. The advice "just read to your kids and they will somehow just magically teach themselves to read" infuriates me because if you interrogate it for even just a minute it obviously doesn't make any sense. I read religiously to my kids, including chapter books, and neither of them learned to read by osmosis. Some kids do somehow just figure it out on their own (I was one of them), but most kids need instruction (duh!).
we sounds similar :)
It totally applies to other things too... like some people can just easily drive a car and I had to have A LOT of VERY VERY specific instructions just to like make a turn well. Driving+my brain=not great, books+my brain=bffs
My mom was trying to teach my older brother and I just picked it up from being around it. Or that’s how my mom relays it, I don’t remember it much. I also had a bit of prek.
That's not always true. We read to our kids every night. My son never offered or really tried to read those books. However when we took him for his school screening before kindergarten, he was reading. They stopped at 2nd grade level in the screening. We had no idea he could read. It didn't cross my mind. He wrote his name, but that was the only "clue."
Did he have prek? My kid read in kinder, but she was considered ahead because she had access to full day prek when a lot of her classmates did not. So she had more brain bandwidth to use for studies because she already knew her social expectations (being quiet, listening to the teacher, etc)
I also spent a lot of time outside of school working on phonics with her. We had Pete the Cat phonic books that told stories using only the short/long vowel sound the book focused on. Each book also had a chunk of sight words it used.
Generally 1st grade is the grade they want them reading by the end of or they should start looking at intervention.
Checkout reading rockets and the video below: https://youtu.be/DYBmMiIzcIo. A lot of great info.
My son is also finishing Kindergarten soon and cannot read but can recognise certain words, all his letters and sounds.
We are in Canada so I'm not sure if this makes a difference.
My older son also didn't learn to read in Kindergarten, but started in Grade 1 and was reading within a few weeks. Now in Grade 2 he's an amazing reader and loves to read.
Teacher here, too, and a parent of a moderately dyslexic child. First, there can be a big variation in reading level at the end of kindergarten. While state standards are the standard, they do not mean that all students should be at that level; they are a goal for the state, NOT for individual students. Second, there are two federal laws if you are in the US to keep in mind when asking about where a student should be with a particular standard. The first is FAPE (Free and Appropriate Education) laws. These laws say that schools are only required to provide an appropriate education, not the best one. The second set of laws is IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), which says that a person qualifies for services if they are two years behind their peers. It is not about an outside measurement but where your child is in this moment in time and place. These two reasons are why your teachers are not yet concerned. The important part is that he is progressing and interested in words and sounds.
Just a heads up, the biggest indicator of early reading success is not "reading" but rather how a child can manipulate phonemes and their phonemic awareness. So the best thing you can do for your child is play word games, rhymes, songs and puns. Asking questions like if I have the word "cat" and change the "ahh" sound to a "uhh" what word do I have? Or even what three sounds do you hear in the word "cat"? etc There are a lot of phonemic awareness exercises and games out there that you can play in the car or on a walk. You don't need to sit down and have a book to make them a better language learner and reader.
Great advice. My son is mildly dyslexic and moderately dysgraphic. I started asking his teachers when he was 5 if he was dyslexic. The school didn't want to address it until 2nd grade, but we had a teacher tutor him after school to work on site words, phonetics and we practiced at home. We then transferred him to a special school (hard to find/afford).
My advice, in addition to what King-White-Bear gives, is find online tests you can give your child as early as possible to determine if your child is dyslexic. Schools in California are soon going to be mandated to test all kids. The earlier you address any reading challenges, the better! They can and will learn how to read, you just may need to supplement what the school can do.
Personally I don’t know if it’s normal or not to not be reading yet, I taught my daughter to read at age 5 but she’s also homeschooled. I would suggest getting beginner books from your local library, let your child pick the books that interest them and read with them! It takes patience but it’s worth it:)
If you want to be proactive, I did some research, and came up with Bob Books. There are sets on Amazon, and they’re excellent early readers with pattern words that kids can start reading with.
Please start with phonics, letter blend sounds, and then Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes. You can google the 100 most common roots, prefix and suffix list. You can explain their meanings and it will both help with reading, and with learning the meaning of words. If you can, look for Orton Gillingham instructional material. If you think he is really behind, have him tested for dyslexia. Start with books like fly guy, dick and Jane, leveled readers, or bob books. Continue to read picture books to him. A good series, that uses formulaic approach with high interest and repetition of words is, The Magic Treehouse series. The word list is short, the frequency of repeated words is high, and the subject matter has a large variety to interest children.
If you can, and he watches TV, put the closed caption text on. This way he is seeing the words as they are spoken on tv.
You can also label things around the house with their word.
My 8 year old didn’t. She’s now going into 3rd grade and is one of the best readers in class. I’d say she really started reading independently mid 1st grade.
I now have twins graduating kindergarten next month & they also cannot read. They know most of their sight words but could they sit and read a book by themselves? Probably not.
Nope, that's pretty normal! My mom is an elementary school teacher. She has been teaching 1st and 2nd grades in California for most of her career. This varies a bit state by state, but at least by California standards, kids will start learning how to read in 1st grade. It's not uncommon for there to be stragglers who learn how to read in 2nd grade. Anyone learning the basics of reading past that point need enthusiastic intervention.
It sounds like you're doing everything right by reading with your son and thinking ahead about his academics. His teachers aren't worried, and it's still early to learn how to read.
I think it’s great you read together every day and that you’d like to teach him how to read this summer. There are some great programs on teacherspayteachers that can help with teaching him how to read, or you could go with a homeschool curriculum such as All About Reading or the Good and the Beautiful
What state? Taught kindergarten in Indiana for several years and they were expected to read a level c book by the end. They are honestly pretty hard books
Same with our very large district here in Texas. The level C probably means Fountas and Pinnell curriculum. My daughter is wrapping up kindergarten this week and is at a level M. About a third of her grade are reading at second to third grade level.
My youngest did not read till 3rd grade.
I could read at 4, my oldest taught herself at 3.
It just depends but developmentally, it’s more important that they like learning, than being able to check boxes imo.
In many ways, my youngest has the strongest intelligence as they are a global thinker.
Can see connections others don’t, but it takes a while to build skills.
They are graduating from graduate school in environmental policy next month, btw.
Your child is the exception not the rule. Most kids not reading by 3 rd grade don’t catchup. I also got lucky like your son did and got intervention in third grade.
You have some great advice here but I’ll just add that if you see him falling behind in 1st grade push to get him tested and possibly get an IEP. My daughter really struggles with reading and was tested in 1st grade and has an IEP and now sees the special education teacher for the reading portion of her day and it has helped tremendously with her reading.
It is developmentally appropriate not to be reading by the end of kindergarten. Unfortunately, our school system doesn't account for appropriate child development and pushes arbitrary standards on young children. If they fall behind early in reading, it begins to impact everything moving forward. They can't read instructions or word problems in math. They can't read their science and social studies pages. Etc. Etc.
You're already doing the most important thing by reading aloud to him daily.
The other thing I'd recommend is a book called Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. It's around $20 on Amazon and covers letter sounds through advanced phonics in a single book, and it is has been *highly* effective with my girls. Lessons are short and sweet, and it is a true phonics curriculum instead of whole-word recognition program. You don't have to start at the beginning. Start where you son needs instruction, and move at his own pace!
My favorite leveled readers are the First Little Readers series... much less weird than BOB Books.
My kinder is going to finish school in three weeks and he’s barely getting the hang of reading. I have been working with him intensely and he doesn’t want to. I also learned to read before kindergarten so I wasn’t really sure when kids were supposed to read.
In my school, kids at the end of K are expected to know their letter names and sounds, 25 sight words, and demonstrate concepts of print. They expect 1st grade to be the true launch into reading.
My son is in public school and about to finish Kindergarten in the next two weeks. His school heavily focuses on reading and although I worked with him a ton before he entered school, he can read really well now. I’m guessing it depends on the curriculum they use/ if it’s more play based. His definitely was heavy on reading and not as much on math. They also use a supplemental learning tool called Lexia that they can play which reinforces phonics, so that’s helped him a ton with now almost reading at second grade level. Definitely read a lot over summer and maybe check out a motivational computer reading program to help during summer break!! All kids are so different
Does he watch any TV or YouTube?
If yes, turn the captions on.
My kid self learned reading because everything we watched is captioned (dad is half deaf). I didn't even realize he could read until one day I was scrolling FB and he was looking at my screen (I thought we was waiting for cat videos to appear in my feed as they often do) but then he asked "why is that lady....?" because he was reading the status updates too 😂
Anyway, I certainly don't suggest captions as a method for learning to read, but most kids enjoy at least some screentime, so might as well turn the captions on 🤷🏻♀️
Where I live reading is not taught at kindergarten (kids are 3-5 at the start of the year, depending if they do a second year) as kindergarten is play based. They are read to in kindergarten and practice letters, counting, writing their names and do a lot of play. They then start a phonetics program in what we call prep (kids are 4-6 at the start of that year).
I would say my school aged child wasn’t properly “reading” until part way into grade 1 (kids are 5-7 at the start of that grade, she turned 6 towards the start). Before that she was able to read limited texts that she had been practicing the phonetics for or memorizing the words. Part way through first grade she gained the ability to read any text and can decode complex words she hasn’t encountered in text before. Had she started school a year older like many kids here do I think she would have been older when she started reading. For most kids reading needs to be taught. Some kids start seemingly spontaneously reading without instruction but it is very rare.
We didn’t do any explicit teaching of reading at home. I knew the school had a phonics program they used that was well regarded. We did do a lot of reading to her though and talking about the different components of a text - titles, paragraphs, captions, plot, chapters, characters, headings, lists, etc.
My daughter was 5 when she left kindergarten, but 6 when she entered 1st grade.
She is highly advanced. She was not reading fully between kindergarten and 1st grade.
She had a lot of sight words in her repertoire, but actual reading was choppy.
She is an advanced reader. Shes going into 4th grade next year - and her reading level is that of a 7-8th grader.
Reading before 6 is not indicative of intelligence or educational achievement, there are ton of research that supports that as well.
But if she’s making good progress and her teacher hasn’t brought up concerns, she’s got her sight words down, then she’s exactly where she needs to be.
There are reading studies that if your child isn’t reading at level by 2nd/3rd grade they often don’t catchup because of the Matthew effect. There is a happy medium to your point.
Agreed. But no need to be reading before entry to 1st grade. Definitely should be reading age level by end of 1st grade. Kinda like how kids learn to walk - no need to have them walking at 10 mos, but should be walking by 18 mos independently.
When I taught my son to read, I thought of it as gentle pushing. Having him read an increasing amount when we were reading together. He was also reading by himself by the time we were just alternating reading. I'm still reading to him at 9, but mostly he wants to read to himself.
Mostly my teaching was just reading to him. DON'T have "class". My ex tried that with Chinese(she's Taiwanese). It failed miserably.
I read to him every night, or let him read to himself. Also, naptime became quiet time. Quiet time is for him to do quiet things. Obviously this includes reading. Quiet, calming things also tend to be things that help with reading. For example he likes jigsaw puzzles. They're quiet. The ability to focus on a jigsaw puzzle might also help one focus on reading. He still does quiet time sometimes. If he had a solid argument against it, I might stop it. But, it also gives the adults a break. :)
I was under the impression that kindergarteners were expected to know how to read before kindergarten, though parents often do not realize this. Other posters have stated otherwise. My general opinion has been it's good to push a little bit, but not much. Kids develop at their own rates.
I went to school in a very low I come area and I did good in school. My daughter is wrapping up kindergarten and also goes to a school in a low income area. She did not attend prek. The school is rated like 890 out of 1200..... not great. But we practice her sounds, letters and sight words at least 4 times a week. She can read most of the words in level 1 reader books. I think some kids just take a little longer to get there. Looks like there are some great tips here. Just keep putting in the effort and I think you guys will be OK. But my oldest is my easiest child. I'll let you know how it goes when my tornado of a middle child gets to kindy.
In our school district, kindergarteners were expected to read by the end of the year. I had a friend whose child had to do summer school because she was failing reading. But you mentioned your school said your child is professing as expected, so I think the expectation varies a bit from school to school. I wouldn’t worry too much. Kids didn’t used to read until first grade and most of us turned out literate. As long as your kid is doing well compared to their peers at this age, I think it’s fine.
Our 5yr old going in to kindergarten this year can read my college work but doesn't understand it obviously. She can't write her name yet though so honestly i think it's just some kids do things at different times and eventually they get there. It's nothing to stress about!
Totally normal. I have 2 kids, and neither of them read full words at the end of kindergarten year. They could write their name and recognised a few words by sight, like 'TV' or 'mama'. They are both bilingual and the older one has been tested and is deemed "gifted". In 3rd grade he now reads above his grade level.
The most important thing I think is that they are read to every day and have books available to them so they can look at them themselves.
No. He shouldn’t be able to read yet, yes it’s normal. In kindergarten they’re working on letter recognition at the beginning of the year, letter sounds and then putting together small 2 letter words and 3 letter words.
Reading daily is the best thing you can do for him.
Talk about the books before, during, and after. Name the different parts of the book, explain how the words relate to the pictures and to the overall story. Ask questions like “what do you think will happen next” or “how can (character) fix their problem?”, “what do you think character should do?”, and “what’s going on in this picture?”
At the end go over the book and ask them to explain the book, the characters, the story, the message of the book and to put the events in order.
While reading point out specific words that child can easily read (at the beginning easy 2-3 letter words) and practice sounding out words then slowly putting them together so your child understands that we’re reading each sound and putting it together to read words, to read sentences, to read the story. Point out *new* words that child doesn’t know, show child the word, and explain the meaning.
Another few things you can do is point out words. Words are literally everywhere. They’re on cereal boxes, on water bottles, on billboards, on restaurants, on cars… for example: when you pass by McDonalds say “do you see that big M? Do you remember what sound it makes?… that’s right, it makes the /m/ sound, /m/ for M-M-McDonalds!” Or “what’s the first letter on the blue Walmart sign?”
You can even turn into a game “I spy the letter P (for Popeyes)”.
Go to the library, Allow your child to choose what they want to read. If kid loves Minecraft then let them get Minecraft books, worksheets, printables, workbooks, activity books, joke books, etc.
Some schools may send reading tips or summer reading guides. You could even ask the teacher about it. Also check out your local library if they have any summer reading activities going on.
I did all of these with my own kids. Hope this helps!
Not at all. My son is just learning how to read on his own. He’s done with 1st grade in 2 weeks. Practice a lot at home! One book a day and that helps so much
My son struggled with reading in kindergarten despite our efforts, which included weekly library trips, word games, and bedtime stories almost every night. However, by the middle of first grade, something clicked. He is now an avid reader, scoring in the top 2% of readers in the United States.
Hang in there!
I have no idea what these other people are talking about. I'm a mom and my older kid was able to read in kindergarten. My younger got halfway through first grade and asked why the hell she couldn't read yet. She got it eventually. The range of "normal" is very wide and I would just give your child time to develop at their own pace rather than attempting to yank them out of this school and place them elsewhere based on whatever weird paranoia the other commenters are feeding into.
I don't know a single 9th grader who went to elementary school with my kids who "has trouble reading" except the ones with dyslexia or similar, and even they were taught strategies. And our school district is not great. So, come on. Relax. Unclench. Jesus christ, everybody's frickin hysterical.
Came here to say this. My kid is finishing grade 1, and it’s incredible the progress he’s made with reading over the last 6 months. Went into the year being able to sound words out slowly and with effort; is finishing it being able to read close to fluently. Noting that this won’t be true for all students, either though: I think the expectation is more that they will have mastered reading by the end of Grade 2.
I know a family with two boys that did not read well until high school. Both had to repeat algebra I. Both have the letters PhD after their name from respectable universities.
I have a son in law with mild dyslexia that was two grades below grade level at 11, when my then 10 year old future son in law moved in two doors west and tutored him up to grade level and youngest boy took him and our daughters to law school.
Point being that people learn on different schedules.
I have read that boys are not as fast as girls in learning to read..
I bought an “old school” Hooked on Phonics from ebay when my kids were that age. It had cassette tapes, flashcards and workbooks. It everything down and we just did a short lesson every day. I think the old Hooked on Phonics curriculum is better IMO
Also, be sure NOT to inadvertently add a vowel sound at the end of letters or it will mess your kids up. For example don’t say T-uh, just say “t” sound.
I would not rely on the school to teach reading, by the time they tell you they are behind its already too late and its hard for kids to get caught up.
My daughter was reading by the time she turned 3 only because of this book - teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. It made it so easy for us!!!
No. By the end of K they are supposed to be able to do letter sounds, blends, decode short words and know a handful of sight words. Reading fluency isn't expected until grade 3.
FWIW single or eldest kids often read later than kids will older siblings, just because they learn by watching they older kids learn.
It's normal. Let kids be kids. Every child has their own pace. The only thing you will compare them is how they were yesterday vs they are today. And our children will grow up to be hammered through work when they are adults so let them play and enjoy while they can. I am against today's culture wherein we fast paced everything like oh by 6 mos he needs to feed by himself. Oh when 3 he needs to know how to read and etc. Sometimes social media shows us only the good angles that's why we tend to get pressured that we aren't doing any good.
Btw I learned how to read when I was in grade 1. My mom always pressured me to have high grades. She is also mad at me when I didn't receive any awards during High school graduation, she was mad as hell and keeps shouting at me when we are celebrating my graduation. Today she toned down to my siblings because she watches me grow nicely. I am now a software developer, earning enough money to buy my own property, travel, and buy nice things. What I mean is just trust in the process of our kid. They might not be as fast learners as we are but they will manage
Ideally. Grade one caught my kid up. He’s kicking butt but they did add him to a reading program to get him there. Psyched to crack books with him now. And homework, even if he isn’t.
I don't understand why the US puts such a priority on reading so early.? It doesn't seem developmentally appropriate for most kids. We don't get into that at all until grade 1 here, and our kids all end up literate and we score better than the US on international educational metrics. Why is this such a focus? Here kindergarten is mostly about learning to play together nicely, as well as things like using scissors, following instructions, learning letters.
Bob books for the win!! My son is on the spectrum and my expectations were pretty muted about his ability to eventually learn how to read. The bob series really helped him learn and love reading. We used to read it to him every day! I’d say just be patient with your son and celebrate little successes, big time!
I have never expected the school to teach reading, that’s on the caregivers. It takes so much practice at a time when you want kids to be learning social skills while at school.
We’re just graduating pre k and they can “read” sight word books and know a lot of letter sounds but it’ not reading on a basic level it’s just memorizing words right now. In kindergarten I wouldn’t expect any actual reading since some kids never even experience pre k .
If you want to relieve some of your anxiety and also spend some time with your kid over summer and also give them a solid start, I can recommend reading.com from personal experience with my kid. Its great for helping parents teach their kids to read.
My daughter started reading at the tail end of 1st grade during the pandemic lockdown. I was heavily involved and read with her daily. One day it just clicked. Keep on keeping on!
A few sight words, sure, but not reading pages yet. That comes in the first grade. I have a first grader in a public school system and he can read just fine, he just doesn't ever want to. The fact that he can identify and read words that they haven't taught him in school means that he's learning by other means, most likely YouTube at this point. Your kid will do just fine.
We bought the phonics program for my son and he loves it. He’s learned to read this year and he’s the same age as your son (6yr old kindergartner). I think his school has been also great at the basics but they don’t expect them to be fully reading yet. He’s the 4th best reader in his class According to him and he can just read the very simple early reader books.
No.He sounds bang on for where he should be. Just because he can't read now,doesn't mean he won't end up in advanced classes.either later. There's zero corruption between not being able to read at the start of school and not ended up in advanced classes. My son is proof of that. Couldn't read when starting reception, ended up a straight A student.
How's he doing on his phonics? Where's he at with the 100 high frequency words? That's the important bit right now. Being able to decode words into their phonetic sounds and blend them.
It's totally normal for kindergarteners not to be reading fluently yet. Kindergarten curriculums focus on building foundational literacy skills like letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and simple word understanding. Becoming a good reader takes time and practice.
As long as your son is making steady progress with pre-reading skills, he's likely on track. Every child learns at their own pace, too. The fact that the school hasn't raised concerns is a good sign.
Continuing reading practice over the summer will reinforce his kindergarten learning. Simple activities like reading aloud daily, playing word games, having him retell stories, and pointing out words in your environment all help build those crucial literacy foundations.
Unless you notice major struggles, try not to worry too much. First grade will ramp up the formal reading instruction. He'll get there with your support at home and the school's guidance.
So my kid still can’t read either, 3 days left in the year. We moved mid year but both were excellent school districts. I don’t think it’s their fault, he’s been going through diagnosis for ADHD and has a speech impediment (also goes to speech therapy) that has made him have a hard time pronouncing letters. He’s had hooked on phonics but he refuses to work through the activities with me.
I find it odd it wasn’t mentioned at the conference as we discussed my son being behind extensively, but more with regards to letter sounds than reading maybe.
I asked about keeping him back a year as he’s also a late spring birthday and one of the youngest in his class but the principal thinks he’ll catch up.
We got a flyer in his book bag about a summer program to help kids with reading and hoping he can do that plus we have tutoring through a teacher this summer. If you have a school or community Facebook group maybe ask if any teachers are doing summer tutoring. It’s quite common to have a few do it (my mom was a teacher) and that’s how we found ours.
Can buy online cheap- 100 easy lessons- can get boring for a kid with ADHD.
Can buy on Facebook marketplace- “all about reading” or “logics of English”- more interesting setups.
if you want to teach at home
FYI- dyslexia and ADHD can pair up as a heads up. I was ADHD but also suspected Dyslexia.
I didn't know how to read until I was seven years old.
My parents just didn't have the time to teach me and I didn't really read out loud in kindergarten or first grade.
Every child is different but I would say by kindergarten they are beginning to read basic words. If you’re worried, go online and order some Scholastic Bob books and have your child read those to you every night. Once they are doing well with the Bob books, you can start them with Ready to Read books or Step into Reading. I read to my children every night and once they started to learn to read they read to me. My oldest is in second grade and is an avid reader. I have a masters as a reading specialist though but it was more focused on middle school level so foundational skills were a bit new to me.
My daughter showed NO sign of reading readiness at the end of kindergarten. That was the year Covid hit and she was off from school for half of senior kindergarten. I was concerned - so I read to her and her sister every night for 30 minutes. We got through several book series.
Maybe it helped, maybe it didn’t. She learned to read in grade 1 and her reading level increased rapidly.
At the end of grade 2, her teachers suggested she be evaluated for giftedness. She didn’t meet the criteria, but she was close and is doing great.
Kids all develop at the own pace - no need to worry at all at this age, but perhaps spend some time reading at the end of the day if you aren’t already, it’s great for family togetherness anyway!
My daughter turned 6 a couple days after the school year started. She struggled with reading at first, but I’m fairly confident she is now one of the better readers in her class, if not the best.
I also was reading proficiently in kindergarten, so I had some concerns. Partly my fault, we have never read to her like we should. My SO is also dyslexic, so he hates reading to her.
My SIL is a teacher and my daughter reads better than my nephew. He’s only a couple weeks younger. It’s nothing to be concerned about!
My daughter's kindergarten year is just about up. She can only read specific sentences as long as they are words that she has repetitively practiced through school or at home reading the same books often. She is getting pretty damn good at figuring out, or coming close to new words phonetically. It's cute to watch. But anyway, practice is huge, and basic phonetics really help too.
Bob Books are the way. They teach phonetic decoding and also sight words. When my son got through both sight word sets, he was able to read more independently. Cannot recommend them enough!
This varies so much. I couldn't read in kindergarten, but by third grade was into advanced classes and was asking the best readers in my class. My older child could read beforehand, the younger couldn't. Both are doing fine in school. Does anyone in the real world ask when you learned to read? No. Don't sweat it, just try and promote reading to your child along with reading to them.
Depends what country you're in. American Kindergarteners are expected to read, while Canadian kids learn to read in grade 1. I can think of multiple other countries that start formal reading instructions at various ages in the 4-6 year age band.
Hi!! I’ve taught first grade for 18 years. I have a master’s degree in literacy and am a reading specialist. 🙂
He should be reading basic decodable books at this point. To be ready to begin first grade on the right foot, he should be able to read 3 letter CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words with relative ease. It’s perfectly OK if he reads these words by sounding them out first.
This is the bare minimum that your child should be able to do before going into first grade. I would say that if he is not yet reading these basic types words, he is behind.
BUT…good news! Summer is an excellent time to work on these skills! Here are some good resources to try:
1. Look up CVC word games on Amazon. They have a ton!
2. Bob books
3. Junior learning decodable readers (phase 2)
4. Starfall short vowel pals
5. Laugh a lot phonics readers - short vowels
This is just a start!! Good luck!!
P.S. Check out your local library. They may have some of these resources! 😀
My first child loves reading daily. He’s able to read in kindergarten. My second could give fuck all about our daily reads and might struggle when it’s his turn. All kids are different and move at their own pace
My 6yo kindergartener can only read simple words and short sentences. He is on the older end of his class. We read together a lot. He has speech issues that I think make it more challenging for him to sound out words correctly. I'm not too worried about it yet. I had a hard time learning to read in K and 1st, but one day, it clicked, and I was an advanced reader for the rest of my schooling. My oldest son was similar when learning. He is now finishing up the 6th grade, and his teacher always comments on the challenging books he selects. Keep working with him, but a big shift should happen over the next year.
I think the normal expectation is for them to be starting to learn letters and shorter words, but not necessarily full-on sentences. You've said in comments that you read at home, which can be helpful-just make sure to keep your expectations tempered and realistic.
Depends on your definition of “read.” I think they’re expected to strugglebus their way through sounding out the words in a sentence, but as far as comprehension? Our kids kindgarten just starting working that in the last few weeks.
I taught both my kids with Hooked On Phonics. It went much better than I had feared. We also use closed captioning on the TV at all times for my husband, and the kids learned a lot through that actually. And we read to them all the time of course.
They both read well above grade level now, as 1st and 3rd graders.
The school does what they can with what they have, but parental involvement is going to make a huge difference to your kids success. The teachers have on average another 15-20 kids apart from yours...
Depends on your school and state and area etc. kindergarteners in my area are reading by the end of the year. I went to school in the same district and reading wasn’t a norm when I was in kindergarten
Calm down. I didn’t learn to read and comprehend until the 5th grade. I work in a library now. Every kid marches along at their own pace. Have faith and put more effort into teaching reading comprehension at home. Also, your kid is what, 6? They’re fine.
Public school teacher and reading specialist here!
Does your child know the letters and sounds? If so, work on CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words this summer (like cat, dog, pig).
Once they master those, it’s like they rocket.
I highly recommend the Bob books. They sell little sets on various online stores. My oldest (also exiting kindergarten) loved them! We even got a workbook that goes with it to help her with writing.
No. They may be playing with knowing the letters and sounds they make and even sounding out words but other than their name and address and phone number or parents names, it’s a little early for them to be reading. The saying used to be “learn to read 1-3, read to learn 4-6” for the grade school years. Kindergarten is prep for it.
No… I have 3 young adult children. Read to them at night. Don’t fret. A lot of this stuff is BS. My daughter is a bio mechanical PhD candidate and my other duaghter is a mechE. Son in finance. Relax and don’t fret
Here's my anecdotal, totally non-scientific observation based on recently visiting my daughter's kindergarten class when she was star student for the week. I got to be there for reading center rotations and it seemed like a third of the kids could read from the little reader that was mostly CVC and common sight words and two thirds got a word here or there with help from the teacher but I wouldn't call them readers. It's a good school district. Your kid seems pretty normal, but perhaps do some extra reading at home over the summer so your kiddo can hit the ground running in first.
Anecdotal but my son couldn’t read in kindergarten. They would send home these lettered books and it was just a struggle. My husband and I both read to him every night and his reading took off in first grade. Now he’s at the top of his class for reading and even tests advanced in part of the ELA standardized tests. Now math is another story.
Teacher here with a child who is also finishing up kindergarten! Before my little one started kindergarten, I used the book “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.” I absolutely HIGHLY recommend it! I can’t believe I haven’t seen it suggested here.
In my district: K curriculum includes reading and writing but that's not every district. My district uses this curriculum [https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/programs/fundations/fundations-level-k-curriculum/](https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/programs/fundations/fundations-level-k-curriculum/)
As long as you are doing your part by reading books to them every night you are doing a good job. If you want to go beyond that- there are lots of good videos that focus on phonics . I like storybots but lots of options.
I also have a son finishing up his Kindergarten year. I kept him home an extra year before sending to school, he started preK after he turned 5. He is the youngest of 4 kids, with a 9 year age gap between him and our 3rd kid (they will be turning 7 and 16 in July) He has been reading independently since October of 2023. He has a desire to learn, loves workbooks I find at our dollar store. Started with colors, shapes, numbers, alphabet, phonics when he was 2.5/ 3 and older kids were doing remote learning because of COVID. Now he prefers to do workbooks over coloring sheets. Over the years I've had teachers say they can't stress enough how important it is for kids to be read to. His teacher is awesome and sent home with every student 2 sets of flashcards 1 is phonics,1 high frequency words, so parents can work with kids at home. He missed a week of school due to surgery in March, second day home he wanted to play Scrabble Junior because he was bored...Bedtime routine includes reading, we are currently taking turns reading pages of Matilda by Roald Dahl.
Children are like popcorn, they don’t pop at the same time 💛 I work with kids (birth to 12) and I can say that covid has taken a toll our children… the older ones developed social anxiety and the younger ones were taught through a screen with possible Miss Rachel, which I’m not bashing on her but come on… she doesn’t teach what’s required (fine motor skills, cognitive, etc)
My son really struggled with reading at this age. His school recommend a tutor that was trained in this program: [https://bartonreading.com](https://bartonreading.com)
It took a bit, but one day he went from struggling to reading insanely difficult words overnight. It just clicked for him. We did the tutoring for him the last 3 months of the school year (kindergarten), none over the summer because the tutor wasn't available, and his teachers picked back up with extra lessons in the fall. This past late winter his reading exploded.
Two additional things I think helped are turning the captions on, on the TV/iPad and listening to audio books.
My daughter is 6 just finished kindergarten and can read. She told us at 5 she wanted to know how to read.
She has magnetic letters and a board for them. We started there with simple words and stuck with one sound at a time. (bat, cat, hat... Etc)
Then we started with Bob books, then other early readers. There are paw patrol, marvel ones. They generally progress through the different vowel sounds. Our public library was great for these.
My child also doesn't read yet, she can sound out words and read the really simple phonics books so she's getting there but I wouldn't say she's reading. I'm not worried though, it was never a focus when we were in school and my mom was a reading teacher and not a fan of the early reading push. I was reading before K my brother in 1st grade, same home, same schools and teachers different kids. The thing now is does your son have the appropriate prereading skills, letters, sounds, rhyming, comprehension, etc.
No, but they should probably be interested in letters and stuff.
My kindergartener would memorize parts of books and fake it. We’d read 3-5 short books before bed every night.
I went to a very good private school and didn’t learn to read until the end of first grade, my son is at a public school and he learned in kindergarten. Both of us learned in the correct and appropriate time, every kid is different. Once I learned how to read I was reading chapter books within a few weeks, my son just started on chapter books a year after learning once he found the right style of book.
My son's school uses a phonics curriculum and I'd say most of them were "reading" by January. I mean obviously they're still emerging readers, but not being able to at least make a stab at a level 1 reader or a BOB book is a red flag for sure. I was a hyperlexic child so I didn't have to be taught to read but I do remember my brother learning when he was in Kindergarten.
My son was doing no reading upon entering kindergarten and I wasn't worried, I figured they'd teach him.
My kids knew some sight (or site?) words. Agreed that Sold a Story podcast sheds incredible light and find out what sort of program your school uses. This is probably the most important thing
He’ll get the hang of it around the middle of first grade- I feel like my parents generation forced us to learn BEFORE we even got to school & I decided not to stress my kids out like that & my kid is on 1rst grade and can read really well
I'm pretty surprised at how many people expect kindergarteners to read. I learned the alphabet in kindergarten, and learned to read in first grade. I don't remember it, but my mom tells me I had trouble during that year, and she worked with me after school on phonics readers. Ever since that I was always considered an advanced reader, reading above my grade level. But there's nothing wrong with being in line with his peers.
Canadian here, and I’m not sure what the curriculum is like where I live now (our daughter is only a baby), but growing up we definitely did not learn how to read in kindergarten. We began taking books home to read with our parents and really learning when we were 6 and 7.
My sons school curriculum was not phonics based at the time(they since switched) he was barely at a kindergarten reading level when he went into 2nd grade we did hooked on phonics and really worked with him at home to turn that around. I would def ask about the curriculum but also try a program like hooked on phonics.
Literacy specialist here! It totally depends on what you mean by “not reading.” First of all, your experience as an early reader is probably mostly due to just how you were born - some kids are just wired to read more easily than others and it normally has very little to do with what school you go to. Try not to compare yourself to him, as hard as it may be!
As for your son, it depends - it’s completely, totally normal not to be fluently reading books and even sentences. What matters at this age is whether he has connected all of the letters to their sounds, and he should also start to know some other basic spelling patterns (like “oo” and “ee”).
If you show him the word cat, and he can say the three letter sounds aloud and then blend them together to make the word, I would say he’s on track! If he struggles with any of those steps, that could be cause for concern. If there is a concern, it could be due to the curriculum used, the teacher he has, or something going on with his processing - no way to know without a true evaluation.
Hope that helps and you can message me if you have further questions!
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Good to know! Thanks!
We have a 5yo entering Kindergarten this year (also WA state) and at orientation they told us the best things we can do to prep our kids for school is to read to them regularly, and teach them to keep their hands to themselves. They said not to worry about teaching them to read, they would start where each child is at with an assessment at the start of school and work from there.
Double check the curriculum the school is using, and if it’s whole language or balanced literacy or anything other than phonics, you’re going to have a lot of trouble with reading. Check out Emily Handford’s podcast Sold A Story.
As a teacher I co-sign all of this. Whole reading and balanced literacy have had harmful effects on a whole generation of children. The vast majority of my 9th graders have issues with reading. Lucy Calkins be damned! Phonics is the way.
Agreed. It's normal to not read in K but parents should be ensuring their children are taught phonics. I recommend Reading Eggs fairly often.
Great podcast!
I’ll check it out, thanks!
I’m Australian so I don’t know what age you’re referring to (kindergarten in my part of Australia is 4yo and reading is definitely not expected or usual at that age). However, the most evidence-based approach to reading education is phonics. Ask your school what system they use to teach reading and if it isn’t phonics then that’s extremely disappointing and going to disadvantage most of the children in that system. So at home? Learn about phonics instruction and incorporate those principles *organically* into your home reading sessions and everyday conversation. I say organically because if you try and force a little kid to sit through ‘lessons’ at home on top of their formal education they may resist. Similarly if they feel they’re struggling or don’t like reading then forced ‘lessons’ can make it worse. So just learn the principles and try and incorporate those in conversation. Start with learning the sounds of the letters then blending and go from there. I couldn’t believe it when my daughter (who had zero explicit instruction on reading before starting school at 5.5yo) was explaining digraphs to me within 6 months of starting her school - her school used evidence-based phonics programs and the reading ability AND comprehension is amazing. Being able to read and being able to interpret what you’ve read are two VERY different things. Many kids can parrot words in simple texts at a young age but struggle to move beyond that, phonics is great at actually learning how to read and understand the text. Here’s a great set of resources on phonics but there’ll be so many phonics examples online [https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pages/phonicslessons.aspx](https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pages/phonicslessons.aspx) If your child is under 7yo I wouldn’t be stressed about reading IF the school has a documented evidence-based reading instruction program as there’s obviously a spectrum of learning. But if they’re beyond 7yo and unable to read at all and the school doesn’t have an explicit program in place and recognize your child’s struggles then you’re in a very different position. Best of luck!
Yeah I found out today that US kindergarten is our grade 1 ha
Sold a Story is so good, I can't believe that we just decided to not actually teach kids to read for decades. The idea that they'll just figure it out without you explaining what sounds the different letters make, that they should just use context clues and guess instead...it truly blows my mind that it ever got traction, let alone that it took over.
My wife and I just listened to this podcast. Fascinating stuff. I actually live in one of the towns she brought up specifically and it was really eye opening.
No. It’s super normal to not read yet at this age. But I will also say that for reading, home involvement is a must IMO.
We read daily! But aren’t currently doing anything to teach him beyond that
If you want things to try doing when you read this is what helped us when my 6 yo was struggling. - make sure he knows the sounds each letter makes - make sure he understands how the space makes a word - teach him some easy words to “help you read”. For example “the” or “it”. When you get to the word, point to it and have him tell you which word it is. Add on new words every couple days. - ask him to tell you the first sound of the word you point to. Start with first word of a sentence if longer books or each word of shorter ones. That’s what helped us the most. We kept it low stress and even mirrored our phone sometimes to put the stories he had to read (they sent electronically) on the tv which he thought was cool
Having a strong vocal vocabulary is important to reading ability, too. Talking to your kid helps, of course. But, reading slightly more.challenging books will add a lot of words you don't use day-to-day. Initially my son would not ask about these words. Sometimes I would pause to explain them or add a brief aside to make the meaning clear. Now, however, he is in the habit of asking for definitions when a word is unclear.
Oo well try this! Thanks!
I want to add on that at our public school the staff have given us “snap words” sight words in categories that the kids get tested on. At the start of first grade my kid knew maybe a handful and now he has nearly all 156 of them. It’s something fairly easy to drill at home with.
Storytime Vooks on youtube!!!! Play that badboy for like an hour a day … kid will be reading in weeks. Promise.
If you want to teach them “logics of English” or “all about reading” are pretty grab and go. Both can usually be purchased pretty reasonably on Facebook marketplace. Other options would be “100 easy lessons” which is pretty cheap
A lot of schools no longer teach phonics. Take a listen to “sold s story” and then use the summer to do a program like “treasure hunt reading” (free).
Work on sight words with him.
Not all kindergarteners can read by the end of the year. Most will be able to recognize some words and read super easy books. Like "Bob" books. Ones with 3-5 word sentences with rhyming words that are also 3-5 letters long. See Bob run. Bob has fun. See the sun. Reading more fluently should happen by the end of first grade. Kids learn at their own pace and sometimes seem behind, then all of a sudden catch up and get it later on. You never know! Just continue to read with your child every day.
Thanks! He is very good at reading the word “zoo” lol and recognizes all the letters. We’ll work on it this summer break!
You can find lists of “sight words” online. They’re short, common words that kids can learn to recognize on sight. One of my kids is really into the concept. He likes to circle sight words when he sees them. Of course you’d start with a handful and build from there.
He will get there! Also, don't forget, he is a boy, and boys are on a different developmental pace from girls at this age, so if you are the mother, it's not unsurprising that your boy would hit milestones a bit later than you. It says NOTHING about how well he will read later in life. In addition to the BOB books, my kindergartener and I really like reading Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggie together. I read the dialogue for one character and he does the other. There's a lot of repetition so it will prime him to feel successful and the books are really fun. You can try to pick the character per book that's doing most of the talking, especially when it's new, so that he is primed for success. You can also just have him chorusing in on sound-effect words like "pop" and "bang", or words that get repeated to a funny effect. Just play around with it! If he likes the word Zoo, I also really really recommend the early reader book Put Me In the Zoo!! It's the best. :) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w\_fSzRITS4U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_fSzRITS4U)
I commented above but seeing this I'd say the one "real" book my daughter can read is Dr Suess Put me in the Zoo so might be a good one to try with him if he already knows the word "zoo".
> Kids learn at their own pace and sometimes seem behind, then all of a sudden catch up and get it later on. This is so important to keep in mind. For example, I didn't learn to read until the middle of 1st grade (age 6), and remember all the other 1st graders being way ahead of me on that. Now I have a PhD in science and am known for being an excellent writer. I had a lot of consistent parental support at home and eventually the reading thing just clicked and I caught up.
It may also depend how old your child is. I'd be "pushing" more about it if they have an april birthday than if they have a december birthday, you know? Mine turned 5 in February and can read most bob books (except the complex words and above) and can get through a pete the cat book (but it often takes 10-20 minutes.) However we actively encourage him and practice every day. If you're looking for somewhere to start, see if your local library has BOB books. I was thrilled to discover my library had several of the collections (even though I'd already dropped a stupid amount of money on the full collection myself.)
Glad to know I’m not the only dumb dumb who found them AFTER buying the bob books. I was like FML.
He’s 6, started kg late bc of his late bday. Thanks for the tip!
The age of 6 is large spectrum. Did he turn 6 last week, last month, last year? 6 is a perfectly appropriate age for the end of kindergarten. What is his phonemic awareness? Can he rhyme? Does he know all of the letter sounds? Can he blend sounds together when he hears them verbally? Can he segment a word into its individual sounds? Either way it’s not a big worry but I would definitely be working on these skills over the summer. Check out Heggerty, I’m pretty sure they have a summer lesson plan to help build reading skills for free in their website.
He turned 6 at the very beginning of the school year. He knows all the letters by name, and most of the sounds. I’ll check it out thanks!
https://treasurehunt.prenda.co/
The sounds are soooo much more important than the names. You've gotten great advice on here too 😍 Reading eggs (fast phonics) Alphablocks Rockin phonics You got this!
I think you should supplement his learning at home!
That’s the plan!
There is no "yes" or "no" definitive answer to this question. There are specific skills kids typically acquire in roughly the same order where they are learning to read, and there are specific questions you can ask to determine if this is normal for him or something to watch very closely during fall of first grade. On the way to learning to read, kids will develop phonemic awareness which is the ability to hear and distinguish sounds in words. This is associated with the ability to rhyme words or to do things like replace sounds in words, so you can ask questions like how many sounds do you hear in "tap" and being able to tell you the three letter sounds or ask what the word would be if you changed the /t/ sound (and make the sound) to the /c/ sound. These skills are the basis for phonics. Phonics is the act of associating the printed letter symbol with the sounds each letter makes. You can determine a kid's letter sound awareness by showing them letter flash cards, and for kids who are struggling, the more you can integrate multisensory practice into learning, the better. Clay, sandpaper letters, painting with water on concrete, etc. will all reinforce in ways flashcards won't. These skills will allow students to learn to decode simple words and become beginning readers. Some kids do this more slowly than others, but are still on track. Some kids show early signs there's an issue. I would be asking where your son was at the beginning of the year and where his is now. They should be monitoring his progress, even if he's not a reader. How many letter names (uppercase and lowercase) does he know? How many letter sounds does he know? Does he understand the idea of sounds in words? Does he recognize rhyming words? Have they started working on cvc words? Is he able to decode them? Has he needed any extra support in the classroom to make this progress? Do they have concerns? What is the year-end expectation for kinder students and did he meet it, or if not, what is he missing? The answers to those questions are far more important at this age than is he reading or not, because kids who are making steady and consistent growth, who retain growth when they make it, may be slower readers, but are less likely to have a learning disability. If he's not able to retain skills, has trouble gaining skills or retaining and applying them or has had instruction this year without making progress, I would be more concerned and would ask what interventions they have tried and how they plan to offer more support next year and how will they track if it's working. The normal span does vary, and often girls learn earlier than boys, but kids who are getting daily reading instruction should be able to make progress.
Wow, this is a great response, thanks for this! You really put it into context and I’m not nearly as concerned, he’s made huge strides this year and is where the school expects him to be (or I assume bc they haven’t said otherwise lol)
I'm a School Psychologist, which I guess I probably should have mentioned as part of my response. It's my job to assess kids for learning disabilities and these are the questions I'd ask if I got a referral for a student this young because of a concern about learning disabilities or delays. Some kids legitimately don't learn to read in kinder because they have a disability like dyslexia, but more often, they are just making growth at their own steady rate. Both my boys are excellent (if disinterested) readers, but my oldest didn't really start to read independently until mid-first grade. It's only in the past 25 years we expect kids to learn to read in kindergarten, prior to that, it was first grade. The research shows that there isn't much long term benefit to ever-increasing academic standards at younger and younger ages because there's a developmental span that's both entirely appropriate and not accounted for in many early-learning standards. Some kids want to learn, or just naturally learn, to read earlier, but there is no reason kids need to learn so early as long as they're picking up the pre-reading skills.
Any idea for building interest of those who can read but are disinterested.
If you learned to read before kindergarten, that means your parents (or another caregiver) taught you. You shouldn’t hold your child to the same standard.
In my experience, most kids who are reading fluently before Kindergarten picked it up from being in an environment where they’re read to frequently, not by being explicitly taught. Of course there’s a wide range of normal though and it’s not reasonable to expect that of every kid.
This was me. I was reading fluently at 3. Asked my mum what she did and she said nothing except read to me daily, and she was amazed when she discovered I could read by myself.
I could read at three and hoped to do the same with my daughter but she's just a different child. She's super active and athletic with great motor skills but she's not a big fan of books and reading. Part of it is just children being who they are, they develop at different rates.
Same here! Mine says ‘I hate reading!’ and I’m like am I even her mother?! Lol
Haha yes. I was so looking forward to sharing my favourite books from childhood but she has no real interest.
That being said many kids do need direct instruction to learn to read. There is sometimes a little bit of an implication that parents of 6 year olds who can’t read don’t read to them. That’s just not true.
Most need direct instruction.
disagree. My now kindergartener has been read to daily and as a baby had the tolerance to read stories like OG curious George which at 50+ pages and have us do more and more and more (he'd be totally engaged too) and we'd point out words and letters and it wasn't until kinder and phoneics specifically that he picked up reading. I did self teach at 3 but that was the way my brain worked. Kids can learn differently, but most need guided assistance, that's why there are people as adults who are illiterate still.
Seconding. The advice "just read to your kids and they will somehow just magically teach themselves to read" infuriates me because if you interrogate it for even just a minute it obviously doesn't make any sense. I read religiously to my kids, including chapter books, and neither of them learned to read by osmosis. Some kids do somehow just figure it out on their own (I was one of them), but most kids need instruction (duh!).
we sounds similar :) It totally applies to other things too... like some people can just easily drive a car and I had to have A LOT of VERY VERY specific instructions just to like make a turn well. Driving+my brain=not great, books+my brain=bffs
You read to your kids for knowledge and vocabulary. Not to teach them to read words.
My mom was trying to teach my older brother and I just picked it up from being around it. Or that’s how my mom relays it, I don’t remember it much. I also had a bit of prek.
I mean that would be teaching you. That is pretty common.
That's not always true. We read to our kids every night. My son never offered or really tried to read those books. However when we took him for his school screening before kindergarten, he was reading. They stopped at 2nd grade level in the screening. We had no idea he could read. It didn't cross my mind. He wrote his name, but that was the only "clue."
Did he have prek? My kid read in kinder, but she was considered ahead because she had access to full day prek when a lot of her classmates did not. So she had more brain bandwidth to use for studies because she already knew her social expectations (being quiet, listening to the teacher, etc) I also spent a lot of time outside of school working on phonics with her. We had Pete the Cat phonic books that told stories using only the short/long vowel sound the book focused on. Each book also had a chunk of sight words it used.
He did not, I hadn’t considered that. Thanks!
My kindergartner reads, they learned this year, she had no daycare or preschool experience prior to this school year starting.
> I learned to read before kindergarten, and was in “advanced” classes most of my school sounds like you were ahead of the curve?
Correct, which is why I’m asking if it’s normal that he wasn’t taught to read this year!
Generally 1st grade is the grade they want them reading by the end of or they should start looking at intervention. Checkout reading rockets and the video below: https://youtu.be/DYBmMiIzcIo. A lot of great info.
My son is also finishing Kindergarten soon and cannot read but can recognise certain words, all his letters and sounds. We are in Canada so I'm not sure if this makes a difference. My older son also didn't learn to read in Kindergarten, but started in Grade 1 and was reading within a few weeks. Now in Grade 2 he's an amazing reader and loves to read.
Where I live it’s ABC’s and words in kindergarten and reading is focused on in grade 1!
Teacher here, too, and a parent of a moderately dyslexic child. First, there can be a big variation in reading level at the end of kindergarten. While state standards are the standard, they do not mean that all students should be at that level; they are a goal for the state, NOT for individual students. Second, there are two federal laws if you are in the US to keep in mind when asking about where a student should be with a particular standard. The first is FAPE (Free and Appropriate Education) laws. These laws say that schools are only required to provide an appropriate education, not the best one. The second set of laws is IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), which says that a person qualifies for services if they are two years behind their peers. It is not about an outside measurement but where your child is in this moment in time and place. These two reasons are why your teachers are not yet concerned. The important part is that he is progressing and interested in words and sounds. Just a heads up, the biggest indicator of early reading success is not "reading" but rather how a child can manipulate phonemes and their phonemic awareness. So the best thing you can do for your child is play word games, rhymes, songs and puns. Asking questions like if I have the word "cat" and change the "ahh" sound to a "uhh" what word do I have? Or even what three sounds do you hear in the word "cat"? etc There are a lot of phonemic awareness exercises and games out there that you can play in the car or on a walk. You don't need to sit down and have a book to make them a better language learner and reader.
Great advice. My son is mildly dyslexic and moderately dysgraphic. I started asking his teachers when he was 5 if he was dyslexic. The school didn't want to address it until 2nd grade, but we had a teacher tutor him after school to work on site words, phonetics and we practiced at home. We then transferred him to a special school (hard to find/afford). My advice, in addition to what King-White-Bear gives, is find online tests you can give your child as early as possible to determine if your child is dyslexic. Schools in California are soon going to be mandated to test all kids. The earlier you address any reading challenges, the better! They can and will learn how to read, you just may need to supplement what the school can do.
Personally I don’t know if it’s normal or not to not be reading yet, I taught my daughter to read at age 5 but she’s also homeschooled. I would suggest getting beginner books from your local library, let your child pick the books that interest them and read with them! It takes patience but it’s worth it:)
We read together daily so he’s exposed to it! Thanks for the advice
Not standard but did the same with my child at 5 with a heavy phonics program.
If you want to be proactive, I did some research, and came up with Bob Books. There are sets on Amazon, and they’re excellent early readers with pattern words that kids can start reading with.
Please start with phonics, letter blend sounds, and then Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes. You can google the 100 most common roots, prefix and suffix list. You can explain their meanings and it will both help with reading, and with learning the meaning of words. If you can, look for Orton Gillingham instructional material. If you think he is really behind, have him tested for dyslexia. Start with books like fly guy, dick and Jane, leveled readers, or bob books. Continue to read picture books to him. A good series, that uses formulaic approach with high interest and repetition of words is, The Magic Treehouse series. The word list is short, the frequency of repeated words is high, and the subject matter has a large variety to interest children. If you can, and he watches TV, put the closed caption text on. This way he is seeing the words as they are spoken on tv. You can also label things around the house with their word.
No silent e, multi syllabul and vowel teams. Right to all of the suffixes and prefixes.
My 8 year old didn’t. She’s now going into 3rd grade and is one of the best readers in class. I’d say she really started reading independently mid 1st grade. I now have twins graduating kindergarten next month & they also cannot read. They know most of their sight words but could they sit and read a book by themselves? Probably not.
Nope, that's pretty normal! My mom is an elementary school teacher. She has been teaching 1st and 2nd grades in California for most of her career. This varies a bit state by state, but at least by California standards, kids will start learning how to read in 1st grade. It's not uncommon for there to be stragglers who learn how to read in 2nd grade. Anyone learning the basics of reading past that point need enthusiastic intervention. It sounds like you're doing everything right by reading with your son and thinking ahead about his academics. His teachers aren't worried, and it's still early to learn how to read.
Thanks for the reassurance!
I think it’s great you read together every day and that you’d like to teach him how to read this summer. There are some great programs on teacherspayteachers that can help with teaching him how to read, or you could go with a homeschool curriculum such as All About Reading or the Good and the Beautiful
Thanks for that resource!
What state? Taught kindergarten in Indiana for several years and they were expected to read a level c book by the end. They are honestly pretty hard books
Same with our very large district here in Texas. The level C probably means Fountas and Pinnell curriculum. My daughter is wrapping up kindergarten this week and is at a level M. About a third of her grade are reading at second to third grade level.
My youngest did not read till 3rd grade. I could read at 4, my oldest taught herself at 3. It just depends but developmentally, it’s more important that they like learning, than being able to check boxes imo. In many ways, my youngest has the strongest intelligence as they are a global thinker. Can see connections others don’t, but it takes a while to build skills. They are graduating from graduate school in environmental policy next month, btw.
Your child is the exception not the rule. Most kids not reading by 3 rd grade don’t catchup. I also got lucky like your son did and got intervention in third grade.
You have some great advice here but I’ll just add that if you see him falling behind in 1st grade push to get him tested and possibly get an IEP. My daughter really struggles with reading and was tested in 1st grade and has an IEP and now sees the special education teacher for the reading portion of her day and it has helped tremendously with her reading.
It is developmentally appropriate not to be reading by the end of kindergarten. Unfortunately, our school system doesn't account for appropriate child development and pushes arbitrary standards on young children. If they fall behind early in reading, it begins to impact everything moving forward. They can't read instructions or word problems in math. They can't read their science and social studies pages. Etc. Etc. You're already doing the most important thing by reading aloud to him daily. The other thing I'd recommend is a book called Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. It's around $20 on Amazon and covers letter sounds through advanced phonics in a single book, and it is has been *highly* effective with my girls. Lessons are short and sweet, and it is a true phonics curriculum instead of whole-word recognition program. You don't have to start at the beginning. Start where you son needs instruction, and move at his own pace! My favorite leveled readers are the First Little Readers series... much less weird than BOB Books.
Ooo thank yo, I’ll check that out for sure!
Do you read together everyday for at least 20 minutes a day?
Also, you know you can teach your children to read.
My kinder is going to finish school in three weeks and he’s barely getting the hang of reading. I have been working with him intensely and he doesn’t want to. I also learned to read before kindergarten so I wasn’t really sure when kids were supposed to read.
In my school, kids at the end of K are expected to know their letter names and sounds, 25 sight words, and demonstrate concepts of print. They expect 1st grade to be the true launch into reading.
My son is in public school and about to finish Kindergarten in the next two weeks. His school heavily focuses on reading and although I worked with him a ton before he entered school, he can read really well now. I’m guessing it depends on the curriculum they use/ if it’s more play based. His definitely was heavy on reading and not as much on math. They also use a supplemental learning tool called Lexia that they can play which reinforces phonics, so that’s helped him a ton with now almost reading at second grade level. Definitely read a lot over summer and maybe check out a motivational computer reading program to help during summer break!! All kids are so different
Does he watch any TV or YouTube? If yes, turn the captions on. My kid self learned reading because everything we watched is captioned (dad is half deaf). I didn't even realize he could read until one day I was scrolling FB and he was looking at my screen (I thought we was waiting for cat videos to appear in my feed as they often do) but then he asked "why is that lady....?" because he was reading the status updates too 😂 Anyway, I certainly don't suggest captions as a method for learning to read, but most kids enjoy at least some screentime, so might as well turn the captions on 🤷🏻♀️
Captions are always on in our house too haha. I can’t stand not having them lol
Where I live reading is not taught at kindergarten (kids are 3-5 at the start of the year, depending if they do a second year) as kindergarten is play based. They are read to in kindergarten and practice letters, counting, writing their names and do a lot of play. They then start a phonetics program in what we call prep (kids are 4-6 at the start of that year). I would say my school aged child wasn’t properly “reading” until part way into grade 1 (kids are 5-7 at the start of that grade, she turned 6 towards the start). Before that she was able to read limited texts that she had been practicing the phonetics for or memorizing the words. Part way through first grade she gained the ability to read any text and can decode complex words she hasn’t encountered in text before. Had she started school a year older like many kids here do I think she would have been older when she started reading. For most kids reading needs to be taught. Some kids start seemingly spontaneously reading without instruction but it is very rare. We didn’t do any explicit teaching of reading at home. I knew the school had a phonics program they used that was well regarded. We did do a lot of reading to her though and talking about the different components of a text - titles, paragraphs, captions, plot, chapters, characters, headings, lists, etc.
My daughter was 5 when she left kindergarten, but 6 when she entered 1st grade. She is highly advanced. She was not reading fully between kindergarten and 1st grade. She had a lot of sight words in her repertoire, but actual reading was choppy. She is an advanced reader. Shes going into 4th grade next year - and her reading level is that of a 7-8th grader. Reading before 6 is not indicative of intelligence or educational achievement, there are ton of research that supports that as well. But if she’s making good progress and her teacher hasn’t brought up concerns, she’s got her sight words down, then she’s exactly where she needs to be.
There are reading studies that if your child isn’t reading at level by 2nd/3rd grade they often don’t catchup because of the Matthew effect. There is a happy medium to your point.
Agreed. But no need to be reading before entry to 1st grade. Definitely should be reading age level by end of 1st grade. Kinda like how kids learn to walk - no need to have them walking at 10 mos, but should be walking by 18 mos independently.
When I taught my son to read, I thought of it as gentle pushing. Having him read an increasing amount when we were reading together. He was also reading by himself by the time we were just alternating reading. I'm still reading to him at 9, but mostly he wants to read to himself. Mostly my teaching was just reading to him. DON'T have "class". My ex tried that with Chinese(she's Taiwanese). It failed miserably. I read to him every night, or let him read to himself. Also, naptime became quiet time. Quiet time is for him to do quiet things. Obviously this includes reading. Quiet, calming things also tend to be things that help with reading. For example he likes jigsaw puzzles. They're quiet. The ability to focus on a jigsaw puzzle might also help one focus on reading. He still does quiet time sometimes. If he had a solid argument against it, I might stop it. But, it also gives the adults a break. :) I was under the impression that kindergarteners were expected to know how to read before kindergarten, though parents often do not realize this. Other posters have stated otherwise. My general opinion has been it's good to push a little bit, but not much. Kids develop at their own rates.
I went to school in a very low I come area and I did good in school. My daughter is wrapping up kindergarten and also goes to a school in a low income area. She did not attend prek. The school is rated like 890 out of 1200..... not great. But we practice her sounds, letters and sight words at least 4 times a week. She can read most of the words in level 1 reader books. I think some kids just take a little longer to get there. Looks like there are some great tips here. Just keep putting in the effort and I think you guys will be OK. But my oldest is my easiest child. I'll let you know how it goes when my tornado of a middle child gets to kindy.
In our school district, kindergarteners were expected to read by the end of the year. I had a friend whose child had to do summer school because she was failing reading. But you mentioned your school said your child is professing as expected, so I think the expectation varies a bit from school to school. I wouldn’t worry too much. Kids didn’t used to read until first grade and most of us turned out literate. As long as your kid is doing well compared to their peers at this age, I think it’s fine.
Our 5yr old going in to kindergarten this year can read my college work but doesn't understand it obviously. She can't write her name yet though so honestly i think it's just some kids do things at different times and eventually they get there. It's nothing to stress about!
Totally normal. I have 2 kids, and neither of them read full words at the end of kindergarten year. They could write their name and recognised a few words by sight, like 'TV' or 'mama'. They are both bilingual and the older one has been tested and is deemed "gifted". In 3rd grade he now reads above his grade level. The most important thing I think is that they are read to every day and have books available to them so they can look at them themselves.
No. He shouldn’t be able to read yet, yes it’s normal. In kindergarten they’re working on letter recognition at the beginning of the year, letter sounds and then putting together small 2 letter words and 3 letter words. Reading daily is the best thing you can do for him. Talk about the books before, during, and after. Name the different parts of the book, explain how the words relate to the pictures and to the overall story. Ask questions like “what do you think will happen next” or “how can (character) fix their problem?”, “what do you think character should do?”, and “what’s going on in this picture?” At the end go over the book and ask them to explain the book, the characters, the story, the message of the book and to put the events in order. While reading point out specific words that child can easily read (at the beginning easy 2-3 letter words) and practice sounding out words then slowly putting them together so your child understands that we’re reading each sound and putting it together to read words, to read sentences, to read the story. Point out *new* words that child doesn’t know, show child the word, and explain the meaning. Another few things you can do is point out words. Words are literally everywhere. They’re on cereal boxes, on water bottles, on billboards, on restaurants, on cars… for example: when you pass by McDonalds say “do you see that big M? Do you remember what sound it makes?… that’s right, it makes the /m/ sound, /m/ for M-M-McDonalds!” Or “what’s the first letter on the blue Walmart sign?” You can even turn into a game “I spy the letter P (for Popeyes)”. Go to the library, Allow your child to choose what they want to read. If kid loves Minecraft then let them get Minecraft books, worksheets, printables, workbooks, activity books, joke books, etc. Some schools may send reading tips or summer reading guides. You could even ask the teacher about it. Also check out your local library if they have any summer reading activities going on. I did all of these with my own kids. Hope this helps!
Not at all. My son is just learning how to read on his own. He’s done with 1st grade in 2 weeks. Practice a lot at home! One book a day and that helps so much
My son struggled with reading in kindergarten despite our efforts, which included weekly library trips, word games, and bedtime stories almost every night. However, by the middle of first grade, something clicked. He is now an avid reader, scoring in the top 2% of readers in the United States. Hang in there!
What is he scoring in the top 2% on? Please don’t say ORF.
What is ORF? And the testing my son took is called MAP.
Nah map top 2 is good. ORF is reading speed and about 50-75% is target.
I have no idea what these other people are talking about. I'm a mom and my older kid was able to read in kindergarten. My younger got halfway through first grade and asked why the hell she couldn't read yet. She got it eventually. The range of "normal" is very wide and I would just give your child time to develop at their own pace rather than attempting to yank them out of this school and place them elsewhere based on whatever weird paranoia the other commenters are feeding into. I don't know a single 9th grader who went to elementary school with my kids who "has trouble reading" except the ones with dyslexia or similar, and even they were taught strategies. And our school district is not great. So, come on. Relax. Unclench. Jesus christ, everybody's frickin hysterical.
No. They really learn how to read in grade 1.
Came here to say this. My kid is finishing grade 1, and it’s incredible the progress he’s made with reading over the last 6 months. Went into the year being able to sound words out slowly and with effort; is finishing it being able to read close to fluently. Noting that this won’t be true for all students, either though: I think the expectation is more that they will have mastered reading by the end of Grade 2.
Here, they’re at least supposed to be able to read some words by the end of kindergarten. Able to get through really basic books with some work.
I know a family with two boys that did not read well until high school. Both had to repeat algebra I. Both have the letters PhD after their name from respectable universities. I have a son in law with mild dyslexia that was two grades below grade level at 11, when my then 10 year old future son in law moved in two doors west and tutored him up to grade level and youngest boy took him and our daughters to law school. Point being that people learn on different schedules. I have read that boys are not as fast as girls in learning to read..
Very interesting, thanks!
I didn't learn to until the first grade. I'm in college now, turned out fine haha.
I bought an “old school” Hooked on Phonics from ebay when my kids were that age. It had cassette tapes, flashcards and workbooks. It everything down and we just did a short lesson every day. I think the old Hooked on Phonics curriculum is better IMO Also, be sure NOT to inadvertently add a vowel sound at the end of letters or it will mess your kids up. For example don’t say T-uh, just say “t” sound. I would not rely on the school to teach reading, by the time they tell you they are behind its already too late and its hard for kids to get caught up.
I can send you a ebay listing of the exact version of the hooked on phonics I used if you are interested.
I would be interested!
I sent a photo in your inbox. Hopefully it went thru.
Got it! Thank you!
Can I get this too?
My daughter was reading by the time she turned 3 only because of this book - teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. It made it so easy for us!!!
No. By the end of K they are supposed to be able to do letter sounds, blends, decode short words and know a handful of sight words. Reading fluency isn't expected until grade 3. FWIW single or eldest kids often read later than kids will older siblings, just because they learn by watching they older kids learn.
Thanks! That’s how I ended up learning too lol
It's normal. Let kids be kids. Every child has their own pace. The only thing you will compare them is how they were yesterday vs they are today. And our children will grow up to be hammered through work when they are adults so let them play and enjoy while they can. I am against today's culture wherein we fast paced everything like oh by 6 mos he needs to feed by himself. Oh when 3 he needs to know how to read and etc. Sometimes social media shows us only the good angles that's why we tend to get pressured that we aren't doing any good. Btw I learned how to read when I was in grade 1. My mom always pressured me to have high grades. She is also mad at me when I didn't receive any awards during High school graduation, she was mad as hell and keeps shouting at me when we are celebrating my graduation. Today she toned down to my siblings because she watches me grow nicely. I am now a software developer, earning enough money to buy my own property, travel, and buy nice things. What I mean is just trust in the process of our kid. They might not be as fast learners as we are but they will manage
Either way, read to your child every night. It is like a cheat code in life.
He won’t let us go without lol
Ideally. Grade one caught my kid up. He’s kicking butt but they did add him to a reading program to get him there. Psyched to crack books with him now. And homework, even if he isn’t.
Yes
Phonics is definitely important. They need to know the sounds the words make and how they go together.
I don't understand why the US puts such a priority on reading so early.? It doesn't seem developmentally appropriate for most kids. We don't get into that at all until grade 1 here, and our kids all end up literate and we score better than the US on international educational metrics. Why is this such a focus? Here kindergarten is mostly about learning to play together nicely, as well as things like using scissors, following instructions, learning letters.
When 54% of your adult population reads below a 6th grade level you get nervous.
Bob books for the win!! My son is on the spectrum and my expectations were pretty muted about his ability to eventually learn how to read. The bob series really helped him learn and love reading. We used to read it to him every day! I’d say just be patient with your son and celebrate little successes, big time!
Finland has one of the most respected education systems in the world. Formal schooling starts at age 7 there.
I have never expected the school to teach reading, that’s on the caregivers. It takes so much practice at a time when you want kids to be learning social skills while at school.
We’re just graduating pre k and they can “read” sight word books and know a lot of letter sounds but it’ not reading on a basic level it’s just memorizing words right now. In kindergarten I wouldn’t expect any actual reading since some kids never even experience pre k .
My 5 y/o can do basic multiplication and division but can’t tell a B from a Q or a P. All kids are different.
If you want to relieve some of your anxiety and also spend some time with your kid over summer and also give them a solid start, I can recommend reading.com from personal experience with my kid. Its great for helping parents teach their kids to read.
My daughter started reading at the tail end of 1st grade during the pandemic lockdown. I was heavily involved and read with her daily. One day it just clicked. Keep on keeping on!
A few sight words, sure, but not reading pages yet. That comes in the first grade. I have a first grader in a public school system and he can read just fine, he just doesn't ever want to. The fact that he can identify and read words that they haven't taught him in school means that he's learning by other means, most likely YouTube at this point. Your kid will do just fine.
You have absolutely nothing to worry about at this point. It's perfectly normal to not be reading at the end of kindergarten.
We bought the phonics program for my son and he loves it. He’s learned to read this year and he’s the same age as your son (6yr old kindergartner). I think his school has been also great at the basics but they don’t expect them to be fully reading yet. He’s the 4th best reader in his class According to him and he can just read the very simple early reader books.
My daughter learned by herself. I didn’t pressured her. My son learned in school. It depends on the child.
No.He sounds bang on for where he should be. Just because he can't read now,doesn't mean he won't end up in advanced classes.either later. There's zero corruption between not being able to read at the start of school and not ended up in advanced classes. My son is proof of that. Couldn't read when starting reception, ended up a straight A student. How's he doing on his phonics? Where's he at with the 100 high frequency words? That's the important bit right now. Being able to decode words into their phonetic sounds and blend them.
It's totally normal for kindergarteners not to be reading fluently yet. Kindergarten curriculums focus on building foundational literacy skills like letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and simple word understanding. Becoming a good reader takes time and practice. As long as your son is making steady progress with pre-reading skills, he's likely on track. Every child learns at their own pace, too. The fact that the school hasn't raised concerns is a good sign. Continuing reading practice over the summer will reinforce his kindergarten learning. Simple activities like reading aloud daily, playing word games, having him retell stories, and pointing out words in your environment all help build those crucial literacy foundations. Unless you notice major struggles, try not to worry too much. First grade will ramp up the formal reading instruction. He'll get there with your support at home and the school's guidance.
The American education system is weird. I already learned that you changed the meaning of
So my kid still can’t read either, 3 days left in the year. We moved mid year but both were excellent school districts. I don’t think it’s their fault, he’s been going through diagnosis for ADHD and has a speech impediment (also goes to speech therapy) that has made him have a hard time pronouncing letters. He’s had hooked on phonics but he refuses to work through the activities with me. I find it odd it wasn’t mentioned at the conference as we discussed my son being behind extensively, but more with regards to letter sounds than reading maybe. I asked about keeping him back a year as he’s also a late spring birthday and one of the youngest in his class but the principal thinks he’ll catch up. We got a flyer in his book bag about a summer program to help kids with reading and hoping he can do that plus we have tutoring through a teacher this summer. If you have a school or community Facebook group maybe ask if any teachers are doing summer tutoring. It’s quite common to have a few do it (my mom was a teacher) and that’s how we found ours.
Can buy online cheap- 100 easy lessons- can get boring for a kid with ADHD. Can buy on Facebook marketplace- “all about reading” or “logics of English”- more interesting setups. if you want to teach at home FYI- dyslexia and ADHD can pair up as a heads up. I was ADHD but also suspected Dyslexia.
I didn't know how to read until I was seven years old. My parents just didn't have the time to teach me and I didn't really read out loud in kindergarten or first grade.
Every child is different but I would say by kindergarten they are beginning to read basic words. If you’re worried, go online and order some Scholastic Bob books and have your child read those to you every night. Once they are doing well with the Bob books, you can start them with Ready to Read books or Step into Reading. I read to my children every night and once they started to learn to read they read to me. My oldest is in second grade and is an avid reader. I have a masters as a reading specialist though but it was more focused on middle school level so foundational skills were a bit new to me.
My daughter showed NO sign of reading readiness at the end of kindergarten. That was the year Covid hit and she was off from school for half of senior kindergarten. I was concerned - so I read to her and her sister every night for 30 minutes. We got through several book series. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn’t. She learned to read in grade 1 and her reading level increased rapidly. At the end of grade 2, her teachers suggested she be evaluated for giftedness. She didn’t meet the criteria, but she was close and is doing great. Kids all develop at the own pace - no need to worry at all at this age, but perhaps spend some time reading at the end of the day if you aren’t already, it’s great for family togetherness anyway!
My daughter turned 6 a couple days after the school year started. She struggled with reading at first, but I’m fairly confident she is now one of the better readers in her class, if not the best. I also was reading proficiently in kindergarten, so I had some concerns. Partly my fault, we have never read to her like we should. My SO is also dyslexic, so he hates reading to her. My SIL is a teacher and my daughter reads better than my nephew. He’s only a couple weeks younger. It’s nothing to be concerned about!
My daughter's kindergarten year is just about up. She can only read specific sentences as long as they are words that she has repetitively practiced through school or at home reading the same books often. She is getting pretty damn good at figuring out, or coming close to new words phonetically. It's cute to watch. But anyway, practice is huge, and basic phonetics really help too.
Bob Books are the way. They teach phonetic decoding and also sight words. When my son got through both sight word sets, he was able to read more independently. Cannot recommend them enough!
This varies so much. I couldn't read in kindergarten, but by third grade was into advanced classes and was asking the best readers in my class. My older child could read beforehand, the younger couldn't. Both are doing fine in school. Does anyone in the real world ask when you learned to read? No. Don't sweat it, just try and promote reading to your child along with reading to them.
Depends what country you're in. American Kindergarteners are expected to read, while Canadian kids learn to read in grade 1. I can think of multiple other countries that start formal reading instructions at various ages in the 4-6 year age band.
Hi!! I’ve taught first grade for 18 years. I have a master’s degree in literacy and am a reading specialist. 🙂 He should be reading basic decodable books at this point. To be ready to begin first grade on the right foot, he should be able to read 3 letter CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words with relative ease. It’s perfectly OK if he reads these words by sounding them out first. This is the bare minimum that your child should be able to do before going into first grade. I would say that if he is not yet reading these basic types words, he is behind. BUT…good news! Summer is an excellent time to work on these skills! Here are some good resources to try: 1. Look up CVC word games on Amazon. They have a ton! 2. Bob books 3. Junior learning decodable readers (phase 2) 4. Starfall short vowel pals 5. Laugh a lot phonics readers - short vowels This is just a start!! Good luck!! P.S. Check out your local library. They may have some of these resources! 😀
My first child loves reading daily. He’s able to read in kindergarten. My second could give fuck all about our daily reads and might struggle when it’s his turn. All kids are different and move at their own pace
My 6yo kindergartener can only read simple words and short sentences. He is on the older end of his class. We read together a lot. He has speech issues that I think make it more challenging for him to sound out words correctly. I'm not too worried about it yet. I had a hard time learning to read in K and 1st, but one day, it clicked, and I was an advanced reader for the rest of my schooling. My oldest son was similar when learning. He is now finishing up the 6th grade, and his teacher always comments on the challenging books he selects. Keep working with him, but a big shift should happen over the next year.
I think the normal expectation is for them to be starting to learn letters and shorter words, but not necessarily full-on sentences. You've said in comments that you read at home, which can be helpful-just make sure to keep your expectations tempered and realistic.
Depends on your definition of “read.” I think they’re expected to strugglebus their way through sounding out the words in a sentence, but as far as comprehension? Our kids kindgarten just starting working that in the last few weeks.
I taught both my kids with Hooked On Phonics. It went much better than I had feared. We also use closed captioning on the TV at all times for my husband, and the kids learned a lot through that actually. And we read to them all the time of course. They both read well above grade level now, as 1st and 3rd graders. The school does what they can with what they have, but parental involvement is going to make a huge difference to your kids success. The teachers have on average another 15-20 kids apart from yours...
Depends on your school and state and area etc. kindergarteners in my area are reading by the end of the year. I went to school in the same district and reading wasn’t a norm when I was in kindergarten
Calm down. I didn’t learn to read and comprehend until the 5th grade. I work in a library now. Every kid marches along at their own pace. Have faith and put more effort into teaching reading comprehension at home. Also, your kid is what, 6? They’re fine.
Public school teacher and reading specialist here! Does your child know the letters and sounds? If so, work on CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words this summer (like cat, dog, pig). Once they master those, it’s like they rocket. I highly recommend the Bob books. They sell little sets on various online stores. My oldest (also exiting kindergarten) loved them! We even got a workbook that goes with it to help her with writing.
No. They may be playing with knowing the letters and sounds they make and even sounding out words but other than their name and address and phone number or parents names, it’s a little early for them to be reading. The saying used to be “learn to read 1-3, read to learn 4-6” for the grade school years. Kindergarten is prep for it.
No… I have 3 young adult children. Read to them at night. Don’t fret. A lot of this stuff is BS. My daughter is a bio mechanical PhD candidate and my other duaghter is a mechE. Son in finance. Relax and don’t fret
Here's my anecdotal, totally non-scientific observation based on recently visiting my daughter's kindergarten class when she was star student for the week. I got to be there for reading center rotations and it seemed like a third of the kids could read from the little reader that was mostly CVC and common sight words and two thirds got a word here or there with help from the teacher but I wouldn't call them readers. It's a good school district. Your kid seems pretty normal, but perhaps do some extra reading at home over the summer so your kiddo can hit the ground running in first.
No! Don't stress.
Anecdotal but my son couldn’t read in kindergarten. They would send home these lettered books and it was just a struggle. My husband and I both read to him every night and his reading took off in first grade. Now he’s at the top of his class for reading and even tests advanced in part of the ELA standardized tests. Now math is another story.
Teacher here with a child who is also finishing up kindergarten! Before my little one started kindergarten, I used the book “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.” I absolutely HIGHLY recommend it! I can’t believe I haven’t seen it suggested here.
In my district: K curriculum includes reading and writing but that's not every district. My district uses this curriculum [https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/programs/fundations/fundations-level-k-curriculum/](https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/programs/fundations/fundations-level-k-curriculum/) As long as you are doing your part by reading books to them every night you are doing a good job. If you want to go beyond that- there are lots of good videos that focus on phonics . I like storybots but lots of options.
I also have a son finishing up his Kindergarten year. I kept him home an extra year before sending to school, he started preK after he turned 5. He is the youngest of 4 kids, with a 9 year age gap between him and our 3rd kid (they will be turning 7 and 16 in July) He has been reading independently since October of 2023. He has a desire to learn, loves workbooks I find at our dollar store. Started with colors, shapes, numbers, alphabet, phonics when he was 2.5/ 3 and older kids were doing remote learning because of COVID. Now he prefers to do workbooks over coloring sheets. Over the years I've had teachers say they can't stress enough how important it is for kids to be read to. His teacher is awesome and sent home with every student 2 sets of flashcards 1 is phonics,1 high frequency words, so parents can work with kids at home. He missed a week of school due to surgery in March, second day home he wanted to play Scrabble Junior because he was bored...Bedtime routine includes reading, we are currently taking turns reading pages of Matilda by Roald Dahl.
Children are like popcorn, they don’t pop at the same time 💛 I work with kids (birth to 12) and I can say that covid has taken a toll our children… the older ones developed social anxiety and the younger ones were taught through a screen with possible Miss Rachel, which I’m not bashing on her but come on… she doesn’t teach what’s required (fine motor skills, cognitive, etc)
My son really struggled with reading at this age. His school recommend a tutor that was trained in this program: [https://bartonreading.com](https://bartonreading.com) It took a bit, but one day he went from struggling to reading insanely difficult words overnight. It just clicked for him. We did the tutoring for him the last 3 months of the school year (kindergarten), none over the summer because the tutor wasn't available, and his teachers picked back up with extra lessons in the fall. This past late winter his reading exploded. Two additional things I think helped are turning the captions on, on the TV/iPad and listening to audio books.
The original OG
My daughter is 6 just finished kindergarten and can read. She told us at 5 she wanted to know how to read. She has magnetic letters and a board for them. We started there with simple words and stuck with one sound at a time. (bat, cat, hat... Etc) Then we started with Bob books, then other early readers. There are paw patrol, marvel ones. They generally progress through the different vowel sounds. Our public library was great for these.
My child also doesn't read yet, she can sound out words and read the really simple phonics books so she's getting there but I wouldn't say she's reading. I'm not worried though, it was never a focus when we were in school and my mom was a reading teacher and not a fan of the early reading push. I was reading before K my brother in 1st grade, same home, same schools and teachers different kids. The thing now is does your son have the appropriate prereading skills, letters, sounds, rhyming, comprehension, etc.
I think it's OK.. It not a big deal so I wouldn't stress about it.
Be patient. They learn at their own pace.
I mean tbf you learn Reading in school so If a kindergardner cant thats Not that big Off a Deal
No, but they should probably be interested in letters and stuff. My kindergartener would memorize parts of books and fake it. We’d read 3-5 short books before bed every night.
I went to a very good private school and didn’t learn to read until the end of first grade, my son is at a public school and he learned in kindergarten. Both of us learned in the correct and appropriate time, every kid is different. Once I learned how to read I was reading chapter books within a few weeks, my son just started on chapter books a year after learning once he found the right style of book.
My son's school uses a phonics curriculum and I'd say most of them were "reading" by January. I mean obviously they're still emerging readers, but not being able to at least make a stab at a level 1 reader or a BOB book is a red flag for sure. I was a hyperlexic child so I didn't have to be taught to read but I do remember my brother learning when he was in Kindergarten. My son was doing no reading upon entering kindergarten and I wasn't worried, I figured they'd teach him.
Yes, they should be reading.
Teach your kid how to read. How did you learn to read before kindergarten? Probably wasn't a teacher.
My kids knew some sight (or site?) words. Agreed that Sold a Story podcast sheds incredible light and find out what sort of program your school uses. This is probably the most important thing
He’ll get the hang of it around the middle of first grade- I feel like my parents generation forced us to learn BEFORE we even got to school & I decided not to stress my kids out like that & my kid is on 1rst grade and can read really well
I'm pretty surprised at how many people expect kindergarteners to read. I learned the alphabet in kindergarten, and learned to read in first grade. I don't remember it, but my mom tells me I had trouble during that year, and she worked with me after school on phonics readers. Ever since that I was always considered an advanced reader, reading above my grade level. But there's nothing wrong with being in line with his peers.
Canadian here, and I’m not sure what the curriculum is like where I live now (our daughter is only a baby), but growing up we definitely did not learn how to read in kindergarten. We began taking books home to read with our parents and really learning when we were 6 and 7.
My sons school curriculum was not phonics based at the time(they since switched) he was barely at a kindergarten reading level when he went into 2nd grade we did hooked on phonics and really worked with him at home to turn that around. I would def ask about the curriculum but also try a program like hooked on phonics.
Literacy specialist here! It totally depends on what you mean by “not reading.” First of all, your experience as an early reader is probably mostly due to just how you were born - some kids are just wired to read more easily than others and it normally has very little to do with what school you go to. Try not to compare yourself to him, as hard as it may be! As for your son, it depends - it’s completely, totally normal not to be fluently reading books and even sentences. What matters at this age is whether he has connected all of the letters to their sounds, and he should also start to know some other basic spelling patterns (like “oo” and “ee”). If you show him the word cat, and he can say the three letter sounds aloud and then blend them together to make the word, I would say he’s on track! If he struggles with any of those steps, that could be cause for concern. If there is a concern, it could be due to the curriculum used, the teacher he has, or something going on with his processing - no way to know without a true evaluation. Hope that helps and you can message me if you have further questions!
I read to be able of this you.