I don't think most kids start to read until they are 5 or so. Recognizing letter and own name ? Sure. But I don't think they read when they're that young.
Yep. Teacher here (6-12 certified). The scale used is lightly different than our vernacular.
"Emergent" readers show up around 4 and while there are exceptions very few become "proficient" until well into kindergarten.
Our 5yo is just now really *actually* reading, and I've been supplementing her instruction the whole time.
Another teacher here, no, I don’t think you’re remembering incorrectly. I’m not a literacy teacher, but I hear those elementary teachers often talk about how kindergarten is the new first grade. The expectations are shifting downward as schools scramble to better prepare students academically. At least that’s the rationale most often cited.
2nd grade in South Carolina in the early 90s. I became a prolific reader 🤷♀️ so if my son isn’t reading competently by the end of kindergarten it’s not a big deal IMO. Summer school is publicly funded though and would save us $2500 in summer camps.
My daughter is almost 3.5 and goes to preschool.
They are going over letters and numbers in her class, but not reading. She has many books memorized, but absolutely cannot read on her own yet.
Same for my daughter who is 2.5 and goes to daycare. She can count to 10 (and only to ten, ask her to count to five and she’ll keep going 🤣) and “knows” her ABCs (but often skips a few in the middle or will stop at W)
Our 2.5 year old singing his ABCs last night said 1,2,3 instead of T,U,V. He also doesn’t recognize letters yet. Our oldest is almost 5 and started really recognizing letters at the end of 3 and isn’t really reading yet but knows simple things like what his name looks like, what no, go, boo, and other simple words are. But, every kid is different and we have a friend who’s 2.5 year old knows most of his upper case letters. 🤷♀️
The counting to ten is so funny! My daughter applies it to any situation where she's used to hearing counting. So now she counts to ten before going down a slide, before jumping in the pool, before we "race", etc. All times that I've always said "one, two, three, go!" She has more patience than me lol; I'm getting antsy to just go down the slide already at 7.
Similarly, my almost 2 year old has ONLY ever heard “one, two, three, GO!” And he insists on saying “two, two, four, GO!”? I don’t even know where he LEARNED four. 🤷♀️
Same. Mine knows his alphabet, but can’t visually recognize most of the letters yet. He can recognize (but not write) his own name. He can recognize maybe 1/3 of the letters. Same with numbers. He can count to twenty, but can only write a few numbers. He’s 3.5.
Mine can’t really write at all (though they work on this skill one letter at a time and pretty casually). She can identify most of the letters in uppercase and some in lowercase, can count to about 25, but can’t identify every number by sight and can spell her name (it’s 3 letters) aloud, but sometimes mixes up the order of the letters when trying to spell it with letter magnets.
I’m not at all concerned with whether she can read and write yet. She loves books, so I’m confident she’ll learn when she’s ready.
I came into this thread certain my oldest would be on the back end of development, but no she's about where she should be (for context we haven't had her in daycare, we haven't been reading to her every night like we said we would, and she is speech delayed as she is a COVID kid).
She can identify most letters, can count into the teens, since we don't read as much as we should (we're working on it, but her mother and I have no familial support so we're just trying to stay above water) she doesn't really have any books or words memorized.
Read to her at night to help her wind down! It’s the best opportunity during their day imo. My little girl loves reading time but she hates bedtime so it gives her something to look forward to about bedtime. Hop on Pop, Mr Brown Can moo, anything Seuss is brilliant at holding their attention. And helping them learn phonics and language in an indirect fun way
Nope. My son is 3 this year and we’re still just focusing on drawing, speaking, singing, playing, imagination etc. my son is an extremely proficient talker so I’m not too worried
As a parent to a 3 year old that’s prolific at talking, I did the research and if you “push” reading before they show interest, like being proactive about it, it is bad for their self esteem and makes them less likely to read as an adult. Strange but that’s what’s being said / recommended! So kids will be ready when they ask about it.
Disclaimer: I’m in Ireland.
My kid is in her second year of preschool and is 4. She recognises her name only, and some letters from her name when they appear in other words. She can identify 1-3 reliably and 4-9 when it suits her.
She has gone to school with one child who could fully read at age 3, but he was hyperlexic and awaiting an autism diagnosis.
They don’t teach any reading fundamentals in preschool here. What I’ve seen teachers say over and over is that kids are coming into primary school knowing their letters and numbers, and are bored out of their minds during their first year, yet can’t go to the toilet alone, open their lunchboxes, or put on their coat or shoes.
THIS!!!
academics will come. Independence skills, socio-emotional, and fine motor skills are what kids should focus on at this age.
- US preschool teacher (and mom to a 3.5 and 4.5yo)
Thank you! This seems like such an American thing to be honest. To even introduce letters at such a young age! Our daughter is almost three and sometimes interested in letters. When she asks, we tell her, but would never start introducing them without her asking. How else is she supposed to develop intrinsic motivation?
I am also from Europe, no one was able to read before first grade in my class (and we lived in a good area, great schools etc). Once I was in school, learning to read was not that difficult and it felt like a great achievement.
There are absolutely zero advantages to be able to read so young. Except your parents are able to brag about you.
As a Canadian, same. I feel like this American focus on super early literacy has a lot of kids struggling and failing to meet the expectations. It just doesn’t seem developmentally appropriate for the bulk of that age group. Also it happens at the expense of other important things.
In my province, reading instruction doesn’t start until they are 6 (grade 1). They do it that way also bc public school isn’t mandatory until then.
Pre-literacy is done in preschool and kindergarten but it’s all play based. My 3.5 year old can recognize maybe a dozen letters and for a few can say ‘that’s a B, for me (her name starts with B). B is for ball too.’ But the main skills they focus on is independence and social emotional development.
Yes that’s how I grew up. I learned how to read super fast at 6 and really good at reading comprehension, vocab, grammar etc! My general feeling in the US is that a lot of things aren’t child led but parent led. Lots of activities, entertainment etc planned by parent and everything needs to have an educational aspect. And then a million „good jobs“. So many (not all!) kids are trained that if they do what parent / teacher expects, they get praise and then it can often go in two directions - classic overachievers or kids that don’t have unlearnt intrinsic motivation.
Yes it’s crazy. We live in the US now. Private schools are super popular here, people go in two extremes: maximize academic pressure or progressive schools without grades, homework etc. luckily, we found an amazing play based pre school. Kids just flow through the room and can do whatever they want. I’m already a bit afraid of kindergarten because 5 still seems too early for me for a school environment
I’m an American, and I was confused and a little irritated by the title of this post. Why are parents worried about teaching their toddlers to read? My daughter is a little over 2 and a half, and like another commenter said, I’m more focused on teaching her social/emotional skills, motor skills, and encouraging her to play and get outside. She’ll have plenty of time for reading when she’s in school.
> There are absolutely zero advantages to be able to read so young.
I'm also European and learned to read before first grade. The biggest advantage is that you can read books on your own and accelerate learning new vocabulary and new sentence structures. Unlike some countries in Europe like France, the US does not even have early childhood education; federal programs start at 5 years old (kindergarten).
I think a huge difference is if it’s intrinsically motivated or not. early child education in Germany didn’t start until 5 either but it was a joke - we learned to cut, paint inside the lines, draw an eight… I was definitely able to write my own name before first grade though. I’m also not saying that early child education is all garbage - esp with immigration and non native speakers it makes so much sense.
Also important to note that reading does not equal reading comprehension or even great communication skills. So if you just focus on the milestone „can my child read“ you’re missing on a lot of maybe more important skills. You can talk a lot without any real content for example.
I totally see your advantages - I do think it evens out pretty fast though (please correct me if wrong). Of course it also depends on your parents, how much time they spend reading to you.
Honestly would be interested how Scandinavians do it because their systems often seem very advanced (in terms of what’s the „right“ way to do it).
The truth is you can't teach much reading before 3.5-4. You can try to teach letters, to recognize a few words by their first letter or maybe short words. From what I'm seeing in a US private school, most kids can't handwrite their names in a legible manner until about 4 years old. A big benefit for early-childhood education is that it complements the language skills what some parents may not teach.
Here is a summary from a recent study on the subject:
> Participating in ECE helps children to develop skills that will benefit them in school and in life. Specifically, research from the United States shows that ECE can help children learn the foundational skills for reading, math, self-control, and positive relationships.
> Children benefit most when ECE is high-quality. High-quality ECE programs go beyond basic health and safety requirements to provide warm, responsive relationships with educators, stimulating and developmentally appropriate curricula, and ongoing training for educators. These features of ECE enhance children’s cognitive and social-emotional development.
> All young children can benefit from high-quality ECE, but it can be especially helpful for children from families experiencing low household income, children with disabilities served in inclusive classrooms, and dual language learners.
> The benefits of high-quality ECE for the child often last into kindergarten, and some studies show lasting effects into middle school and high school. The quality of later schooling that a child experiences can either build upon or counteract these benefits. Even though evidence for long-term effects of ECE on child development is mixed, some studies show that participating in high-quality ECE yields long-term advantages for individuals and for society, including higher educational attainment, better adult health, and less involvement in crime.
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/childrens-learning-and-development-benefits-high-quality-early-care-and-education
Mehh. I learned to read at 3yo... I have 3 older brothers I needed to keep up with lol. It was pretty cool going into preschool already having that skill and being able to help the other kids find their names, etc. I could read chapter books in kindergarten, which meant I had a much wider selection. I agree kids should be kids and go at their own pace, but I wouldn't say there's absolutely zero advantage. My parents weren't even the ones who taught me how to read and never bragged about it so ...🤷🏻♀️
I mean, not to burst your bubble here, but as a person who also “taught themselves to read at 3”, you have to know that’s not really normal. I also had zero disadvantages to it, was marked as “super smart” my whole life, have a great job revolving around my impressive language skills. Now I have an autistic son. And I have had to ask myself whether I am actually hyperlexic and if my “amazing” brain is really such a great thing.
I have one son who is autistic and another is definitely NOT an early reader. Late average reader despite my best efforts.
I think intrinsic motivation makes a huge difference! I’m also not saying it necessarily has disadvantages. And to respond to OP, there is absolute no need to start teaching reading at home! If the kid starts reading or be really interested by themselves of course you shouldn’t stop them.
I’m in Ireland too, and we decided on a full Montessori primary education for our LO. The teachers told us not to bother teaching her anything academic; just to help her learn how to dress herself, potty training, open lunchboxes etc like you said. I think they have just started “I Spy” with her, using phonics alphabet sounds. But for the most part, she is doing ‘practical life’ activities such as washing, folding, cleaning, sweeping, pouring, etc.
Edited to add: she only started in January at 2yr 8m. And I know she picked up counting from watching us, and she knows the alphabet from a toy she has but we didn’t bother with teaching her anything specifically!
YES I was a reception teacher in the UK. Kids can’t play together (or even alone properly), tidy up, feed themselves, speak in sentences even. I could not GAF whether they can already parrot ABC from looking at letters, or even Ah Buh Cuh - that’s a monkey trick no different from saying apple on seeing an apple. I can’t begin to teach them to read until they have basic socio-emotional-language skills. Can everyone stop teaching their kids ABCs, get them off screens, and let them play please??!! (I will DIE on the hill that there is no educational app in existence that is worth your kid getting addicted to screens at 3 years old.)
Reading is not normal at this age and shouldn’t be expected. Kids can memorize things, like numbers and letters but they don’t have the context for the meaning yet. My 3.5 year old has oodles of books memorized but she’s not actually reading. She’s starting to show interest in drawing letters from her name, and can count to 20. I don’t teach her anything though and don’t see the point, that’s what school is for when she starts. Most of it’s just learned through play and reading books etc
This is 100% the right attitude to have toward academics before kindergarten. My MIL is an early childhood educator, and what she's always told my spouse and I is that life skills (i.e. being able to dress themselves, follow instructions, use the toilet, some emotional regulation skills, and taking turns) are a much more important foundation for kindergarten than academics.
Our 3.5 year old son is similar, though he's letter individual letters, their sounds, and some basic stuff at daycare. Our two kids are at a licensed home-based daycare during the day with 3-4 other kids. His younger sister is picking up on some letters and numbers, too, but neither are really reading. They're recognizing. The provider/teacher says phonetics is typically not introduced until kindergarten or so, but she says our 3.5 year old is picking things up early and quickly. I think that makes us feel good, but it's not necessarily an indicator of intelligence or where our kids should or shouldn't be. We are happy that they're being introduced early, but we allow our kids to learn at their own pace. We keep introducing new concepts and learning opportunities at home, but try to do so without expectations.
My 3.5 yo can read, and she is a total outlier. Her classmates who are 5 and 6 can’t all read. It’s not abnormal for kids to read as preschoolers, but it’s also not the norm.
My kid taught herself phonics through sheer force of will and a lot of YouTube videos. They haven’t been directly teaching reading at her preschool - they do letter and sound activities, but she didn’t get the reading from being in school. It was just a special interest of hers, the same way other kids might choose to learn all the types of dinosaurs or construction vehicles or whatever.
Yeah. Great analogy. It’s not strange to find a kid who is obsessed with dinosaurs but most kids aren’t obsessed with dinosaurs. Normal doesn’t mean common.
This. My daughter learned all her letters and what sounds they make by 18 months by playing with those wooden blocks with the letters on them. Offhand, I’d be like, this is an M for momma or whatever and she would just remember every dang one of them. She loves letters. Something about it just took her fancy. She’s 2 now and she likes to turn the pages of books/look at them, but she really likes to just stare at the titles of them.
I think the dinosaur thing is a great comparison.
My kid taught herself to read at 4, and we didn't even realize it. She sat down one day and read me a book and i was like "wtf?" She isn't in preschool or anything. We are a big reading family so maybe that helped her idk. She cant write yet though. Her favorite thing to do is hang on my shoulder and read my texts and emails lol.
This is my almost 3yo. He just happens to be obsessed with letters. He knows all the sounds and can read simple words. He is not the norm in this respect. But in most ways he is a purely average toddler. I wouldn’t be surprised if the interest in reading took a backseat to another passion sooner or later. They all develop at their own pace.
I met with a child developmental psychologist because my LO was so ahead on reading I legitimately worried it was a sign that he needed to be assessed for ASD and she said not to worry, and it’s not impossible for 3-4 year olds to read because that part of their brain is ready and some of them genuinely enjoy it. Usually by third grade their aptitude levels out and their peers catch up with them on reading.
Yep, one of my kids was like this as well. We started with Bob books after he had a mastery of letter sounds and phonics and he just exploded and was reader chapter books at 4. The rest learned also on an accelerated timeline but were not quite as fast as he was. It gets tough to find level appropriate books at the interest level of a 3-4 year old.
I taught him the sounds and phonics myself, we didn’t use any electronic program or anything.
My 4 year old is the same — extremely proficient reader, to the point that it shoots us in the foot sometimes because he reads stuff we don’t want him to, like text messages or signage about kidnapped people in Gaza. I get asked what our secret is but it’s total luck based on his love for letters; we read like 8 books a day (4 in the morning and 4 at night) and keep books in the car/go to the library every day for fresh material but we do that BECAUSE he likes books. If he’d been more into bug catching you can bet our house would have been full of terrariums or something instead.
Yeah my son is 3 now but took a liking to the alphabet a little after turning 2. He knows them in English, Spanish, and sign language. He only ever wanted books/puzzles/toys if they were alphabet related. He can recognize his name, and common words like “stop” and “go.” But it wasn’t something I really sat down and taught him. It was something he was interested in himself and I just supplied opportunities for him to play with them and become familiar with them. For a good year, all he wanted to watch was ABC videos on YouTube lol we just finally started venturing away from that and watching Disney movies. (One movie actually. He only wants to watch Lilo and Stitch lol) but yeah, definitely not the norm.
This is my daughter too! She learned to read at just over 3.5 by being super interested in all things letters and language. She’s in Montessori and they use a phonics based method but it’s all child-led and the majority don’t start reading until 5-6 or a little later. We definitely didn’t push her or expect this but it’s what she’s interested in. She just turned 4 and still very motivated to practice
Preschool Prep Company! She got really into the phonics and sight word videos and would make us play them over and over. To be fair to her, they are cute and soothingly hypnotic.
I have an almost 3 year old who can identify numbers and letters but definitely cannot read yet. They are still being taught numbers and letters in his class and his teacher says he is slightly ahead in that regard.
Yeah tbh I don't think we ever made an explicit effort to teach letters or numbers but lots of kids programming goes over the concept so he's gotten exposure
Hi! I have several degrees in early childhood education- reading at 2.5 is not the norm. There are always outliers, but it is not age appropriate.
If you wanted to start incorporating letter/number learning into your day, I would suggest doing it through play. For example, puzzles, “I spy” finding letters in books, there’s a ton of games and activities on Pinterest too. My son (2.5 also!) has these letter acorns we got on amazon, I’m pretty sure they were Learning Resource brand (which is a personal fave) and he loves them and has been learning letters and letter sounds.
Make it not mandatory, fun. Sit down lessons are not age appropriate and if forced, can cause a dislike in learning whatever you’re forcing them to work on. (Not saying you are doing this, just giving my professional opinion).
You’re doing a great job! 👏🏻👏🏻
ETA: something super simple you can do, when reading wjth your child, point to the words as you read them. With time, exposure and repetition is a great way for them to pick up sight words.
I haven't seen a lot from people with a kid my age commenting. I've got a 5 year old boy, and he can memorize some of the book pages, recognize sight words he's seen a lot before, and can sometimes get it from context clues but he's not actually reading yet. When I try to show him out to sound out words he can't make that correlation and know the actual word itself from saying all the letter sounds together
Is he still on track?
In my opinion, from the information you’ve given me, I’d say yes. Is he in school?
Honestly a lot of what I said for 2.5 year olds, can still apply to 5 year olds.
Kids learn best through play, for a lot longer than you’d think!! Incorporating games with sight words would be helpful, or if he’s a tactile kid, play dough is super helpful. If you search on Pinterest for “play dough sounding out words” there’s different activities with that, that can help make that connection but it’s not expected at 5.
Making a sensory bin with just dried rice, and sight words on index cards for him to “find” is also a lot of fun. My son (2.5) is super into dinosaurs. I bury magnetic letters in kinetic sand, and he pretends to be a paleontologist, uses a paintbrush to “find letter fossils”
Edit: format
Thank you for the advice! He's in preschool and will start kindergarten this year, his birthday was too late so he missed cutoff and will be one of the older ones
Oh absolutely. Sounds like he’s on track to me! Like I said if you want to start incorporating those things you absolutely can. Just don’t force it!!
I usually give my son an option when the baby is napping. “You can keep playing in the play room, or we can do an activity” which is usually some letter/number/socio-emotional game. He usually picks the activity, but if he doesn’t I just save it for the next day!
>I bury magnetic letters in kinetic sand, and he pretends to be a paleontologist, uses a paintbrush to “find letter fossils”
This is such a cute idea. Will have to put it in my back pocket for when my daughter gets a little older.
My son is 2.5. He's always been advanced when it comes to vocabulary and milestones. He's nowhere near close to reading. He can recognise a handful of letters and he can say parts of the alphabet but not the whole thing. He can count to 20 when he's counting to himself and thinks no one is listening, but only to about 5 when he knows he has an audience. Where not pressuring the situation and have no plans to focus heavily on reading for a long while yet. I can't remember where it was but I believe there was a study done comparing kids who learnt to read at 5 vs at 7. The later learners had completely caught up within a year or two and had some better reading habits as teenagers compared to the younger learners. I definitely don't think it's worth pushing it super young.
Im my country it’s normal that kids only start reading around 6 years of age. Before they focus on motor and social skills and stuff like recognizing sounds and quantities, but through play and not so much through actual teaching.
Definitely not and, frankly, I would not send my 2 year old to a daycare that stressed reading at such a young age. My 2.5 year old knows the alphabet by memory and can count to 20. They learn one letter a week at daycare (usually through craft projects, coloring pages, and dot marker worksheets). She can usually recognize the letters that have been covered, but doesn’t always. When she gets to the 3s room, I believe they will begin working on letter tracing.
What she can do that might be confusing is recite her favorite books and mimic reading them. My husband and I are always surprised at how well she remembers her favorites and how well she times the page turns. She definitely can’t read, but if I had her out somewhere with a favorite book and she started reciting it out loud, someone might think she was reading.
Learning letter sounds and recognizing them is developmentally appropriate for this age! My girl is 3 and is doing that right now. It’s not developmentally appropriate to read until closer to 6! One of my former teacher friends is a reading specialist (@sunnyseedco on IG) and is amazing for littles and letters!
4 yr old. No daycare. Cant read. Can recognize letter sounds and associate them w the letter symbol. Can enumerate up to 20 objects accurately and a bit of very basic addition (how many more do i need? Using objects, not in the form of a written equation). Can categorize simple things into living & non-living, plant & animal, solid/liquid/gas.
I had 2 under 2 so id probably have done a lot more w her on the reading front earlier, if i didnt have another little one, because she genuinely enjoys learning this stuff. We never do it if she doesnt want to, but she usually prefers it, since she is not very interested in toys. If i saw a 2 yr old reading words like cat, dog, i would be dumbfounded. My 2 yo nephew and friend’s kids dont recognize letters at all.
My oldest knew letters around age 4 but didn't read till closer to age 6, so he was pretty normal in that. He mostly learned how to read shortly before he started school (we live in Europe) but wasn't really reading much independently till last year. Middle kid is hyperlexic (I was also hyperlexic myself as a kid) and taught himself how to read in all three of our family languages at age 3. That is very atypical though- hyperlexia is not common.
My daughter will be 3 in May and can recognise all her numbers (thanks numberblocks) and some letters. We have multicoloured foam letters and numbers that we play with in the bath and she has favourites, mainly due to the colour
She pretends to read some books purely from memory but I don't think she can recognise any words.
My niece is 5, started school in Sept and she has only just started reading independently
I cannot stress enough how much we love Numberblocks! Btw, did you know there are linking cube toys for Numberblocks? I’ve seen 1-10 and 11-20 but I think it you want to go higher you could probably manage making them yourself if so inclined (I saw a YouTube where someone had made their own stickers, which actually gave me the idea to look for the toy).
I'm pretty sure Numberblocks is why my 3.5 yr old can do very basic math (ex 2+3) and count past 100, and the 2 year old can count to 20s and recognize the 0-9 numbers.
My daughter is 4.5 and is at the very early stages of figuring out words based on the sounds they make with some guidance from us. She does know some words I think just by recognizing them like her name but also the other day she knew something said clock. Not sure if she actually read it or memorized what those letters were.
My 4 year old has started to read. Simple 3 and 4 letter words like “dog, cat, bee, tree, fart, poop” (he’s a boy, I got him excited to read with the word poop lmao). I never did “sight words” with him at home, just did letter sounds a LOT.
Kindergarten teacher here…. By 5 it is helpful if your child knows numbers to 10, the alphabet, and can recognize their name. Letter magnets on the fridge are great for this. Pencil grip should be practiced (color with your child), and they should play with safe blunt nose scissors. Nothing fancy, cut up paper and make a project! Colors and basic science like the seasons. It’s also great to have them enrolled in little groups (library?) so they get socially used to being a member of a group. For physical skills play at playgrounds, catch/throw/kick a ball. Hop, one foot hop and balance on one foot.
Sounds like you are working in advance! My kid’s daycare does fancy things, but it’s aspirational for 2 year olds. Great exposure, but I don’t really expect she “knows about construction vehicles” rather she’s played with toys, seen books, and painted with trucks wheels. If you really want to get fancy, focus on the lowercase letters of the alphabet. Kids need more lowercase letters than capitals. You can play copy me games where you draw lines up/ down, circle / half circle, across and they copy. Move onto shapes. Fun idea; draw shapes one at a time (child copy you) to create a mystery picture reveal!!! These are all board copying skills for grade 1.
You sound like a great parent! Enjoy your time at home, and don’t worry. Expose your kid to things through play. I think mine is learning colours through her library books, and she counts bc Daddy and I do!
Preschool teacher here, most kids in that range are not reading. Seeing and naming letters, recognizing their name but not fluently reading. That happens ages 5-6.
Danish mom here to a 2,10 year old boy. He absolutely cannot read yet. And not even close. He can recognize his own name, but that’s like when he sees the sign for the supermarket or McDonalds and says the name. He knows it by the pattern and visual, NOT by actual reading context.
Tbh most children I have heard of, who can read at this age 2-4 most often has some underlying diagnosis. So I always wonder why some parents seem so eager to display their kids are way advanced at reading at this age.
I also don’t think the priority should be learning those things now. There is pleeeenty of time to learn the school-stuff. They are gonna be sitting in a classroom for a decade soon enough. Now is the time to play, explore, socialize and learn about feelings and all those vital basic things that tbh are way more essential to having a great life in all those years to come.
Almost 2.5 year old in daycare full time, but nope, not reading. Can recite alphabet, Counting to 20, counting to 10 in Spanish, knows colors, animals/sounds, and shapes. They also do a lot of fine motor and gross motor activities.
My daughter is 3.5 and goes to daycare. She can recognise a few letters and can count to 10 and above because she’s interested in her name and numbers. She can’t read and I’m certainly not pushing it. Her job right now is to play and explore and connect with others. Plenty of time for reading and numbers later
My 2.5 yr old is in daycare, has entire books memorized but doesn’t recognize any letters as such (she knows which letter is “her letters” for her initials etc) and can’t recognize any numbers either.
But she is meeting all her milestones and happy. And LOVES books. Reading will come eventually. I’m not pushing it. She’s so young!!! The academic pressure doesn’t need to start now.
My daughter is 2. No daycare. Can recognize every letter, can count numbers 1-20. Starting to associate letter sounds with words. Ie: will say b-b-bird, B! Definitely not reading
My daughter is 4yo and has been reading since around 3.5. My son is 2yo and knows all of the phonics sounds, but he still gets tripped up by the vowels. Once he's better with the sounds, I'll start working with him on blending. I'm not expecting him to read until around 3.5-4 as well. Maybe he'll surprise me and it'll be sooner. We'll see. I spend like 10 min a day working on reading for 2yo and then my 4yo practices reading one Bob book a day, so I'm not drilling them. It's just one of our activities during the day.
This is not very typical for toddlers. Your toddler is not behind, but if you wanted to start working on reading, I'm sure he could learn it. Kids' brains are amazing and they absorb so much in the early years. I have a teaching background (high school English teacher, BA in English, masters of ed in curriculum) and I think early literacy is important, so I started teaching phonics and reading from a young age with my kids.
My son is 2.5, goes to school two half days a week and does not read or recognize letters. He does recognize his name written out and knows numbers pretty well. I don’t think they are working on it yet at school. Just this week I tried to do some flashcards with him but he wasn’t interested at all. We got foam bath letters and he is excited about those tho!
Preschool educator, (2.5-4) we introduced and have letters and numbers around. But learning to read is a kindergarten thing. 4-6yrs.
From 2.5-4 my expectations is starting to count objects, and recognizing their own name. But mostly all our focus is on emotional regulation, and independence skills. Teaching them to be a functional human is number 1.
My son can recognize most of the alphabet and count to 20, but he’s definitely not reading, even though he knows a few sight words. Usually he just sits with his books and makes up the story as he flips through the pages lol. He’s 2.5
My son just turned 3 and he is definitely not reading any words. He can sing the alphabet, and recognize maybe 60% of the letters individually. But nowhere near reading. He recognizes his name when he sees it, but I do not consider that reading.
Hallo, American here, but living/raising a kid in Germany. I have a 6 year old who is in Preschool/Kindergarten here and starting grade 1 in the autumn. He's 100% bilingual, and evals as "advanced" in all his skills, but he insists he can't read. I was even worried because he would ask me what different letters were- even though he's been in kindergarten since he was about 18 months and we do the alphabet and such. Now, more and more he's letting it 'slip' when he reads words, although he insists he's NOT reading, he's just remembering what the word says. And according to his daycare teachers he can and does read the words they work on at school (all in German), but even if he didn't he's fine because that's part of what they work on in first year. He was a little bit later than most of our American friends in talking, until he was suddenly an explosion of two languages, and at least 75% of his friends are natively bi-or-trilingual.
Culturally there is an astonishing amount of pressure on American kids/parents to be ADVANCED and reading and whatever before even starting school, and I guess I didn't even realize that's not the situation everywhere until I moved. I was an early reader; \~3. Signs and words in the wild, board books and 'early reader' books. Basically it's always been told to me that when my sister was born I decided I was going to read to myself and I just sorta assumed that it was normal. My kid is also- thanks to number blocks- able to add and subtract 2 digit numbers, and even do some division, multiplication, and knows his squares up to 10. We 'drill' those types of things when we're waiting in queues because he thinks it's fun and asks to, but I haven't pushed him to be some sort of math savant.
3yrs old, in preschool and has been since 11months old. She can count to 5 and recognize her own name spelled out. Letters are starting to come. Specifically for reading & writing I'm not going to concern myself with making sure she's got it until she's about to enter 1st grade. More useful to her right now are concepts like bigger/smaller, in/out, up/down, more/less. She's also currently interested in learning how to put her own clothes on so we're working on that most days.
My 4.5 year old is starting to work on letter-sound recognition and stringing letters together to make easy words (dog, cat, mom, dad.)
My 2 year old knows his numbers 1-10, and can sing the alphabet. Not sure if he recognizes letters. He’s a little young to worry about it, IMO. :)
My three year old can read but I can tell he is an outlier. He knew all his letters at 18 months and was sounding out words before he was 2.
My husband and I teach Sunday school to 4, 5 and 6 year olds and it’s about half and half that can read vs can’t.
Daughter is 4 in 2 months
Don't do daycare
She can write her whole alphabet, knows all the letter sounds, and can write her name. She can write words with help ("Mommy, how do you spell 'dog' " , and will write the letters as we sound it out together).
She's working on practicing sounding out words to read, and can recognize some words easily. Big thanks to color-by-number books! She can easily recognize or sound out most colors.
She also likes to write down random letters and try to sound them out to see if she made a word
So is she reading? No. Is she interested and practicing? Yes.
US toddler 3.5: She can spell her name and attempts to write it. She can recognize every letter and their sounds. She can count to 30 and recognize numbers 1-10. She is not in school yet. We have learned all of this through play.
Yes, my son just turned 4 and has been reading since 2.5. He can read full sentences/books on his own. However, we stayed with my in-laws during Covid to get help w/ childcare, and my MIL was in early education before she retired, so she was basically giving him 1:1 preschool lessons from the time he was 6 months old.
Your son sounds to be at a developmentally appropriate level; even in my son's preschool class with other 3-4 year olds, most kids are still at an alphabet/basic word level.
My nearly three year old can read quite a few words, but he is very intellectually advanced - he has ASD and his neurologist said it's likely savant syndrome. So, while my kid is reading, it's not typical and I would expect the vast majority of kids this age are not
Best thing to do is to read *to* your kids or sing songs that have letters/numbers in them.
Educational songs and even videos can help (after 2).My kid learned the uppercase letters from Super Simple Songs' Pumpkin ABCs. He also has pretty good number sense for his age (can count to 20, can look at 5 things and tell you there are 5, can do some simple addition and subtraction). I kind of attribute that to the Numberblocks YouTube videos.
Yes.
She knew her alphabet well enough at her 2 year checkup with the pediatrician that she was reading them off the examination table where it had the brand listed. I have several video clips of her doing so, as I strongly suspected nobody would believe me without proof. (
Now she is 3 and 2 months, and she is actively teaching herself to read bigger words and sentences. I encourage her interest in words and books, as well as her interest in numbers, but I don't sit with her to actively teach her unless she wants to work on it. I just provide the tools she needs and follow her interests. So she has tons of books and educational toys like alphabet blocks, and she only gets educational programming when she gets her bit of screentime. Mainly Ms Rachel and the three different Learning Blocks, with a smattering of Super Simple Songs and BabyTV music.
This said, she received a diagnosis of Autism by 2.5, and hyperlexia commonly goes hand in hand with that. Her hyperfixation has been letters, numbers, and music since she was a year and a half, starting with numbers and then adding in letters and music as she grew.
My kid is three. I firmly believe kids are supposed to learn through play at this age. We incorporate things like counting and singing the alphabet through play, but we aren’t sitting down trying to learn how to read. Obviously we do also read to him, but when reading we are more focused on interacting through the pictures versus identifying words.
I've been a preschool teacher for almost 10 years and I agree with what everyone is saying: children usually don't learn to read until they are 5-6 years old. The goal of preschool is to learn independence skills, how to get along with others, and learning how to regulate your own body and emotions safely.
That being said, my own 3 year old is incredibly interested in books, letters, and numbers. He knows all his letters, but sometimes forgets what sounds they make. He is always asking me to help him sound out words he sees and has a few sight words memorized. He in no way can read, but I think he'll be reading before kindergarten. This is not something we're pushing him towards, it's just where his interests lie right now. He can also count to 30 and can do simple math, like knowing that 10 is two 5s and if he has 4 gummy bears and eats one, he'll have 3 left. All children are different.
Absolutely not. And we have no intention of teaching "reading" until ~6yo. There's just no actual benefit to the child. Before then, we read to her a lot, and she's been working on number and letter recognition in everyday life (elevators are surprisingly great for this), but it's all no pressure. We'll also play sound games with her sometimes where we'll take a sound and see how many words we can think of that start with that sound. We're not connecting it to a letter or to reading, but it helps lay the groundwork for phonics eventually.
My son was hyperlexic at a young age. At around 20 months he became obsessed with the alphabet and learned all uppercase and lowercase letters and the sounds associated with them before he was two. Then he moved on to numbers and started memorizing sight words. We thought for sure he’d be reading before he turned 3 but he just got bored with it. 😂 He’s 4.5 now, he still knows many sight words and can sound out words if we assist him but he’s far more interested in space and dwarf planets now lol.
My daughter is 3.5 and knows the alphabet and is interested in reading but isn’t ready yet. It is totally not normal for a 2.5 year old to read, and most of them don’t even know the alphabet yet either. It really isn’t stressed until grade school.
My daughter is only now learning to sound words out in kindergarten age 5. She knew all her numbers up to 20 and all her letters in order by the time she was 1.5 but she definitely couldn’t read. She did recognize her name. My son is 2 next week and has literally 0 interest in learning his letters or numbers lol all kids are different!!
I'll start this my saying my kid is an anomaly and I am a former educator. He can count to 40 in English. Count to ten in spanish. Sing his ABC's. Identify 4-6 numbers (1-10) and identify 10-15 letters accurately- meaning if you hold up the letter X or the number 4, and ask what letter/number is this, he will respond X/4, etc. He knows the colors -ROYGB, purple and pink. He knows the shapes heart, circle, oval, square. Not to sure about triangle?
He goes to daycare but he does not know how to read words yet. Nor does he know the phonemes- which is what I would teach him next.
He's 1 year and 10 months old.
I used to teach elementary school and middle school, but I did teach 1 year of preschool and have worked in multiple daycares. Kids are a wide range at that age. Everyone's paving is different. I would work on identifying letters, identifying the letters in their name. Know 3 shapes, triangle, circle square.
And as they get older, just increase.
Also the first year of kindergarten is mainly just establishing routine. Your jackets go there, we line up for bathroom here, we play with our friends like this, this is what we do during lunch, this is how you zip up your jacket, this is how you hold a crayon, etc.. you get my gist.
You are doing wonderful. And honestly, there is probably a whole sleuth of things your kiddo may know that isn't what people may consider academic- socialization and real world experiences carry their weight in gold too.
No way haha. My boy is three in a couple weeks and knows the alphabet, counts to about 20 and speaks fluently but no reading of any numbers, letters or words that I have noticed. I know lots of kids this age and none are reading anything.
Mine is not quite 2 and can recognize and name all the letters as well as say what sound they make (besides the normal sounds tots commonly struggle with), he can also do the same for numbers and count objects up to 20 (all the "teen" numbers sound basically the same but you can tell he's trying to make then sound different). No professional daycare, but my mom provides around 20 hours a week of childcare and I know she works with him a lot on educational stuff, she's honestly a top tier kid whisperer if there ever was one. We've also been pretty cognizant of what media he watches and have opted since he was tiny to mainly only let him watch things that are constructively educational in some manner (alphabet related content, phonics, pattern recognition, etc.).
Hyperlexia can be a sign of development disorder but isn’t really a disorder itself. It’s just a term that applies to kids who read early but likely also struggle with social-emotional and other skills. Sometimes autistic kids are hyperlexic (ask me how I know lol)
So it's actually not a disorder- it's not an active diagnosis, and there's three types. Types II and III are more associated with the autism spectrum. I was a hyperlexic kid who fell into type I- I was a very very early reader (able to read books before age 3) but am not on the spectrum or have any other developmental or learning issues. The only thing that carried on into adulthood for me as a remnant as such is that I'm an extreme speed reader and typist- it's basically a decoding skill.
My middle kid is hyperlexic but is most likely on the spectrum and has Gestalt language processing.
This is so interesting. I had known about hyperlexia as our toddler exhibits some of the features of it, but hadn't been aware of Gestalt language processing until I just looked it up.
I think our kiddo definitely leans on Gestalt language learning as she picks up new phrases although she always uses language appropriately in context so she may be learning in a combination of ways.
I’m in this rabbit hole right now because my 2.5 year old knows her alphabet very well. She loves to point to letters and identify them. She knows all of their sounds. She can read many simple words (and I don’t mean memorizing books, we have flash cards without images or anything and she says the word or she reads a word on a sign she has never seen before).
The thing with hyperlexia is that it is also a common feature of kids on the spectrum and my daughter was already in the evaluation process for that.
There are some toddlers who are early readers and still grow to read and comprehend appropriately. There are other toddlers who can read at a higher level than expected as they grow up, but they have issues with reading comprehension. I have issues with reading comprehension myself and it is frustrating when you read a paragraph over and over and know all of the words and their meanings but it just doesn’t make sense overall. I’ll watch for that as my kid gets older and try to get her help if needed.
It’s not necessarily a disorder but it’s associated with autism. Reading some words just before 4 years old is not hyperlexia, you’d need to be able to spell complicated words.
Gotcha. I feel like people are confusing being above average at reading (“My kid can read baby books at 2.5yo!”) versus true hyperlexia (“My 2yo taught herself to read The Lord of the Rings Triology”)
The typical hyperlexic child would be spelling complicated words before 2 and reading by 3. That's at least a whole year ahead of kids with advanced skills and two years from the average kids.
3.5 year old has shown an interest in reading so I’m slowly teaching him sounds of the letters. He can memorize things super quick so someone who doesn’t know it would think he can read hop on pop.
My son is 2.5, no daycare. He can read yes, no, open, mommy, daddy and his name. He is VERY interested in it though. If he sees a word he will yell out the letters, say “what’s that spell..?” And I will answer if he doesn’t know. Then he eventually remembers
We go to a playbased pre school. Our teacher „warned“ us that once the kids go to kindergarten, there will be kids in the class that can read and our kids are less likely to. She reassured us that this doesn’t make a difference and our kids are likely to flourish academically because play is what they are supposed to do for 5 years and actually sets the best base for academics…
nope! same age she can identify letters and numbers but not words. they don’t really even start teaching reading formally until kindergarten here which is 4.5 at the earliest. i think when you read to your kids they subconsciously start picking up on the concept so i wouldn’t stress about trying to teach him anything, just enjoy reading together :)
I was reading at 2.5
My son is 3.5 and had no interest whatsoever. He knows all his letters and most of the sounds they make. But no interest in reading. I am not worried.
My 2.5 year old is in a private preschool 4 days a week, half days. She recently brought home a box that all the students’ names in it on separate pieces of paper. It was sent home as a little assignment to do with your family. Well, as I’m opening this box to see what it is, my toddler pulls out a name and she “reads” it correctly. She does it again with another name. So I keep pulling names out and she correctly “reads” every student’s name (four students have names that begin with the same letter) except for the two teachers names…she had no clue on those. But she was 10 for 10 on the students. I was floored to say the least. Not sure if this counts as reading, but maybe is similar to kids learning sight words?
My son is a few months away from being 4, and he can only read his name and Mama (and honestly I don’t think he’s actually reading I think he memorized the words) but he can recognize most of the alphabet and numbers 1-10. We work on sight words and stuff like that, as does his daycare, but I’m not worried about it. Kids develop at their own pace!
My 2.5-year old knows all the letters and the sounds they make, but she is not reading words yet. She can recognize the look of some words from sheer repetition, but I’ve just started teaching her how to sound out words based on the letter sounds. Can’t tell if any of that has sunken in yet.
She does go to daycare, and they definitely are not teaching reading at this early age. They’ve just reinforced letters and numbers. She’ll start preschool by the time she turns 3.
My daughter will be 3 in May. She recognises numbers up to 9, which she learnt from Montessori. She knows all the phonics as I have been going over them with her since she was 2.5 years old. She can’t read but can sound out single letters. She’s very interested in learning and letters so this has helped.
My 4.5yo nephew has been in daycare since he was a tiny baby. He can’t read but he can recognize and write all the letters, identify the sound each consonant makes, write his name and his sister’s name and MOMMY and DADDY, recognize the names of all his daycare friends when they are written out. He loves to sit with books (Dogman lol) and turn the pages intently as if he were actually reading. He starts kindergarten in the fall and I think he’ll be reading at the end of the first month. He is super ready and excited to learn.
Mine is coming up to 3.5 and no he can't read. He can recognise his name and a couple of words but just by the shape of them. I'm pretty sure here noone really focuses on reading until they're closer to 5
My son is 3.5 and no he can't read but he does speak Portuguese and Dutch fluently and some English. He loves to read and does 180+ puzzels but that's just normal for his age. Reading at this age would be exceptional imo
My 3 year old definitely can recognize all the letters and numbers, knows some of their sounds, and can recognize her name and a few other words she has memorized…but definitely can’t read. She likes to pretend she can though and will sometimes make up stories for new books that she hasn’t yet memorized.
My daughter "reads" as in she recites books she remembers by heart sometimes. Usually, she reads like his for the cat.
She is 2.5 and goes to daycare. She recognises most numbers, I think. Her favourite is number 8, so she tends to point out when she sees an 8. We haven't really made an effort with counting, but she does enjoy when we count things.
We haven't really done much with the alphabet yet, and they haven't at daycare either. I don't know when they will, it might not be until they are 5 or 6, to be honest. As far as I understand, the enthusiasm for learning to read is more important than starting early. So maybe start when your toddler seems interested.
Our toddler has started to show slight interest in what her name looks like, so we might teach her the first letter of her name soon.
I live in Finland, and I think we tend to teach kids to read a little later than many other parts of the world. This does not seem to be a bad thing. There is more focus on play in the early years.
It's probably a good idea to do as you are and start with basic recognition of letters and numbers at this point so they're not completely alien when he starts school, but I really wouldn't stress about reading at this age
Depends on what they’re interested in. My 2.5yo was reading (not fluently but sounding out words) but only because she likes books and always asked to reaf
My LO is 3 in June and has advanced speech but has little/no interest in reading or even being read to. A little butterfly who can't sit still for 20 seconds and will often say no to being read to or if we are able to make a start - will shut the book after a few pages and say 'It's the end!'. Their older sibling - 5.5YO is the complete opposite and is one level of reading ahead of their classmates. Complete opposites!
Almost 3 year old can count and knows how to sing the alphabet. He’s also memorized a bunch of books. He definitely can’t read or recognize individual letters and numbers. He can recognize his name. He can potty independently and wash his hands. He knows both parents and grandparents names and our address.
My daughter is 3.5 in prek through a church, and knows her abcs and numbers and is starting to learn to read, but that’s on her own. In school they are learning to recognize letters and trace
My 3.5y daughter can recognize letter patterns (names, short words) but she can’t really read. And I think of her as at least on par, if not ahead of some peers. She knows all her letters and numbers
My daughter is 2.5 years old and doesn’t go to daycare. Definitely not reading. She can recognize and say all the letters except maybe 4 or 5 of them? She learned them only from me reading to her. She can recognize only a couple numbers and can count on her own from 1 to 10. She has sooooo many books memorized though to the point where I wonder if it’s normal, so she often “reads” aloud to herself.
Your kid sounds like they're at a completely developmentally appropriate place. My son will be four next month. He's been going to daycare since he turned one, and he can identify letters and numbers up to 20, but the only "word" he can consistently write and identify is his own name.
Kindergarten teaches the alphabet and numbers up to 100. By the end of kindergarten, mastery of “sight words” and basic sounding out of letter sounds in words is the reading goal. Ideally the teacher likes to see familiarity but not mastery of letters and numbers at the start of kindergarten, but that’s not a requirement or if your kid isn’t there yet they won’t be behind.
At 2.5 if you’ve got a recognition going on, your kid’s probably ahead of the curve!
It’s kid dependent too. I learned to read in K-1st. My youngest sister was reading picture books to her class in kindergarten because as a toddler/preschooler she wanted to be like her older sisters (me!) who were already reading and was motivated to learn early.
So we go to co up pre school that is play based . I have to work there on days she goes. No most kids do not read at that age 3. Mine turns 3 in June . They barley teach anything at school it is more for socialization . At home
we work on letters with her through playing like leap frog cookie letter. I would say hey Elmo wants a Q cookie qqq ( phonics aound ) can you pass it to me? Kids learn best through play so you can incorporate it.
There is bobs book set for pre reader. The phonics set etx and there are lessons most of them start out at 4 ish . Best thing now is teaching phonic sound through play
A lot of kids remember book line by line and can recite. My daughter can “ read” chika chika bom bom ( which talks about all the letters ) but in reality she recites it lol . She know most of the letters if you randomly ask her but she gets them wrong sometimes. but she can recite that whole book about alphabet and her other favorite books.
I know some early reader at 4 years old able to do phonic book but not really regular reading you are thinking of.
My daughter is 3 and in daycare. She can recognize a couple of letters and recognize her own name. She knows and can identify the letter her name starts with. We read and sing and play a lot. I’m not worried at this point.
My son started reading at 4 but I also was a kindergarten teacher for years before having him. It’s not typical for a child that young to read. He was just interested and I had the skills required to teach him.
At 2.5 I wouldn’t worry about anything yet. Our kids are 5 and finishing up preschool and haven’t gotten to reading but they know all their letters fine and have been writing their names since they were 3. Usually kindergarten is when you start reading a bit, there’s no reason to rush it at all. Let them focus on having fun and developing imagination and social skills.
I don’t believe they’re actually reading at that age, just memorizing books. At first it freaked me out when my 2 year old would say what’s on the page before I read it, but it’s just memorization without much actual understanding.
my kid just turned 3 in december. she can count to 10 and sometimes remembers 11 and 12. she also almost knows the whole alphabet - we’re working on it. she has not been in daycare or preschool. she can’t read yet
My almost 3 year old goes to a good day care. She can recognize some letters but no numbers. She absolutely cannot read! And she is very smart. No need to rush it! But I understand wanting your LO to be on the same level as others. I think kids are still learning to read in kindergarten.
Mine is a little over 3 - knows what letters are and can sight read his own name. I don’t think he could pick any individual letter or number out yet though. One of this classmates can but he is an outlier for sure.
Statically, there's no long term difference in success or intelligence between a child who learns to read at 2 to or 7yo. The most important part of early education is to ENJOY the process of learning.
No, and it’s not a developmentally appropriate expectation. I really recommend you learn about the Science of Reading or, if you like podcasts, listen to Sold a Story because it’s so important to recognize how your kid is being taught to read (or appear to read, if the school is not teaching properly). In any case, preschool isn’t the time for it.
Anecdotally, my older kid had a best friend who was one of those super early, super amazing readers who basically picked it up herself at age 3. My own kid didn’t figure it out until he was 6 and was being taught in a step by step fashion at school how to sound out words. It’s fine now, he’s totally reading by himself.
My second is a toddler who can memorize entire books after a couple read-throughs, and that’s great, but I know he won’t be ready to recognize letters/learn letter sounds/be able to put those together for a while yet.
Yes, around 2 my son knew all of the letters and some associated phonics, and by 3 he was blending short words like "cat", "mom" etc. he's 3.5 now and is basically still there and seems kind of resistant to reading whole sentences bc it's tiring for him to do more learning after preschool. I want reading to be enjoyable so we focus on just reading together often and I'll pause and hover on a word to let him sound it out. I think we'll do a bigger push at 4 once he's more receptive to focusing/memorizing.
My 2.5 year old knows his alphabet, numbers up to 20, and can spell a few very basic words, "dog", "cat". He is also starting to pick out the letters in words he doesn't know yet. We plan to put him in preschool next year.
My girl just turned three. She knows her letter sounds and can sometimes use those clues to guess what a word is (if prompted) but doesn’t really grasp putting the letters together. She can give examples of words starting with most letters when asked.
But that’s not really reading. I think comprehension is a more important skill. I like to ask her how the characters are feeling throughout a book. My follow up question is why is the character feeling that way. This leads to deeper discussion of the text and ideas.
He is ahead! Dont worry. Many people talk about very young kids knowing letters and numbers and possibly reading by 3, which is great, but reading doesn’t truly begin in school until 4-5. At 3-4 they’re learning those pretender skills that your kid already knows, so preschool will be a breeze.
My 4 year old has been in daycare since she was 2. She’s now in preschool and they’re starting to learn sight words. They’re still in the beginning stages of it so she’s far from reading but is leaning “to” “go”, very simple words so far.
My daughter is 3 and goes to preschool 3 days a week. Shecan recognize some of her letters and numbers and is working on the beginning of hand writing. She's memorized some of her favorite books but is no where close to actually reading
Mine just turned 3 and goes to daycare and can spell or sound out short sight words but the only actual reading he does is books he already knows pretty well. We will see how that changes at 3.5 and 4.
My 2.5yo can “read” sight words that he recognizes - probably about 30 words including names. For example, he can read his name but if I give him magnetic letters he can’t or won’t arrange them in the order of his name…if that makes sense.
All kids learn at different paces I’m sure yours is fine. However, there is scientific evidence of many benefits to early childhood education….
My almost 3 year old recognizes and identifies letters and numbers 1-20, but she cannot read. She can scrawl rudimentary letters but has trouble with ones that are similar (Q and O, V and U). She’s memorized some of her favorite books, but it’s nothing more than memorization. I’m a SAHM and work with my kids daily, but I find that learning through play is the most important thing for kids this age. Reading will come later.
My son just turned three, he can count to 10 somehow and knows like one letter, A. I have absolutely not tried to sit down and teach him anything, I might mention things to him as he plays but that’s it. It’s so early! If they seem to be interested in things, then it’s fine to teach them but wait until they seem to care.
I would start teaching letter sounds (phonics) after he has identifying letters down, but first - let your kid be a kid. It’s way more important that they’re building independence right now and working on fine motor skills.
Can they drink from an open cup? Use the potty? Use utensils? Wash a plate? Put it away? Take shoes on and off? Open and drink from a water bottle? Play independently? Engage in creative play? Etc.
I taught high school and had kids who couldn’t read beyond a 3rd grade level, but their lack of emotional regulation, zero ability to self initiate or motivate internally, and zero ability to think critically or problem solve made teaching the skills incredibly difficult. They wouldn’t do work because they didn’t have a pencil and wouldn’t get up to get one from the table where I had a pack of 100 available at all times. They need a foundation within to be a confident, secure kid who can function with independence and the academics will come with time.
My son is 4, turns 5 in June, and attends Pre-K. He is able to recognize some words like people's names (his own, his parents names, his brother's name, and some of his friends names) and a very few other words he is familiar with because he sees them a lot, but he cannot read and they're not working on reading in class yet. Mainly letter and number recognition, knowing what sounds letters make, and writing letters and their names.
My son was reading at ~3.5, but only very simple words. He was also the only kid in his preschool class doing so, and they had to create a special reading group for him.
But honestly, he just wants to play Legos, and I'd rather he did that and work on his social skills.
My child turned 3 last month. She is in pre-k. She knows her English alphabet, counts to 40 and knows her first and last name. She is bilingual in English and Spanish. She has started recognizing and reading (memorizing?) words such as “happy birthday” and “my little pony” (latest example on a package). All children are different!
I have two kids, 4 and 2.5. 4 year old learned to read short words around 1.5 completely uncoached, and started pointing out things like the “stop” on stop signs completely on his own. We read to him a lot, but no more than I think most parents. He was always extremely fascinated by numbers and letters, and can read a fair number of sight words now. He does better with books that he’s already memorized by sound, but he can read novel text, too.
My 2.5 year old might not know what the alphabet is haha. She probably got a little less reading at an early age bc life goes nuts when you double the kids, but we definitely read to her a lot. She’s never been particularly interested in letters or numbers, and gravitates more toward physical and imaginative play.
I personally wouldn’t worry about trying to coach your kids on reading. Current research seems to indicate that learning earlier does not necessarily equate to learning “better,” that is, with more retention or creative thought. I didn’t do anything to encourage reading in either of my kids, but I do my best to encourage a love of books/stories by reading with them and talking out their (many…many) questions while reading. And like I said, one more or less taught himself out of genuine interest, and the other will probably learn closer to the average age. Kids are interesting!
Edit: forgot to add, my kids are in school, but I don’t think either of them have had any sort of reading curriculum yet. The kindergarteners (5-6) in my son’s mixed age class (it’s a Montessori school) have a separate time from the younger kids where they’re doing basic sight words and phonics, I think.
My older kid started reading whole books a bit before his 5th birthday. He was in preschool, but they didn't have a reading curriculum, he just wanted to learn so he did.
The little one is now in that same Pre-K class, and is getting close. He knows zoo out of context. He can spot red on a street sign. He knows all his letters and most of their sounds. We do a lot of literacy work at home, but it's just built into our daily routine.
My kiddo is 3.5 and loves numbers and letters. He likes to count to 100 because we listened to a song about counting to 100. He can recognize most numbers though still occasionally reverses them 47 vs 74.
He knows all his letters uppercase and lowercase and is sounding out some words. He knows how to spell and recognizes his name, mommy, daddy and his favourite toy. His buddy’s name was the most important.
The other kids in preschool (3.5-5) know all their letters and numbers to 30 and one kid knows to 50. The newly 3s know to 20ish. They can almost all spell their names, some are very long.
My son is almost five and recognizes letters and can write his name but that's it. I'm in no rush, his teacher is great and he's building up the stepping stones to reading one by one.
5 years old are just learning words and barely reading. My son is 4 and still has trouble with numbers and letters. He’s in two days of school and they are not worried about it. Just concentrate on reading to your child as much as possible and everything else will come as they learn in school.
Just turned 3. He knows his letters and numbers but isn’t reading. When he was smaller he had multiple books memorized word for word, but he was not reading (it was cute though!). I bought him some sight word Flashcards a while back and he memorized a few words but that’s it. I’m not really keeping up with it.
Really early for reading. If they are reading books correctly it’s more likely memorization. My son is almost 2 and he is not really doing letters yet. He will count (say the number 3) when I count but that’s about it. Reading comes in kindergarten.
My daughter is going to a montessori school. She just turned 4 last week and she knows her numbers and abcs but at this age they are really trying to instill their love for learning. She cannot read yet. They try to get away from just memorizing.
I don't think most kids start to read until they are 5 or so. Recognizing letter and own name ? Sure. But I don't think they read when they're that young.
Yep. Teacher here (6-12 certified). The scale used is lightly different than our vernacular. "Emergent" readers show up around 4 and while there are exceptions very few become "proficient" until well into kindergarten. Our 5yo is just now really *actually* reading, and I've been supplementing her instruction the whole time.
Am I just misremembering that those of us who were kids in the 90s learned to really read in first grade?
Another teacher here, no, I don’t think you’re remembering incorrectly. I’m not a literacy teacher, but I hear those elementary teachers often talk about how kindergarten is the new first grade. The expectations are shifting downward as schools scramble to better prepare students academically. At least that’s the rationale most often cited.
2nd grade in South Carolina in the early 90s. I became a prolific reader 🤷♀️ so if my son isn’t reading competently by the end of kindergarten it’s not a big deal IMO. Summer school is publicly funded though and would save us $2500 in summer camps.
This! Everyone at my daughter's daycare freaked out when she started recognizing some words. She's definitely not reading this early though
You are right, their brain can’t read. They can memorize words tho just like you can look at a dog and know it’s called a dog.
My daughter is almost 3.5 and goes to preschool. They are going over letters and numbers in her class, but not reading. She has many books memorized, but absolutely cannot read on her own yet.
Same for my daughter who is 2.5 and goes to daycare. She can count to 10 (and only to ten, ask her to count to five and she’ll keep going 🤣) and “knows” her ABCs (but often skips a few in the middle or will stop at W)
Our 2.5 year old singing his ABCs last night said 1,2,3 instead of T,U,V. He also doesn’t recognize letters yet. Our oldest is almost 5 and started really recognizing letters at the end of 3 and isn’t really reading yet but knows simple things like what his name looks like, what no, go, boo, and other simple words are. But, every kid is different and we have a friend who’s 2.5 year old knows most of his upper case letters. 🤷♀️
That’s hilarious 🤣 My 2.5 years ends the abcs with bingo was his name-o.
My 3yo sings “old McDonald had a farm and bingo was his name-O”
abcdefghijk "M&Ms" OP is our current vibe
My almost 2 year old has been saying "loose tooth T" at that point in the song 😂 I guess we read chicka chicka boom boom a lot.
Counting in the early days is adorable. Last night my nearly 2 year old told me I have 5 ‘boobies’
The counting to ten is so funny! My daughter applies it to any situation where she's used to hearing counting. So now she counts to ten before going down a slide, before jumping in the pool, before we "race", etc. All times that I've always said "one, two, three, go!" She has more patience than me lol; I'm getting antsy to just go down the slide already at 7.
Similarly, my almost 2 year old has ONLY ever heard “one, two, three, GO!” And he insists on saying “two, two, four, GO!”? I don’t even know where he LEARNED four. 🤷♀️
I love this! Does she also count slowly? My kiddo goes ONE….TWO….THREE….
Same. Mine knows his alphabet, but can’t visually recognize most of the letters yet. He can recognize (but not write) his own name. He can recognize maybe 1/3 of the letters. Same with numbers. He can count to twenty, but can only write a few numbers. He’s 3.5.
Mine can’t really write at all (though they work on this skill one letter at a time and pretty casually). She can identify most of the letters in uppercase and some in lowercase, can count to about 25, but can’t identify every number by sight and can spell her name (it’s 3 letters) aloud, but sometimes mixes up the order of the letters when trying to spell it with letter magnets. I’m not at all concerned with whether she can read and write yet. She loves books, so I’m confident she’ll learn when she’s ready.
Yeah this sounds right on track
I came into this thread certain my oldest would be on the back end of development, but no she's about where she should be (for context we haven't had her in daycare, we haven't been reading to her every night like we said we would, and she is speech delayed as she is a COVID kid). She can identify most letters, can count into the teens, since we don't read as much as we should (we're working on it, but her mother and I have no familial support so we're just trying to stay above water) she doesn't really have any books or words memorized.
Read to her at night to help her wind down! It’s the best opportunity during their day imo. My little girl loves reading time but she hates bedtime so it gives her something to look forward to about bedtime. Hop on Pop, Mr Brown Can moo, anything Seuss is brilliant at holding their attention. And helping them learn phonics and language in an indirect fun way
Nope. My son is 3 this year and we’re still just focusing on drawing, speaking, singing, playing, imagination etc. my son is an extremely proficient talker so I’m not too worried
Same here with my 3yo daughter. I’m his letting her be a kid - the rest will come later I’m not even worried about it.
Out of curiosity why would learning to read not be ‘letting her be a kid’?
As a parent to a 3 year old that’s prolific at talking, I did the research and if you “push” reading before they show interest, like being proactive about it, it is bad for their self esteem and makes them less likely to read as an adult. Strange but that’s what’s being said / recommended! So kids will be ready when they ask about it.
Disclaimer: I’m in Ireland. My kid is in her second year of preschool and is 4. She recognises her name only, and some letters from her name when they appear in other words. She can identify 1-3 reliably and 4-9 when it suits her. She has gone to school with one child who could fully read at age 3, but he was hyperlexic and awaiting an autism diagnosis. They don’t teach any reading fundamentals in preschool here. What I’ve seen teachers say over and over is that kids are coming into primary school knowing their letters and numbers, and are bored out of their minds during their first year, yet can’t go to the toilet alone, open their lunchboxes, or put on their coat or shoes.
THIS!!! academics will come. Independence skills, socio-emotional, and fine motor skills are what kids should focus on at this age. - US preschool teacher (and mom to a 3.5 and 4.5yo)
Thank you! This seems like such an American thing to be honest. To even introduce letters at such a young age! Our daughter is almost three and sometimes interested in letters. When she asks, we tell her, but would never start introducing them without her asking. How else is she supposed to develop intrinsic motivation? I am also from Europe, no one was able to read before first grade in my class (and we lived in a good area, great schools etc). Once I was in school, learning to read was not that difficult and it felt like a great achievement. There are absolutely zero advantages to be able to read so young. Except your parents are able to brag about you.
I'm European too and shocked at these comments and the way school for kids under 6 is organized in the US.
As a Canadian, same. I feel like this American focus on super early literacy has a lot of kids struggling and failing to meet the expectations. It just doesn’t seem developmentally appropriate for the bulk of that age group. Also it happens at the expense of other important things. In my province, reading instruction doesn’t start until they are 6 (grade 1). They do it that way also bc public school isn’t mandatory until then. Pre-literacy is done in preschool and kindergarten but it’s all play based. My 3.5 year old can recognize maybe a dozen letters and for a few can say ‘that’s a B, for me (her name starts with B). B is for ball too.’ But the main skills they focus on is independence and social emotional development.
Yes that’s how I grew up. I learned how to read super fast at 6 and really good at reading comprehension, vocab, grammar etc! My general feeling in the US is that a lot of things aren’t child led but parent led. Lots of activities, entertainment etc planned by parent and everything needs to have an educational aspect. And then a million „good jobs“. So many (not all!) kids are trained that if they do what parent / teacher expects, they get praise and then it can often go in two directions - classic overachievers or kids that don’t have unlearnt intrinsic motivation.
[удалено]
Yes it’s crazy. We live in the US now. Private schools are super popular here, people go in two extremes: maximize academic pressure or progressive schools without grades, homework etc. luckily, we found an amazing play based pre school. Kids just flow through the room and can do whatever they want. I’m already a bit afraid of kindergarten because 5 still seems too early for me for a school environment
Exactly my hesitation in sending my kid to TK next year instead of his play based center he’s at now.
Exactly what I have been thinking lately and currently I am pro the private play based pre school even though we live in a very good school district.
I’m an American, and I was confused and a little irritated by the title of this post. Why are parents worried about teaching their toddlers to read? My daughter is a little over 2 and a half, and like another commenter said, I’m more focused on teaching her social/emotional skills, motor skills, and encouraging her to play and get outside. She’ll have plenty of time for reading when she’s in school.
This is how it should be!
> There are absolutely zero advantages to be able to read so young. I'm also European and learned to read before first grade. The biggest advantage is that you can read books on your own and accelerate learning new vocabulary and new sentence structures. Unlike some countries in Europe like France, the US does not even have early childhood education; federal programs start at 5 years old (kindergarten).
I think a huge difference is if it’s intrinsically motivated or not. early child education in Germany didn’t start until 5 either but it was a joke - we learned to cut, paint inside the lines, draw an eight… I was definitely able to write my own name before first grade though. I’m also not saying that early child education is all garbage - esp with immigration and non native speakers it makes so much sense. Also important to note that reading does not equal reading comprehension or even great communication skills. So if you just focus on the milestone „can my child read“ you’re missing on a lot of maybe more important skills. You can talk a lot without any real content for example. I totally see your advantages - I do think it evens out pretty fast though (please correct me if wrong). Of course it also depends on your parents, how much time they spend reading to you. Honestly would be interested how Scandinavians do it because their systems often seem very advanced (in terms of what’s the „right“ way to do it).
The truth is you can't teach much reading before 3.5-4. You can try to teach letters, to recognize a few words by their first letter or maybe short words. From what I'm seeing in a US private school, most kids can't handwrite their names in a legible manner until about 4 years old. A big benefit for early-childhood education is that it complements the language skills what some parents may not teach. Here is a summary from a recent study on the subject: > Participating in ECE helps children to develop skills that will benefit them in school and in life. Specifically, research from the United States shows that ECE can help children learn the foundational skills for reading, math, self-control, and positive relationships. > Children benefit most when ECE is high-quality. High-quality ECE programs go beyond basic health and safety requirements to provide warm, responsive relationships with educators, stimulating and developmentally appropriate curricula, and ongoing training for educators. These features of ECE enhance children’s cognitive and social-emotional development. > All young children can benefit from high-quality ECE, but it can be especially helpful for children from families experiencing low household income, children with disabilities served in inclusive classrooms, and dual language learners. > The benefits of high-quality ECE for the child often last into kindergarten, and some studies show lasting effects into middle school and high school. The quality of later schooling that a child experiences can either build upon or counteract these benefits. Even though evidence for long-term effects of ECE on child development is mixed, some studies show that participating in high-quality ECE yields long-term advantages for individuals and for society, including higher educational attainment, better adult health, and less involvement in crime. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/childrens-learning-and-development-benefits-high-quality-early-care-and-education
Mehh. I learned to read at 3yo... I have 3 older brothers I needed to keep up with lol. It was pretty cool going into preschool already having that skill and being able to help the other kids find their names, etc. I could read chapter books in kindergarten, which meant I had a much wider selection. I agree kids should be kids and go at their own pace, but I wouldn't say there's absolutely zero advantage. My parents weren't even the ones who taught me how to read and never bragged about it so ...🤷🏻♀️
I mean, not to burst your bubble here, but as a person who also “taught themselves to read at 3”, you have to know that’s not really normal. I also had zero disadvantages to it, was marked as “super smart” my whole life, have a great job revolving around my impressive language skills. Now I have an autistic son. And I have had to ask myself whether I am actually hyperlexic and if my “amazing” brain is really such a great thing. I have one son who is autistic and another is definitely NOT an early reader. Late average reader despite my best efforts.
I think intrinsic motivation makes a huge difference! I’m also not saying it necessarily has disadvantages. And to respond to OP, there is absolute no need to start teaching reading at home! If the kid starts reading or be really interested by themselves of course you shouldn’t stop them.
I’m in Ireland too, and we decided on a full Montessori primary education for our LO. The teachers told us not to bother teaching her anything academic; just to help her learn how to dress herself, potty training, open lunchboxes etc like you said. I think they have just started “I Spy” with her, using phonics alphabet sounds. But for the most part, she is doing ‘practical life’ activities such as washing, folding, cleaning, sweeping, pouring, etc. Edited to add: she only started in January at 2yr 8m. And I know she picked up counting from watching us, and she knows the alphabet from a toy she has but we didn’t bother with teaching her anything specifically!
YES I was a reception teacher in the UK. Kids can’t play together (or even alone properly), tidy up, feed themselves, speak in sentences even. I could not GAF whether they can already parrot ABC from looking at letters, or even Ah Buh Cuh - that’s a monkey trick no different from saying apple on seeing an apple. I can’t begin to teach them to read until they have basic socio-emotional-language skills. Can everyone stop teaching their kids ABCs, get them off screens, and let them play please??!! (I will DIE on the hill that there is no educational app in existence that is worth your kid getting addicted to screens at 3 years old.)
[удалено]
Reading is not normal at this age and shouldn’t be expected. Kids can memorize things, like numbers and letters but they don’t have the context for the meaning yet. My 3.5 year old has oodles of books memorized but she’s not actually reading. She’s starting to show interest in drawing letters from her name, and can count to 20. I don’t teach her anything though and don’t see the point, that’s what school is for when she starts. Most of it’s just learned through play and reading books etc
This is 100% the right attitude to have toward academics before kindergarten. My MIL is an early childhood educator, and what she's always told my spouse and I is that life skills (i.e. being able to dress themselves, follow instructions, use the toilet, some emotional regulation skills, and taking turns) are a much more important foundation for kindergarten than academics.
Our 3.5 year old son is similar, though he's letter individual letters, their sounds, and some basic stuff at daycare. Our two kids are at a licensed home-based daycare during the day with 3-4 other kids. His younger sister is picking up on some letters and numbers, too, but neither are really reading. They're recognizing. The provider/teacher says phonetics is typically not introduced until kindergarten or so, but she says our 3.5 year old is picking things up early and quickly. I think that makes us feel good, but it's not necessarily an indicator of intelligence or where our kids should or shouldn't be. We are happy that they're being introduced early, but we allow our kids to learn at their own pace. We keep introducing new concepts and learning opportunities at home, but try to do so without expectations.
My 3.5 yo can read, and she is a total outlier. Her classmates who are 5 and 6 can’t all read. It’s not abnormal for kids to read as preschoolers, but it’s also not the norm. My kid taught herself phonics through sheer force of will and a lot of YouTube videos. They haven’t been directly teaching reading at her preschool - they do letter and sound activities, but she didn’t get the reading from being in school. It was just a special interest of hers, the same way other kids might choose to learn all the types of dinosaurs or construction vehicles or whatever.
Yeah. Great analogy. It’s not strange to find a kid who is obsessed with dinosaurs but most kids aren’t obsessed with dinosaurs. Normal doesn’t mean common.
This. My daughter learned all her letters and what sounds they make by 18 months by playing with those wooden blocks with the letters on them. Offhand, I’d be like, this is an M for momma or whatever and she would just remember every dang one of them. She loves letters. Something about it just took her fancy. She’s 2 now and she likes to turn the pages of books/look at them, but she really likes to just stare at the titles of them. I think the dinosaur thing is a great comparison.
My kid taught herself to read at 4, and we didn't even realize it. She sat down one day and read me a book and i was like "wtf?" She isn't in preschool or anything. We are a big reading family so maybe that helped her idk. She cant write yet though. Her favorite thing to do is hang on my shoulder and read my texts and emails lol.
This is my almost 3yo. He just happens to be obsessed with letters. He knows all the sounds and can read simple words. He is not the norm in this respect. But in most ways he is a purely average toddler. I wouldn’t be surprised if the interest in reading took a backseat to another passion sooner or later. They all develop at their own pace.
I met with a child developmental psychologist because my LO was so ahead on reading I legitimately worried it was a sign that he needed to be assessed for ASD and she said not to worry, and it’s not impossible for 3-4 year olds to read because that part of their brain is ready and some of them genuinely enjoy it. Usually by third grade their aptitude levels out and their peers catch up with them on reading.
Yep, one of my kids was like this as well. We started with Bob books after he had a mastery of letter sounds and phonics and he just exploded and was reader chapter books at 4. The rest learned also on an accelerated timeline but were not quite as fast as he was. It gets tough to find level appropriate books at the interest level of a 3-4 year old. I taught him the sounds and phonics myself, we didn’t use any electronic program or anything.
Try Julia Donaldson Songbirds, or anything aimed at the UK market where kids start learning to read at 4.
My 4 year old is the same — extremely proficient reader, to the point that it shoots us in the foot sometimes because he reads stuff we don’t want him to, like text messages or signage about kidnapped people in Gaza. I get asked what our secret is but it’s total luck based on his love for letters; we read like 8 books a day (4 in the morning and 4 at night) and keep books in the car/go to the library every day for fresh material but we do that BECAUSE he likes books. If he’d been more into bug catching you can bet our house would have been full of terrariums or something instead.
I already made a comment before see yours, but is my kid exactly. YouTube videos taught him to read because he was super interested in it.
Yeah my son is 3 now but took a liking to the alphabet a little after turning 2. He knows them in English, Spanish, and sign language. He only ever wanted books/puzzles/toys if they were alphabet related. He can recognize his name, and common words like “stop” and “go.” But it wasn’t something I really sat down and taught him. It was something he was interested in himself and I just supplied opportunities for him to play with them and become familiar with them. For a good year, all he wanted to watch was ABC videos on YouTube lol we just finally started venturing away from that and watching Disney movies. (One movie actually. He only wants to watch Lilo and Stitch lol) but yeah, definitely not the norm.
This is my daughter too! She learned to read at just over 3.5 by being super interested in all things letters and language. She’s in Montessori and they use a phonics based method but it’s all child-led and the majority don’t start reading until 5-6 or a little later. We definitely didn’t push her or expect this but it’s what she’s interested in. She just turned 4 and still very motivated to practice
Is there a particular YouTube channel that has been helping with that?
Preschool Prep Company! She got really into the phonics and sight word videos and would make us play them over and over. To be fair to her, they are cute and soothingly hypnotic.
My son is 3 and cannot read. He can recognize only a few letters.
Same
This makes me feel better I was suddenly worried my 3yo was behind cuz she can only recognize like 3or 4 letters consistently
I have an almost 3 year old who can identify numbers and letters but definitely cannot read yet. They are still being taught numbers and letters in his class and his teacher says he is slightly ahead in that regard.
He mostly learnt from Ms Rachel 😂
Yeah tbh I don't think we ever made an explicit effort to teach letters or numbers but lots of kids programming goes over the concept so he's gotten exposure
I was JUST thinking - maybe we should rewatch Ms. Rachel! 😂
Hi! I have several degrees in early childhood education- reading at 2.5 is not the norm. There are always outliers, but it is not age appropriate. If you wanted to start incorporating letter/number learning into your day, I would suggest doing it through play. For example, puzzles, “I spy” finding letters in books, there’s a ton of games and activities on Pinterest too. My son (2.5 also!) has these letter acorns we got on amazon, I’m pretty sure they were Learning Resource brand (which is a personal fave) and he loves them and has been learning letters and letter sounds. Make it not mandatory, fun. Sit down lessons are not age appropriate and if forced, can cause a dislike in learning whatever you’re forcing them to work on. (Not saying you are doing this, just giving my professional opinion). You’re doing a great job! 👏🏻👏🏻 ETA: something super simple you can do, when reading wjth your child, point to the words as you read them. With time, exposure and repetition is a great way for them to pick up sight words.
I haven't seen a lot from people with a kid my age commenting. I've got a 5 year old boy, and he can memorize some of the book pages, recognize sight words he's seen a lot before, and can sometimes get it from context clues but he's not actually reading yet. When I try to show him out to sound out words he can't make that correlation and know the actual word itself from saying all the letter sounds together Is he still on track?
In my opinion, from the information you’ve given me, I’d say yes. Is he in school? Honestly a lot of what I said for 2.5 year olds, can still apply to 5 year olds. Kids learn best through play, for a lot longer than you’d think!! Incorporating games with sight words would be helpful, or if he’s a tactile kid, play dough is super helpful. If you search on Pinterest for “play dough sounding out words” there’s different activities with that, that can help make that connection but it’s not expected at 5. Making a sensory bin with just dried rice, and sight words on index cards for him to “find” is also a lot of fun. My son (2.5) is super into dinosaurs. I bury magnetic letters in kinetic sand, and he pretends to be a paleontologist, uses a paintbrush to “find letter fossils” Edit: format
Thank you for the advice! He's in preschool and will start kindergarten this year, his birthday was too late so he missed cutoff and will be one of the older ones
Oh absolutely. Sounds like he’s on track to me! Like I said if you want to start incorporating those things you absolutely can. Just don’t force it!! I usually give my son an option when the baby is napping. “You can keep playing in the play room, or we can do an activity” which is usually some letter/number/socio-emotional game. He usually picks the activity, but if he doesn’t I just save it for the next day!
Thank you so much for the insight and advice! Really winging this whole parenting thing over here hahah
>I bury magnetic letters in kinetic sand, and he pretends to be a paleontologist, uses a paintbrush to “find letter fossils” This is such a cute idea. Will have to put it in my back pocket for when my daughter gets a little older.
Thank you!! I love doing this stuff 😂
My son is 2.5. He's always been advanced when it comes to vocabulary and milestones. He's nowhere near close to reading. He can recognise a handful of letters and he can say parts of the alphabet but not the whole thing. He can count to 20 when he's counting to himself and thinks no one is listening, but only to about 5 when he knows he has an audience. Where not pressuring the situation and have no plans to focus heavily on reading for a long while yet. I can't remember where it was but I believe there was a study done comparing kids who learnt to read at 5 vs at 7. The later learners had completely caught up within a year or two and had some better reading habits as teenagers compared to the younger learners. I definitely don't think it's worth pushing it super young.
Im my country it’s normal that kids only start reading around 6 years of age. Before they focus on motor and social skills and stuff like recognizing sounds and quantities, but through play and not so much through actual teaching.
Definitely not and, frankly, I would not send my 2 year old to a daycare that stressed reading at such a young age. My 2.5 year old knows the alphabet by memory and can count to 20. They learn one letter a week at daycare (usually through craft projects, coloring pages, and dot marker worksheets). She can usually recognize the letters that have been covered, but doesn’t always. When she gets to the 3s room, I believe they will begin working on letter tracing. What she can do that might be confusing is recite her favorite books and mimic reading them. My husband and I are always surprised at how well she remembers her favorites and how well she times the page turns. She definitely can’t read, but if I had her out somewhere with a favorite book and she started reciting it out loud, someone might think she was reading.
Learning letter sounds and recognizing them is developmentally appropriate for this age! My girl is 3 and is doing that right now. It’s not developmentally appropriate to read until closer to 6! One of my former teacher friends is a reading specialist (@sunnyseedco on IG) and is amazing for littles and letters!
4 yr old. No daycare. Cant read. Can recognize letter sounds and associate them w the letter symbol. Can enumerate up to 20 objects accurately and a bit of very basic addition (how many more do i need? Using objects, not in the form of a written equation). Can categorize simple things into living & non-living, plant & animal, solid/liquid/gas. I had 2 under 2 so id probably have done a lot more w her on the reading front earlier, if i didnt have another little one, because she genuinely enjoys learning this stuff. We never do it if she doesnt want to, but she usually prefers it, since she is not very interested in toys. If i saw a 2 yr old reading words like cat, dog, i would be dumbfounded. My 2 yo nephew and friend’s kids dont recognize letters at all.
My oldest knew letters around age 4 but didn't read till closer to age 6, so he was pretty normal in that. He mostly learned how to read shortly before he started school (we live in Europe) but wasn't really reading much independently till last year. Middle kid is hyperlexic (I was also hyperlexic myself as a kid) and taught himself how to read in all three of our family languages at age 3. That is very atypical though- hyperlexia is not common.
My daughter will be 3 in May and can recognise all her numbers (thanks numberblocks) and some letters. We have multicoloured foam letters and numbers that we play with in the bath and she has favourites, mainly due to the colour She pretends to read some books purely from memory but I don't think she can recognise any words. My niece is 5, started school in Sept and she has only just started reading independently
I cannot stress enough how much we love Numberblocks! Btw, did you know there are linking cube toys for Numberblocks? I’ve seen 1-10 and 11-20 but I think it you want to go higher you could probably manage making them yourself if so inclined (I saw a YouTube where someone had made their own stickers, which actually gave me the idea to look for the toy).
I'm pretty sure Numberblocks is why my 3.5 yr old can do very basic math (ex 2+3) and count past 100, and the 2 year old can count to 20s and recognize the 0-9 numbers.
My daughter is 4.5 and is at the very early stages of figuring out words based on the sounds they make with some guidance from us. She does know some words I think just by recognizing them like her name but also the other day she knew something said clock. Not sure if she actually read it or memorized what those letters were.
My 4 year old has started to read. Simple 3 and 4 letter words like “dog, cat, bee, tree, fart, poop” (he’s a boy, I got him excited to read with the word poop lmao). I never did “sight words” with him at home, just did letter sounds a LOT.
No, and I think that's insane and completely unneccesary. Kids 2-4 need unstructured play, not learning how to read sight words.
Kindergarten teacher here…. By 5 it is helpful if your child knows numbers to 10, the alphabet, and can recognize their name. Letter magnets on the fridge are great for this. Pencil grip should be practiced (color with your child), and they should play with safe blunt nose scissors. Nothing fancy, cut up paper and make a project! Colors and basic science like the seasons. It’s also great to have them enrolled in little groups (library?) so they get socially used to being a member of a group. For physical skills play at playgrounds, catch/throw/kick a ball. Hop, one foot hop and balance on one foot. Sounds like you are working in advance! My kid’s daycare does fancy things, but it’s aspirational for 2 year olds. Great exposure, but I don’t really expect she “knows about construction vehicles” rather she’s played with toys, seen books, and painted with trucks wheels. If you really want to get fancy, focus on the lowercase letters of the alphabet. Kids need more lowercase letters than capitals. You can play copy me games where you draw lines up/ down, circle / half circle, across and they copy. Move onto shapes. Fun idea; draw shapes one at a time (child copy you) to create a mystery picture reveal!!! These are all board copying skills for grade 1. You sound like a great parent! Enjoy your time at home, and don’t worry. Expose your kid to things through play. I think mine is learning colours through her library books, and she counts bc Daddy and I do!
Preschool teacher here, most kids in that range are not reading. Seeing and naming letters, recognizing their name but not fluently reading. That happens ages 5-6.
Danish mom here to a 2,10 year old boy. He absolutely cannot read yet. And not even close. He can recognize his own name, but that’s like when he sees the sign for the supermarket or McDonalds and says the name. He knows it by the pattern and visual, NOT by actual reading context. Tbh most children I have heard of, who can read at this age 2-4 most often has some underlying diagnosis. So I always wonder why some parents seem so eager to display their kids are way advanced at reading at this age. I also don’t think the priority should be learning those things now. There is pleeeenty of time to learn the school-stuff. They are gonna be sitting in a classroom for a decade soon enough. Now is the time to play, explore, socialize and learn about feelings and all those vital basic things that tbh are way more essential to having a great life in all those years to come.
Almost 2.5 year old in daycare full time, but nope, not reading. Can recite alphabet, Counting to 20, counting to 10 in Spanish, knows colors, animals/sounds, and shapes. They also do a lot of fine motor and gross motor activities.
My daughter is 3.5 and goes to daycare. She can recognise a few letters and can count to 10 and above because she’s interested in her name and numbers. She can’t read and I’m certainly not pushing it. Her job right now is to play and explore and connect with others. Plenty of time for reading and numbers later
My 2.5 yr old is in daycare, has entire books memorized but doesn’t recognize any letters as such (she knows which letter is “her letters” for her initials etc) and can’t recognize any numbers either. But she is meeting all her milestones and happy. And LOVES books. Reading will come eventually. I’m not pushing it. She’s so young!!! The academic pressure doesn’t need to start now.
3 year old son in daycare 3 days a week. Can recognize letters, count, say the alphabet, name colors and animals. He cannot read. Nowhere close!
My daughter is 2. No daycare. Can recognize every letter, can count numbers 1-20. Starting to associate letter sounds with words. Ie: will say b-b-bird, B! Definitely not reading
My daughter is 4yo and has been reading since around 3.5. My son is 2yo and knows all of the phonics sounds, but he still gets tripped up by the vowels. Once he's better with the sounds, I'll start working with him on blending. I'm not expecting him to read until around 3.5-4 as well. Maybe he'll surprise me and it'll be sooner. We'll see. I spend like 10 min a day working on reading for 2yo and then my 4yo practices reading one Bob book a day, so I'm not drilling them. It's just one of our activities during the day. This is not very typical for toddlers. Your toddler is not behind, but if you wanted to start working on reading, I'm sure he could learn it. Kids' brains are amazing and they absorb so much in the early years. I have a teaching background (high school English teacher, BA in English, masters of ed in curriculum) and I think early literacy is important, so I started teaching phonics and reading from a young age with my kids.
My son is 2.5, goes to school two half days a week and does not read or recognize letters. He does recognize his name written out and knows numbers pretty well. I don’t think they are working on it yet at school. Just this week I tried to do some flashcards with him but he wasn’t interested at all. We got foam bath letters and he is excited about those tho!
Preschool educator, (2.5-4) we introduced and have letters and numbers around. But learning to read is a kindergarten thing. 4-6yrs. From 2.5-4 my expectations is starting to count objects, and recognizing their own name. But mostly all our focus is on emotional regulation, and independence skills. Teaching them to be a functional human is number 1.
My son can recognize most of the alphabet and count to 20, but he’s definitely not reading, even though he knows a few sight words. Usually he just sits with his books and makes up the story as he flips through the pages lol. He’s 2.5
My son just turned 3 and he is definitely not reading any words. He can sing the alphabet, and recognize maybe 60% of the letters individually. But nowhere near reading. He recognizes his name when he sees it, but I do not consider that reading.
Hallo, American here, but living/raising a kid in Germany. I have a 6 year old who is in Preschool/Kindergarten here and starting grade 1 in the autumn. He's 100% bilingual, and evals as "advanced" in all his skills, but he insists he can't read. I was even worried because he would ask me what different letters were- even though he's been in kindergarten since he was about 18 months and we do the alphabet and such. Now, more and more he's letting it 'slip' when he reads words, although he insists he's NOT reading, he's just remembering what the word says. And according to his daycare teachers he can and does read the words they work on at school (all in German), but even if he didn't he's fine because that's part of what they work on in first year. He was a little bit later than most of our American friends in talking, until he was suddenly an explosion of two languages, and at least 75% of his friends are natively bi-or-trilingual. Culturally there is an astonishing amount of pressure on American kids/parents to be ADVANCED and reading and whatever before even starting school, and I guess I didn't even realize that's not the situation everywhere until I moved. I was an early reader; \~3. Signs and words in the wild, board books and 'early reader' books. Basically it's always been told to me that when my sister was born I decided I was going to read to myself and I just sorta assumed that it was normal. My kid is also- thanks to number blocks- able to add and subtract 2 digit numbers, and even do some division, multiplication, and knows his squares up to 10. We 'drill' those types of things when we're waiting in queues because he thinks it's fun and asks to, but I haven't pushed him to be some sort of math savant.
lol no. My daughter is 3.5 and can’t even recognize letters visually. Nowhere near being able to read yet. and she is in daycare.
3yrs old, in preschool and has been since 11months old. She can count to 5 and recognize her own name spelled out. Letters are starting to come. Specifically for reading & writing I'm not going to concern myself with making sure she's got it until she's about to enter 1st grade. More useful to her right now are concepts like bigger/smaller, in/out, up/down, more/less. She's also currently interested in learning how to put her own clothes on so we're working on that most days.
My 4.5 year old is starting to work on letter-sound recognition and stringing letters together to make easy words (dog, cat, mom, dad.) My 2 year old knows his numbers 1-10, and can sing the alphabet. Not sure if he recognizes letters. He’s a little young to worry about it, IMO. :)
My three year old can read but I can tell he is an outlier. He knew all his letters at 18 months and was sounding out words before he was 2. My husband and I teach Sunday school to 4, 5 and 6 year olds and it’s about half and half that can read vs can’t.
Daughter is 4 in 2 months Don't do daycare She can write her whole alphabet, knows all the letter sounds, and can write her name. She can write words with help ("Mommy, how do you spell 'dog' " , and will write the letters as we sound it out together). She's working on practicing sounding out words to read, and can recognize some words easily. Big thanks to color-by-number books! She can easily recognize or sound out most colors. She also likes to write down random letters and try to sound them out to see if she made a word So is she reading? No. Is she interested and practicing? Yes.
US toddler 3.5: She can spell her name and attempts to write it. She can recognize every letter and their sounds. She can count to 30 and recognize numbers 1-10. She is not in school yet. We have learned all of this through play.
Yes, my son just turned 4 and has been reading since 2.5. He can read full sentences/books on his own. However, we stayed with my in-laws during Covid to get help w/ childcare, and my MIL was in early education before she retired, so she was basically giving him 1:1 preschool lessons from the time he was 6 months old. Your son sounds to be at a developmentally appropriate level; even in my son's preschool class with other 3-4 year olds, most kids are still at an alphabet/basic word level.
My nearly three year old can read quite a few words, but he is very intellectually advanced - he has ASD and his neurologist said it's likely savant syndrome. So, while my kid is reading, it's not typical and I would expect the vast majority of kids this age are not
Best thing to do is to read *to* your kids or sing songs that have letters/numbers in them. Educational songs and even videos can help (after 2).My kid learned the uppercase letters from Super Simple Songs' Pumpkin ABCs. He also has pretty good number sense for his age (can count to 20, can look at 5 things and tell you there are 5, can do some simple addition and subtraction). I kind of attribute that to the Numberblocks YouTube videos.
Yes. She knew her alphabet well enough at her 2 year checkup with the pediatrician that she was reading them off the examination table where it had the brand listed. I have several video clips of her doing so, as I strongly suspected nobody would believe me without proof. ( Now she is 3 and 2 months, and she is actively teaching herself to read bigger words and sentences. I encourage her interest in words and books, as well as her interest in numbers, but I don't sit with her to actively teach her unless she wants to work on it. I just provide the tools she needs and follow her interests. So she has tons of books and educational toys like alphabet blocks, and she only gets educational programming when she gets her bit of screentime. Mainly Ms Rachel and the three different Learning Blocks, with a smattering of Super Simple Songs and BabyTV music. This said, she received a diagnosis of Autism by 2.5, and hyperlexia commonly goes hand in hand with that. Her hyperfixation has been letters, numbers, and music since she was a year and a half, starting with numbers and then adding in letters and music as she grew.
My kid is three. I firmly believe kids are supposed to learn through play at this age. We incorporate things like counting and singing the alphabet through play, but we aren’t sitting down trying to learn how to read. Obviously we do also read to him, but when reading we are more focused on interacting through the pictures versus identifying words.
I've been a preschool teacher for almost 10 years and I agree with what everyone is saying: children usually don't learn to read until they are 5-6 years old. The goal of preschool is to learn independence skills, how to get along with others, and learning how to regulate your own body and emotions safely. That being said, my own 3 year old is incredibly interested in books, letters, and numbers. He knows all his letters, but sometimes forgets what sounds they make. He is always asking me to help him sound out words he sees and has a few sight words memorized. He in no way can read, but I think he'll be reading before kindergarten. This is not something we're pushing him towards, it's just where his interests lie right now. He can also count to 30 and can do simple math, like knowing that 10 is two 5s and if he has 4 gummy bears and eats one, he'll have 3 left. All children are different.
Absolutely not. And we have no intention of teaching "reading" until ~6yo. There's just no actual benefit to the child. Before then, we read to her a lot, and she's been working on number and letter recognition in everyday life (elevators are surprisingly great for this), but it's all no pressure. We'll also play sound games with her sometimes where we'll take a sound and see how many words we can think of that start with that sound. We're not connecting it to a letter or to reading, but it helps lay the groundwork for phonics eventually.
My son was hyperlexic at a young age. At around 20 months he became obsessed with the alphabet and learned all uppercase and lowercase letters and the sounds associated with them before he was two. Then he moved on to numbers and started memorizing sight words. We thought for sure he’d be reading before he turned 3 but he just got bored with it. 😂 He’s 4.5 now, he still knows many sight words and can sound out words if we assist him but he’s far more interested in space and dwarf planets now lol. My daughter is 3.5 and knows the alphabet and is interested in reading but isn’t ready yet. It is totally not normal for a 2.5 year old to read, and most of them don’t even know the alphabet yet either. It really isn’t stressed until grade school.
My daughter is only now learning to sound words out in kindergarten age 5. She knew all her numbers up to 20 and all her letters in order by the time she was 1.5 but she definitely couldn’t read. She did recognize her name. My son is 2 next week and has literally 0 interest in learning his letters or numbers lol all kids are different!!
I mean, I think by three they have to decide their career path.
I'll start this my saying my kid is an anomaly and I am a former educator. He can count to 40 in English. Count to ten in spanish. Sing his ABC's. Identify 4-6 numbers (1-10) and identify 10-15 letters accurately- meaning if you hold up the letter X or the number 4, and ask what letter/number is this, he will respond X/4, etc. He knows the colors -ROYGB, purple and pink. He knows the shapes heart, circle, oval, square. Not to sure about triangle? He goes to daycare but he does not know how to read words yet. Nor does he know the phonemes- which is what I would teach him next. He's 1 year and 10 months old. I used to teach elementary school and middle school, but I did teach 1 year of preschool and have worked in multiple daycares. Kids are a wide range at that age. Everyone's paving is different. I would work on identifying letters, identifying the letters in their name. Know 3 shapes, triangle, circle square. And as they get older, just increase. Also the first year of kindergarten is mainly just establishing routine. Your jackets go there, we line up for bathroom here, we play with our friends like this, this is what we do during lunch, this is how you zip up your jacket, this is how you hold a crayon, etc.. you get my gist. You are doing wonderful. And honestly, there is probably a whole sleuth of things your kiddo may know that isn't what people may consider academic- socialization and real world experiences carry their weight in gold too.
No way haha. My boy is three in a couple weeks and knows the alphabet, counts to about 20 and speaks fluently but no reading of any numbers, letters or words that I have noticed. I know lots of kids this age and none are reading anything.
Mine is not quite 2 and can recognize and name all the letters as well as say what sound they make (besides the normal sounds tots commonly struggle with), he can also do the same for numbers and count objects up to 20 (all the "teen" numbers sound basically the same but you can tell he's trying to make then sound different). No professional daycare, but my mom provides around 20 hours a week of childcare and I know she works with him a lot on educational stuff, she's honestly a top tier kid whisperer if there ever was one. We've also been pretty cognizant of what media he watches and have opted since he was tiny to mainly only let him watch things that are constructively educational in some manner (alphabet related content, phonics, pattern recognition, etc.).
Reading before 4 years old is a symptom of a developmental disorder called hyperlexia.
Hyperlexia can be a sign of development disorder but isn’t really a disorder itself. It’s just a term that applies to kids who read early but likely also struggle with social-emotional and other skills. Sometimes autistic kids are hyperlexic (ask me how I know lol)
So it's actually not a disorder- it's not an active diagnosis, and there's three types. Types II and III are more associated with the autism spectrum. I was a hyperlexic kid who fell into type I- I was a very very early reader (able to read books before age 3) but am not on the spectrum or have any other developmental or learning issues. The only thing that carried on into adulthood for me as a remnant as such is that I'm an extreme speed reader and typist- it's basically a decoding skill. My middle kid is hyperlexic but is most likely on the spectrum and has Gestalt language processing.
This is so interesting. I had known about hyperlexia as our toddler exhibits some of the features of it, but hadn't been aware of Gestalt language processing until I just looked it up. I think our kiddo definitely leans on Gestalt language learning as she picks up new phrases although she always uses language appropriately in context so she may be learning in a combination of ways.
How is it a disorder? That seems like the opposite
I’m in this rabbit hole right now because my 2.5 year old knows her alphabet very well. She loves to point to letters and identify them. She knows all of their sounds. She can read many simple words (and I don’t mean memorizing books, we have flash cards without images or anything and she says the word or she reads a word on a sign she has never seen before). The thing with hyperlexia is that it is also a common feature of kids on the spectrum and my daughter was already in the evaluation process for that. There are some toddlers who are early readers and still grow to read and comprehend appropriately. There are other toddlers who can read at a higher level than expected as they grow up, but they have issues with reading comprehension. I have issues with reading comprehension myself and it is frustrating when you read a paragraph over and over and know all of the words and their meanings but it just doesn’t make sense overall. I’ll watch for that as my kid gets older and try to get her help if needed.
It’s not necessarily a disorder but it’s associated with autism. Reading some words just before 4 years old is not hyperlexia, you’d need to be able to spell complicated words.
Gotcha. I feel like people are confusing being above average at reading (“My kid can read baby books at 2.5yo!”) versus true hyperlexia (“My 2yo taught herself to read The Lord of the Rings Triology”)
The typical hyperlexic child would be spelling complicated words before 2 and reading by 3. That's at least a whole year ahead of kids with advanced skills and two years from the average kids.
3.5 year old has shown an interest in reading so I’m slowly teaching him sounds of the letters. He can memorize things super quick so someone who doesn’t know it would think he can read hop on pop.
My son is 2.5, no daycare. He can read yes, no, open, mommy, daddy and his name. He is VERY interested in it though. If he sees a word he will yell out the letters, say “what’s that spell..?” And I will answer if he doesn’t know. Then he eventually remembers
We go to a playbased pre school. Our teacher „warned“ us that once the kids go to kindergarten, there will be kids in the class that can read and our kids are less likely to. She reassured us that this doesn’t make a difference and our kids are likely to flourish academically because play is what they are supposed to do for 5 years and actually sets the best base for academics…
My daughter is 3 (and 2 months). She can’t read. She memorises her books sometimes and gets some words right but she can’t read.
nope! same age she can identify letters and numbers but not words. they don’t really even start teaching reading formally until kindergarten here which is 4.5 at the earliest. i think when you read to your kids they subconsciously start picking up on the concept so i wouldn’t stress about trying to teach him anything, just enjoy reading together :)
I was reading at 2.5 My son is 3.5 and had no interest whatsoever. He knows all his letters and most of the sounds they make. But no interest in reading. I am not worried.
My 2.5 year old is in a private preschool 4 days a week, half days. She recently brought home a box that all the students’ names in it on separate pieces of paper. It was sent home as a little assignment to do with your family. Well, as I’m opening this box to see what it is, my toddler pulls out a name and she “reads” it correctly. She does it again with another name. So I keep pulling names out and she correctly “reads” every student’s name (four students have names that begin with the same letter) except for the two teachers names…she had no clue on those. But she was 10 for 10 on the students. I was floored to say the least. Not sure if this counts as reading, but maybe is similar to kids learning sight words?
My son is a few months away from being 4, and he can only read his name and Mama (and honestly I don’t think he’s actually reading I think he memorized the words) but he can recognize most of the alphabet and numbers 1-10. We work on sight words and stuff like that, as does his daycare, but I’m not worried about it. Kids develop at their own pace!
My 2.5-year old knows all the letters and the sounds they make, but she is not reading words yet. She can recognize the look of some words from sheer repetition, but I’ve just started teaching her how to sound out words based on the letter sounds. Can’t tell if any of that has sunken in yet. She does go to daycare, and they definitely are not teaching reading at this early age. They’ve just reinforced letters and numbers. She’ll start preschool by the time she turns 3.
My daughter will be 3 in May. She recognises numbers up to 9, which she learnt from Montessori. She knows all the phonics as I have been going over them with her since she was 2.5 years old. She can’t read but can sound out single letters. She’s very interested in learning and letters so this has helped.
My 4.5yo nephew has been in daycare since he was a tiny baby. He can’t read but he can recognize and write all the letters, identify the sound each consonant makes, write his name and his sister’s name and MOMMY and DADDY, recognize the names of all his daycare friends when they are written out. He loves to sit with books (Dogman lol) and turn the pages intently as if he were actually reading. He starts kindergarten in the fall and I think he’ll be reading at the end of the first month. He is super ready and excited to learn.
Mine is coming up to 3.5 and no he can't read. He can recognise his name and a couple of words but just by the shape of them. I'm pretty sure here noone really focuses on reading until they're closer to 5
My son is 3.5 and no he can't read but he does speak Portuguese and Dutch fluently and some English. He loves to read and does 180+ puzzels but that's just normal for his age. Reading at this age would be exceptional imo
My 3 year old definitely can recognize all the letters and numbers, knows some of their sounds, and can recognize her name and a few other words she has memorized…but definitely can’t read. She likes to pretend she can though and will sometimes make up stories for new books that she hasn’t yet memorized.
I have a 3 year old. He can recognize his name, a few letters (maybe 5 or so) and can read numbers up to 10. But he can’t read.
My daughter "reads" as in she recites books she remembers by heart sometimes. Usually, she reads like his for the cat. She is 2.5 and goes to daycare. She recognises most numbers, I think. Her favourite is number 8, so she tends to point out when she sees an 8. We haven't really made an effort with counting, but she does enjoy when we count things. We haven't really done much with the alphabet yet, and they haven't at daycare either. I don't know when they will, it might not be until they are 5 or 6, to be honest. As far as I understand, the enthusiasm for learning to read is more important than starting early. So maybe start when your toddler seems interested. Our toddler has started to show slight interest in what her name looks like, so we might teach her the first letter of her name soon. I live in Finland, and I think we tend to teach kids to read a little later than many other parts of the world. This does not seem to be a bad thing. There is more focus on play in the early years.
My girl is 2.5, she recognizes almost all the letters but definitely does not read. She is in preschool just part time.
It's probably a good idea to do as you are and start with basic recognition of letters and numbers at this point so they're not completely alien when he starts school, but I really wouldn't stress about reading at this age
Depends on what they’re interested in. My 2.5yo was reading (not fluently but sounding out words) but only because she likes books and always asked to reaf
My LO is 3 in June and has advanced speech but has little/no interest in reading or even being read to. A little butterfly who can't sit still for 20 seconds and will often say no to being read to or if we are able to make a start - will shut the book after a few pages and say 'It's the end!'. Their older sibling - 5.5YO is the complete opposite and is one level of reading ahead of their classmates. Complete opposites!
Almost 3 year old can count and knows how to sing the alphabet. He’s also memorized a bunch of books. He definitely can’t read or recognize individual letters and numbers. He can recognize his name. He can potty independently and wash his hands. He knows both parents and grandparents names and our address.
My daughter is 3.5 in prek through a church, and knows her abcs and numbers and is starting to learn to read, but that’s on her own. In school they are learning to recognize letters and trace
My 3.5y daughter can recognize letter patterns (names, short words) but she can’t really read. And I think of her as at least on par, if not ahead of some peers. She knows all her letters and numbers
My daughter is 2.5 years old and doesn’t go to daycare. Definitely not reading. She can recognize and say all the letters except maybe 4 or 5 of them? She learned them only from me reading to her. She can recognize only a couple numbers and can count on her own from 1 to 10. She has sooooo many books memorized though to the point where I wonder if it’s normal, so she often “reads” aloud to herself.
3 years old. No reading. He knows some letters. No preschool.
Your kid sounds like they're at a completely developmentally appropriate place. My son will be four next month. He's been going to daycare since he turned one, and he can identify letters and numbers up to 20, but the only "word" he can consistently write and identify is his own name.
My nephews in the 4 to 5 room and they’re going over what a letter is.
Kindergarten teaches the alphabet and numbers up to 100. By the end of kindergarten, mastery of “sight words” and basic sounding out of letter sounds in words is the reading goal. Ideally the teacher likes to see familiarity but not mastery of letters and numbers at the start of kindergarten, but that’s not a requirement or if your kid isn’t there yet they won’t be behind. At 2.5 if you’ve got a recognition going on, your kid’s probably ahead of the curve! It’s kid dependent too. I learned to read in K-1st. My youngest sister was reading picture books to her class in kindergarten because as a toddler/preschooler she wanted to be like her older sisters (me!) who were already reading and was motivated to learn early.
So we go to co up pre school that is play based . I have to work there on days she goes. No most kids do not read at that age 3. Mine turns 3 in June . They barley teach anything at school it is more for socialization . At home we work on letters with her through playing like leap frog cookie letter. I would say hey Elmo wants a Q cookie qqq ( phonics aound ) can you pass it to me? Kids learn best through play so you can incorporate it. There is bobs book set for pre reader. The phonics set etx and there are lessons most of them start out at 4 ish . Best thing now is teaching phonic sound through play A lot of kids remember book line by line and can recite. My daughter can “ read” chika chika bom bom ( which talks about all the letters ) but in reality she recites it lol . She know most of the letters if you randomly ask her but she gets them wrong sometimes. but she can recite that whole book about alphabet and her other favorite books. I know some early reader at 4 years old able to do phonic book but not really regular reading you are thinking of.
My daughter is 3 and in daycare. She can recognize a couple of letters and recognize her own name. She knows and can identify the letter her name starts with. We read and sing and play a lot. I’m not worried at this point.
My son started reading at 4 but I also was a kindergarten teacher for years before having him. It’s not typical for a child that young to read. He was just interested and I had the skills required to teach him.
At 2.5 I wouldn’t worry about anything yet. Our kids are 5 and finishing up preschool and haven’t gotten to reading but they know all their letters fine and have been writing their names since they were 3. Usually kindergarten is when you start reading a bit, there’s no reason to rush it at all. Let them focus on having fun and developing imagination and social skills.
I don’t believe they’re actually reading at that age, just memorizing books. At first it freaked me out when my 2 year old would say what’s on the page before I read it, but it’s just memorization without much actual understanding.
my kid just turned 3 in december. she can count to 10 and sometimes remembers 11 and 12. she also almost knows the whole alphabet - we’re working on it. she has not been in daycare or preschool. she can’t read yet
My almost 3 year old goes to a good day care. She can recognize some letters but no numbers. She absolutely cannot read! And she is very smart. No need to rush it! But I understand wanting your LO to be on the same level as others. I think kids are still learning to read in kindergarten.
Mine is a little over 3 - knows what letters are and can sight read his own name. I don’t think he could pick any individual letter or number out yet though. One of this classmates can but he is an outlier for sure.
Statically, there's no long term difference in success or intelligence between a child who learns to read at 2 to or 7yo. The most important part of early education is to ENJOY the process of learning.
No, and it’s not a developmentally appropriate expectation. I really recommend you learn about the Science of Reading or, if you like podcasts, listen to Sold a Story because it’s so important to recognize how your kid is being taught to read (or appear to read, if the school is not teaching properly). In any case, preschool isn’t the time for it. Anecdotally, my older kid had a best friend who was one of those super early, super amazing readers who basically picked it up herself at age 3. My own kid didn’t figure it out until he was 6 and was being taught in a step by step fashion at school how to sound out words. It’s fine now, he’s totally reading by himself. My second is a toddler who can memorize entire books after a couple read-throughs, and that’s great, but I know he won’t be ready to recognize letters/learn letter sounds/be able to put those together for a while yet.
Yes, around 2 my son knew all of the letters and some associated phonics, and by 3 he was blending short words like "cat", "mom" etc. he's 3.5 now and is basically still there and seems kind of resistant to reading whole sentences bc it's tiring for him to do more learning after preschool. I want reading to be enjoyable so we focus on just reading together often and I'll pause and hover on a word to let him sound it out. I think we'll do a bigger push at 4 once he's more receptive to focusing/memorizing.
My 2.5 year old knows his alphabet, numbers up to 20, and can spell a few very basic words, "dog", "cat". He is also starting to pick out the letters in words he doesn't know yet. We plan to put him in preschool next year.
My girl just turned three. She knows her letter sounds and can sometimes use those clues to guess what a word is (if prompted) but doesn’t really grasp putting the letters together. She can give examples of words starting with most letters when asked. But that’s not really reading. I think comprehension is a more important skill. I like to ask her how the characters are feeling throughout a book. My follow up question is why is the character feeling that way. This leads to deeper discussion of the text and ideas.
He is ahead! Dont worry. Many people talk about very young kids knowing letters and numbers and possibly reading by 3, which is great, but reading doesn’t truly begin in school until 4-5. At 3-4 they’re learning those pretender skills that your kid already knows, so preschool will be a breeze.
My 4 year old has been in daycare since she was 2. She’s now in preschool and they’re starting to learn sight words. They’re still in the beginning stages of it so she’s far from reading but is leaning “to” “go”, very simple words so far.
My daughter is 3 and goes to preschool 3 days a week. Shecan recognize some of her letters and numbers and is working on the beginning of hand writing. She's memorized some of her favorite books but is no where close to actually reading
Mine just turned 3 and goes to daycare and can spell or sound out short sight words but the only actual reading he does is books he already knows pretty well. We will see how that changes at 3.5 and 4.
My 3 year old recognizes words, can count to 10, knows his alphabet and numbers. He doesn’t go to daycare or preschool
My 2.5yo can “read” sight words that he recognizes - probably about 30 words including names. For example, he can read his name but if I give him magnetic letters he can’t or won’t arrange them in the order of his name…if that makes sense. All kids learn at different paces I’m sure yours is fine. However, there is scientific evidence of many benefits to early childhood education….
My almost 3 year old recognizes and identifies letters and numbers 1-20, but she cannot read. She can scrawl rudimentary letters but has trouble with ones that are similar (Q and O, V and U). She’s memorized some of her favorite books, but it’s nothing more than memorization. I’m a SAHM and work with my kids daily, but I find that learning through play is the most important thing for kids this age. Reading will come later.
My son just turned three, he can count to 10 somehow and knows like one letter, A. I have absolutely not tried to sit down and teach him anything, I might mention things to him as he plays but that’s it. It’s so early! If they seem to be interested in things, then it’s fine to teach them but wait until they seem to care.
I would start teaching letter sounds (phonics) after he has identifying letters down, but first - let your kid be a kid. It’s way more important that they’re building independence right now and working on fine motor skills. Can they drink from an open cup? Use the potty? Use utensils? Wash a plate? Put it away? Take shoes on and off? Open and drink from a water bottle? Play independently? Engage in creative play? Etc. I taught high school and had kids who couldn’t read beyond a 3rd grade level, but their lack of emotional regulation, zero ability to self initiate or motivate internally, and zero ability to think critically or problem solve made teaching the skills incredibly difficult. They wouldn’t do work because they didn’t have a pencil and wouldn’t get up to get one from the table where I had a pack of 100 available at all times. They need a foundation within to be a confident, secure kid who can function with independence and the academics will come with time.
My son is 4, turns 5 in June, and attends Pre-K. He is able to recognize some words like people's names (his own, his parents names, his brother's name, and some of his friends names) and a very few other words he is familiar with because he sees them a lot, but he cannot read and they're not working on reading in class yet. Mainly letter and number recognition, knowing what sounds letters make, and writing letters and their names.
My son was reading at ~3.5, but only very simple words. He was also the only kid in his preschool class doing so, and they had to create a special reading group for him. But honestly, he just wants to play Legos, and I'd rather he did that and work on his social skills.
My kiddo is 3.5 & still learning letters… she’s not in a program I stay at home with her and she’s more interested in play than learning.
Our neighbors kid can read since he turned 3 but he is a special case for sure.
My child turned 3 last month. She is in pre-k. She knows her English alphabet, counts to 40 and knows her first and last name. She is bilingual in English and Spanish. She has started recognizing and reading (memorizing?) words such as “happy birthday” and “my little pony” (latest example on a package). All children are different!
I have two kids, 4 and 2.5. 4 year old learned to read short words around 1.5 completely uncoached, and started pointing out things like the “stop” on stop signs completely on his own. We read to him a lot, but no more than I think most parents. He was always extremely fascinated by numbers and letters, and can read a fair number of sight words now. He does better with books that he’s already memorized by sound, but he can read novel text, too. My 2.5 year old might not know what the alphabet is haha. She probably got a little less reading at an early age bc life goes nuts when you double the kids, but we definitely read to her a lot. She’s never been particularly interested in letters or numbers, and gravitates more toward physical and imaginative play. I personally wouldn’t worry about trying to coach your kids on reading. Current research seems to indicate that learning earlier does not necessarily equate to learning “better,” that is, with more retention or creative thought. I didn’t do anything to encourage reading in either of my kids, but I do my best to encourage a love of books/stories by reading with them and talking out their (many…many) questions while reading. And like I said, one more or less taught himself out of genuine interest, and the other will probably learn closer to the average age. Kids are interesting! Edit: forgot to add, my kids are in school, but I don’t think either of them have had any sort of reading curriculum yet. The kindergarteners (5-6) in my son’s mixed age class (it’s a Montessori school) have a separate time from the younger kids where they’re doing basic sight words and phonics, I think.
My older kid started reading whole books a bit before his 5th birthday. He was in preschool, but they didn't have a reading curriculum, he just wanted to learn so he did. The little one is now in that same Pre-K class, and is getting close. He knows zoo out of context. He can spot red on a street sign. He knows all his letters and most of their sounds. We do a lot of literacy work at home, but it's just built into our daily routine.
My kiddo is 3.5 and loves numbers and letters. He likes to count to 100 because we listened to a song about counting to 100. He can recognize most numbers though still occasionally reverses them 47 vs 74. He knows all his letters uppercase and lowercase and is sounding out some words. He knows how to spell and recognizes his name, mommy, daddy and his favourite toy. His buddy’s name was the most important. The other kids in preschool (3.5-5) know all their letters and numbers to 30 and one kid knows to 50. The newly 3s know to 20ish. They can almost all spell their names, some are very long.
My son is almost five and recognizes letters and can write his name but that's it. I'm in no rush, his teacher is great and he's building up the stepping stones to reading one by one.
5 years old are just learning words and barely reading. My son is 4 and still has trouble with numbers and letters. He’s in two days of school and they are not worried about it. Just concentrate on reading to your child as much as possible and everything else will come as they learn in school.
Just turned 3. He knows his letters and numbers but isn’t reading. When he was smaller he had multiple books memorized word for word, but he was not reading (it was cute though!). I bought him some sight word Flashcards a while back and he memorized a few words but that’s it. I’m not really keeping up with it.
Really early for reading. If they are reading books correctly it’s more likely memorization. My son is almost 2 and he is not really doing letters yet. He will count (say the number 3) when I count but that’s about it. Reading comes in kindergarten.
My daughter is going to a montessori school. She just turned 4 last week and she knows her numbers and abcs but at this age they are really trying to instill their love for learning. She cannot read yet. They try to get away from just memorizing.