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Learning to read begins at birth!
No, No, NO, I am not talking about those programs that claim you can teach your 1 year old to read.
Technically, kids aren’t really developmentally able to begin to process and interpret printed text in the same way adults can until around the age of 6, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t READING at a much earlier age! READING just looks a little different at different stages of development:
When exposed to books and reading materials from very early on, most infants will quickly begin to show some interest in books. Brief attention to a picture and pawing at a page are about all a newborn will do to read, but by 6 months many babies will be grabbing at the book, possibly trying to chew it or even throw it.
The focus at this age should be on exposing infants to a wide variety of language and making reading time a pleasant bonding experience, but encouraging any interaction with books is important! Rhymes, songs, and short repetitive stories will soon become favorites and many babies will begin to show their excitement and enthusiasm for a familiar bit of text.
As a baby’s interest in reading material increases they may try to point to pictures, turn pages and begin to mimic adult reading, albeit often in babbling tones. Laughing at funny events in a story, bouncing along with a catchy rhyme and enjoying repetitive phrases are all signs they are beginning to understand language.
They are beginning to understand how books work, how stories are told and that pages contain context clues through pictures and repetitive phrases or actions. These are all considered early reading skills!
Babies and young toddlers love to interact with books by exploring how to manipulate them. They are fascinated by books with textures, flaps, and movable parts and many become quite proficient at turning pages independently.
They may also enjoy destroying books as a way to explore them! “Again” is a common early word – and many tots truly enjoy reading the same book over and over. Increased language skills mean toddlers can help an adult reader by answering questions, making animal noises, finishing the end of a phrase in a beloved and often read book. Toddlers will also begin to identify their favorite books by the covers – see, they ARE reading!
As toddlers approach Preschool age they begin to have a greater ability to sit still for a longer story, may be able to retell a favorite story, and love to explore books on their own. Some may begin to read to themselves by repeating a well known story as they turn the pages and see the pictures.
Around this age many will begin to recognize letters and many symbols and signs (i.e., the Target bulls-eye or the McDonald’s arches, stop signs, etc.) and even their own first names in print. (YES! That IS reading!)
Four year olds still love a cuddle and a story! They will begin to ask for more books in a series or with a favorite character or by a particular author. They may enjoy reading with friends or to stuffed animals or younger siblings by retelling stories and pointing to illustrations. Fours are often able to recognize rhymes and make up their own jokes and stories.
Letter recognition continues to grow and they begin to understand that every letter makes a specific sound. Three and four year olds also begin to write letters including their first names and may even try to write a series of letters for short words beyond their own names. Some may be nonsense words, but that doesn’t matter, what matters is that they are understanding that these symbols convey meaning. They are reading at their developmental level.
By the end Kindergarten many kids begin to decode text in the way adults would consider “truly reading.” They should be able to retell a story with and understand the concepts of beginning, middle and end. Most will begin to recognize ‘sight’ words (short high frequency words like ‘the’ and ‘a’ and, ‘and’ etc.). Some will begin to sound out words and be able to string together short sentences and paragraphs of text and are often thrilled to show off their new skills.
Remember even when kids begin to read independently they still love being read to and it continues to be a very important part of their development!
Every child progresses at his or her own pace. The age suggestions here are meant to serve as a guide. Reading is a process!
Looking for more information on early reading skills? Check out KidsHealth.org, and Scholastic.com. WhattoExpect.com is a great resource for developmental milestones, and this article from pbs.org called Baby Reading Milestones has some great points too (just ignore the advice to start reading at 6 months please – start as early as possible!!)
About Anne McKernan
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