How long did it take your DC to learn to read.
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Anonymous
| DD always loved being read to and went to a preschool that taught phonics. She started reading right around her 5th birthday--it was like a switch just turned on. |
Anonymous
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What do you consider reading?
I’ve seen a lot of people with 3 year olds who can basically recognize 3 letter words declare their child can read! And while it’s true that the child can decode the simplest of short sentences, but usually is completely lost with any words more complex than cat, hat, fox, etc. The next step is the early reader books and picture books. My kid could read these on her own around age 4. She preferred when I read to her but could easily read something like a Curious George book on her own. The summer before kindergarten (around 5.5) there was another big jump. She started reading chapter books. |
Anonymous
Don’t worry. It clicks for different kids at different times. Last year, our DS just turned 5 after starting K and could not read. He knew all the alphabet, sounds, etc.... By spring of K he started reading CVC words. We worked on phonics with him and had him read 1-2 easy books a day to us. It clicked for him and his reading just took off. By the time he started 1st grade this year, he was reading at a level of the end of 1st grade. By the time he was tested in Nov, he was reading at a 2nd grade level. What we found really helpful was working on phonics and having him read a book to us everyday, even over the summer. As his reading got better, we up the level and difficulty of the books he read. |
Anonymous
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A lot of this is developmental. It's not like it takes (for example) 18 months to learn, so if you start actively teaching at 3, they will be reading by 4.5, if you start at 5, then 6.5, if you start at 6.5, then 8, etc.
I would say, since there are so many components of literacy, it takes however many years old they are when they begin to read semi-fluently. So for a 4 yo, it took 4 years, and for a 7 yo it took 7 years. Or the other way to look at it is by just dropping the whole idea of "how long it takes." It's quite normal, barring learning differences (in all directions), to become a semi-fluent reader anywhere between 3-8, with 4.5-6.5 being the fat part of the bell curve. Of course there are exceptions. Reading isn't exactly a "natural" activity, but it doesn't per se take a tremendous amount of direct instruction if the child is ready, developmentally, since we live in a highly literate world with lots of exposure. The issue is more that the US takes the approach of actively teaching by 5, if not younger, when only about half of kids are really ready per se. So for some, it will seem to have taken 2-3 years to learn, when if they'd been older, it wouldn't have been automatic, but maybe taken 3-6 months. But we don't really meet kids where they are-- on either end of the spectrum. |
Anonymous
This is me, above, and BTW-- I read pretty fluently at 3.5, DH at about 4.5. DD didn't get to the same level until 6.5 or 7. She is 8 now and she reads at about 1 full grade level ahead. When I was 8, I was reading at a high school or early college level. DH at her age was probably reading at exactly the same level she is now. It's not linear. |
Anonymous
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DS1 - it clicked second semester in K. Has been above grade level most of the time since then.
DS3 - it clicked in 2nd grade, but he was lazy and hated reading, so he stayed slightly behind until 3rd grade. |
Anonymous
| Reading any words? Two of my kids could do it at 3, one at 4. But none of them were reading something like a level 2 beginning reader until 5 or 6. They took a very long time from sounding out 'M-a-t' to having down enough phonemes and having memorized enough words by sight to feel confident reading. Older 2 kids are above grade level in reading now. Youngest is still working on CVC words (she's 4, and honestly she's better at it than my other kids were at her age - all initiated by her). |
Anonymous
| Still waiting at 7.25 |
Anonymous
| Mine started CVC words and Bob books this fall when she was an older 4 year old. She's now newly 5 and is starting to read level one readers with help. She can do it and is starting to read more fluently versus sounding out every word, but needs encouragement and her stamina is low (it's hard work!). I'm not pushing except to keep her practicing whatever she wants regularly, but I expect we'll have a big jump by the summer. It feels like it's going to click and she'll be able to do it without as much effort, which will get her reading more and making faster progress. |
Anonymous
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DS started with beginner words at the end of Pre-K and was fully fluent (reading HP etc) at some point during 1st Grade. He's now in 4th and still loves reading
DD started at about the same time as DS but made very slow progress, not helped by being in K when the pandemic started so basically missed half a year of formal school. She was desperate to be able to read but at the same time really intimidated by it and gave up very easily when reading short books. Now in 1st, I'd say it recently clicked with her and we've just started reading Magic Treehouse together (we each read a page). |
Anonymous
| I taught my kids to read on their 4th birthday. It takes a year of daily instruction (10 minutes every day) to reading fluency. After that we focus on comprehension. I prefer my kids to read before they enter Kindergarten. |
Anonymous
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My newly 6 year old Ker is just starting to get fluent. Can now read at an F/Gish level pretty fluently. Started BOB books a little over a year ago (early PK4, just around when she turned 5).
My newly 4 year old PK3er has just started BOB books, so is about a year ahead of DC1. (Was also about a year ahead of DC1 knowing all letters and letter sounds.) I'm curious to see if that means he'll pick up this part faster because he has some extra early aptitude for reading or if it'll go slower because he's younger. I will say that outside of the realm of reading, there's no apparent difference in intellect between the two. DC1 actually probably presents as a little sharper because she is hyper-articulate for her age. |
Anonymous
Teacher here. Reading to your kids is great but it will not teach them how to read. Most students need explicit instruction for that to occur. Just understand that DCUM skews wealthy and educated so the story might be completely different in other situations. I teach in a Title One school. Most of our kindergarteners go to full-day pre-k at our school and only 1 or 2 students can read at the beginning of the year. Some years, that number is 0. It's all relative to who you ask. BTW- Keep reading to your kids every day! It develops their vocabulary and they can hear what a fluent reader sounds like. Plus, it helps them equate books with love and happiness. |
Anonymous
| I learned in first grade (age 6-7, I think) and I went to yale and harvard. my son also just learned in first grade when he was around 6.5. i was starting to feel just slightly anxious about it, and we did do teach a kid to read in 100 easy lessons book when he turned 6, but it really was just fine. If you are at all concerned, have your kid evaluated by a reading specialist, but I think it is very common for kids to learn to read between kindergarten and second grade. I think its third grade when they really start reading for content/secondary learning so you want the kid to have reading fluency by 3rd grade. The people who can read before 5 are outliers as are, probably, the people who can't read by 9. |
Anonymous
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100 days! We read the book and taught her from that. By day 50 she was reading and it got better from there. By the end she could sound out anything. Started at 4 when she asked us to teach her.
But I want to say it doesn’t matter. I’m likely the fastest reader I know and the most accurate at my firm. I didn’t read until 1st grade. I was a summer baby who was young and I was shy. |