Curious what to you consider as "being able to read"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Child looks at a book they have never seen before and can read it without help, using a combination of sounding out the words and knowing sight words

This.
It's a great question, OP. There's a lot of "Larla was reading at 3" which really means "Larla had memorized texts" at 3. (Not to say there aren't 3 year olds who are properly reading.)

+1

It was a friend who told me that my DD could read. She was babysitting and DD picked up book we had not read before and read it to her baby. So they kept giving her new things to read all afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Child looks at a book they have never seen before and can read it without help, using a combination of sounding out the words and knowing sight words

Yes, this. With a bit of help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Child looks at a book they have never seen before and can read it without help, using a combination of sounding out the words and knowing sight words

I would say this, plus actually understanding what they are reading.

Some adults can't do this.

[Anonymous]

My son started reading books in 1st grade. Like decoding and retelling stories. He struggled with reading for the first couple years. My preschooler is currently "reading" those beginner sight word books because she loves it. It's not really reading. She has them memorized and uses the pictures when she gets stuck. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, that's great and age appropriate but I don't consider her reading.

[Anonymous]

If you haven't got a child who can actually read, properly read at 3,4, 5 you will question it of course you will, or dismiss it as "memorizing" but that will in many instances be an incorrect assumption. Many children are able to read at 3 and 4, it will depend on whether they are minded to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To many it just means picking up a new book and reading it with little trouble, but without comprehension, it's not reading to me. I think a reader is a child who picks up new text, reads it, can retell it in detail (not just using pronouns), and can identify the theme/plot, the setting, and the message/what the author was trying to say. Anything short of that is just parlor tricks to me. Something to show Aunt June when she comes to visit.

There are middle school kids who can't do that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Child looks at a book they have never seen before and can read it without help, using a combination of sounding out the words and knowing sight words

you forgot something important: and they comprehend what they have read.

[Anonymous]

Reading and comprehending an unknown text - not just recognizing words by rote memory or being able to decode, or being able to recite familiar texts.

[Anonymous]

My kid could decode well at 3.5 and is reading more complex stories and able to discuss plots and subplots (but not in those words) at 4 -- from new books without pictures as clues. I consider that reading. It was early-ish, but not especially remarkable and I don't expect him to continue on this trajectory forever.

[Anonymous]

At four my DD and I wandered into a new ice cream shop we'd never been in. I picked her up to see the ice creams (very short kid). She sat in my arms and proceeded to read every single label.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At four my DD and I wandered into a new ice cream shop we'd never been in. I picked her up to see the ice creams (very short kid). She sat in my arms and proceeded to read every single label.

Yes but did she understand the differences in flavor, for example, that bubblegum is just sugar and food coloring and that unless strawberry has actual chunks of recognizable fruit that it is really vanilla with flavoring? Was she able to repeat back and describe why she wanted cookie dough versus Oreo (solid choice btw) and describe the difference and what she was feeling? If not, your child is not really a reader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At four my DD and I wandered into a new ice cream shop we'd never been in. I picked her up to see the ice creams (very short kid). She sat in my arms and proceeded to read every single label.

Yes but did she understand the differences in flavor, for example, that bubblegum is just sugar and food coloring and that unless strawberry has actual chunks of recognizable fruit that it is really vanilla with flavoring? Was she able to repeat back and describe why she wanted cookie dough versus Oreo (solid choice btw) and describe the difference and what she was feeling? If not, your child is not really a reader.

Nice snark! I agree, if the child can read the signs, great! I would be more interested to know if she would have been able to read them if they were on a board all together or if the tubs were mislabeled, but that's me. I think it's great to encourage reading in any and every form, as a child demonstrates interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most kids learn to decode, but there are a few that don't. I've seen kids test using nonsense words that they are supposed to sound out; a child who decodes can do them easily, but a child who reads can't.

As I have read, normal readers are more successful at the nonsense word test than dyslexic readers. Isn't it also true for dyslexics that comprehension is always stronger than decoding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At four my DD and I wandered into a new ice cream shop we'd never been in. I picked her up to see the ice creams (very short kid). She sat in my arms and proceeded to read every single label.

Yes but did she understand the differences in flavor, for example, that bubblegum is just sugar and food coloring and that unless strawberry has actual chunks of recognizable fruit that it is really vanilla with flavoring? Was she able to repeat back and describe why she wanted cookie dough versus Oreo (solid choice btw) and describe the difference and what she was feeling? If not, your child is not really a reader.

I'm smiling

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At four my DD and I wandered into a new ice cream shop we'd never been in. I picked her up to see the ice creams (very short kid). She sat in my arms and proceeded to read every single label.

Yes but did she understand the differences in flavor, for example, that bubblegum is just sugar and food coloring and that unless strawberry has actual chunks of recognizable fruit that it is really vanilla with flavoring? Was she able to repeat back and describe why she wanted cookie dough versus Oreo (solid choice btw) and describe the difference and what she was feeling? If not, your child is not really a reader.

I'm smiling

+1000. The above child is a child at best. Reading is a myth. Literacy separates the few [toddlers] from the many.