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

[Anonymous]

There are tons of posts that ask when did your child learn to read or mention that a child was reading my such and such age.

Curious what others consider as "being able to read".

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Hand a child a new book they never have seen and read most of it without help.

[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

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.)

[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.)

My 3.5 year old read new books at that age. It was not memorized. It surprised us. But, agree new book not memorized they've see hundreds of times.

[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

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I think it's like everything else with kids. I never understood when people said their kid learned to walk on a certain day. It was such a gradual process for us that by the time I was willing to say he was definitely walking it had been a while since the first step. Same with talking. Very gradual.

Reading is the same. They will start to pick up words here and there, and learn to sound out shorter words, etc. But when are they actually "reading"?? Depends on your definition... I probably won't consider it reading until ds is able to read a full reader on his own with minimal help. But on the way to that point he has definitely "read" things. Signs, short cvc readers, pages here and there of Doctor Seuss, etc. He is "reading" already... But I won't pinpoint it yet as milestone reached.

[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.

That would be grade 3 for some kids

[Anonymous]

I think most people are talking about decoding when they say their child can read.

[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.

Of course comprehension has to be part of reading, but there are different levels of comprehension. This is a high level of comprehension. A kid decoding and understanding an easier book is still reading, just at a lower level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.)

My 3.5 year old read new books at that age. It was not memorized. It surprised us. But, agree new book not memorized they've see hundreds of times.

I think most parents aren't stupid and will only say Larlo is reading when he's actually reading. Our DC could pick up books as difficult as Magic Treehouse and read them aloud with really good accuracy at age 3.5. Did DC understand each individual sentence? Most. Could DC recount the plot? Uh, no but that doesn't mean DC wasn't reading.

[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.

Evidently most kids aren't readers until they're 9 or 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Evidently most kids aren't readers until they're 9 or 10.

I don't know what school your kids go to but mine are in regular old public school and this is required by 1st grade. They've both read 2 to 3 grades above their reading level but even at 1st grade this is what their teachers were looking for to be "on level." By 2nd they were required to be able to write what they read which is a skill in and of itself. So no, not 9 or 10 yr olds. More like 6+

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

That would be grade 3 for some kids

That's sad. This is required by at least the end of 1st and many are doing in mid-1st grade. My K is doing this. She's was DRA 20 at the first parent teacher conference back in Nov.