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Getting Your Child Ready to Read
From Four to Five Years Old
Oral Language - Your child should be communicating in complete sentences and beginning to demonstrate some rules of grammar. It is important for you to provide models of correct use of grammar, as this will increase your child's understanding and reading ability. Support the child's engagement in conversation with teachers and peers as well as family members. Giving the child a chance to take the lead and drawing out additional conversation are important ways to encourage language development.
Vocabulary - By the time your child enters school, he or she should know between 3,000 and 5,000 words and use those words to describe thoughts, feelings and ideas. The larger your child's vocabulary is, the easier it will be for the child to recognize and understand the meaning of those words when reading.
Print Awareness - In addition to understanding the "rules" of print, your child can also understand that a book has a title and an author. The child should be able to point to specific words on a page as you read the words, and should be gaining a more in-depth idea of the rules of language.
Phonological Awareness is the child's sensitivity to, manipulation of, and use of sounds in words. Children will learn to recognize and separate smaller sounds from within words. This ability is shown through rhyming and breaking whole words into individual sounds. Your child's ability to recognize the sounds of language is very important when beginning to read by "sounding out" words. Your child should understand rhyming and know whether two words such as "cat" and "bat" rhyme. Children should be able to say words with sounds or pieces left out, such as "bat" without the "buh" sound. They should be able to hear similar beginning sounds and separate words by syllables. They should also be able to put words or parts of words together to form new words, such as combining "cow" and "boy" to create "cowboy."
Letter Knowledge - Your child should be learning the names of letters, recognizing what letters look like and distinguishing the sound each letter makes. Children should be able to spell their own names. They should recognize frequently encountered environmental words as well as the names of their family, classmates, objects and additional words that they see printed.
Knowledge of Narrative is the ability to understand and tell stories; be familiar with elements of narrative such as characters, dialogue and sequence (what happens next); and describe ideas. As children learn to read, narrative skills are very important in understanding the ideas presented in what they are reading. Your child may be able to tell familiar stories from beginning to end. The child should also have the ability to describe familiar items or places, such as a toy or a favorite store or playground.
Birth to 12 Months Old
From One to Three Years Old
From Three to Four Years Old
» From Four to Five Years Old
Frequently Asked Questions About Early Language and Literacy Development
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