Reading Readiness Skills: Is My Child Ready to Read?

Reading readiness is a subject I am asked about all the time. When should my child be reading? Where do I start? I wanted to provide you with information that will help you determine if your child is ready to read and when you should consult an expert if you are concerned.

As a speech-language pathologist and language specialist, I often get questions about reading readiness skills. While I am not a reading specialist, I am an expert in language development. Language skills are a key component in reading readiness. If you are looking for more information on the importance of reading, you can have a look at my article.

Article Contents

What is Reading Readiness?

Reading readiness refers to the stage in development when your child is ready to read successfully. These skills include cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional skills to prepare your child for the process of reading. It will take time for your child to become a confident and independent reader as they develop their reading skills. Typically, literacy skills develop between the ages of 4 and 6 years of age, but it is different for every child.

Key Reading Readiness Skills

Reading readiness skills are the skills that, when put together, allow the child to begin reading and understanding what they are reading. There are several skills that children need to develop before they can learn to read. It is much more than knowing the alphabet. These skills can be broken down into two main areas.

Language Comprehension
Word Recognition

1. Language Comprehension

Children need to be able to listen and understand stories and spoken language. When they master these skills, they will be able to make sense of what they are reading.

Background Knowledge – An often overlooked skill for reading is background knowledge. To build successful background knowledge, begin reading to your child as early as possible. Exposure to language from an early age is a great foundation for reading
Vocabulary Skills – Part of language comprehension also includes building an appropriate vocabulary. Understanding the vocabulary in a book is crucial for understanding what the story is about and is a critical reading readiness skill.
Expressive Language Skills/ Oral Language Skills– While it might be seen as counterintuitive that a child would need expressive language skills to read, oral language skills are important for reading fluency. A child will need a certain level of expressive language to answer questions and retell stories as well. Kids will need knowledge of sentence structure and grammar!
Verbal Reasoning– As children get older, they will need to understand figurative language to advance and make connections between ideas. This is especially important for a deeper understanding
Literacy Knowledge – Understanding concepts of print, like reading from left to right. This can start at a very early age and progress to different kinds of texts like poetry or journal articles.

2. Word Recognition

Phonological Awareness Skills– These are the skills that center around the manipulation of part of a word. Skills such as recognizing rhymes and alliteration, to blending sounds, are imperative first steps to reading readiness. You can have a look at my article explaining the different phonological awareness skills
Decoding– This is the ability to apply the sound-letter relationship to reading skills. A prerequisite for this is: Letter Recognition Skills/ Alphabet Knowledge (Recognizing both uppercase and lowercase letters is critical before a child can learn to read), and Sound Awareness- Knowing the letters and knowing the sounds are two very different skills. Think about how many letter combinations of sounds can make the “f” sound. The “f” Dolphin is made with a ph. The “f’ in enough is made with a gh. You can also have the “f” sound with ff or ffe, like in the words off or giraffe. Individual sound awareness is the last step toward reading readiness.
Sight Recognition– This is the ability to recognize high-frequency words automatically, especially ones that cannot be sounded out.

Reading becomes more fluent and meaningful when language comprehension and word recognition skills are combined.

Why is Reading Readiness important?

Preparing your child for the task of learning to read is one of the best ways to ensure reading success later on. In correlation with that, if you notice that your child is having trouble with any of these skills, identifying areas of difficulty and intervening early can give your child the best chance of becoming a proficient reader

Foundation for Future Learning: By the time your child is in 4th grade, they will no longer be learning to read; rather, they will be reading to learn. Reading readiness ensures that your child has a solid foundation upon which they can build
Boosts Confidence: When children feel well-prepared to read, they will have more confidence. Confident readers are more likely to have a lifelong love of books.
Support Cognitive Development: Reading readiness is linked to cognitive skills such as memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. These skills are critical for reading and general intellectual growth and development
Improves Language Development: Reading readiness involves both expressive and receptive language skills. Supporting reading readiness improves overall language skills, and as an SLP, I cannot stress enough how important this is.

Reading becomes more fluent and meaningful when language comprehension and word recognition skills are combined.

Signs of Reading Readiness

A Desire to Read/ Interest in Books – Your child can show this in many ways. They can pick up books to look at pictures, or you may see them “pretending to read”. Your child may not want to sit for a 10-minute-long story, but sitting attentively while you read a nursery rhyme also demonstrates a desire to read. You can help your child develop this skill by modelling interest in books!
Print and Book Awareness– As your child gets a little older, they will understand how a book works- how to hold the book, turn the pages, and handle the book. Your child will understand that reading goes from left to right, top to bottom, and front to back. They also understand that a space means a new word and that words are made of letters.
Growth in Language Skills– As your child grows, you will notice an exponential growth in their language skills. They will understand so much more of what you say and talk a lot more with an increasing vocabulary. This is the time when your child might be showing signs of reading readiness.

Expert Tips to Promote Reading Readiness

Reading can and should be fun. Too much pressure on your child to focus on the text rather than the story can hinder reading development rather than help. To help improve your child’s reading readiness:

Read with your child
Let your child see you read- model reading
Make it fun and engaging- ask questions, interactive, etc
Incorporate language activities into everyday life, like playing rhyming games in the car or while eating dinner
Make story time interactive by letting your child point to the words or turn the page
Low pressure
Re-read books
Choose the right books- make sure the books are not too difficult and are books your child likes!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Reading Readiness?

Reading readiness refers to the stage in development when your child is ready to read. It will take a while before your child becomes a confident and independent reader.

What are Reading Readiness Skills?

There are a number of skills that indicate a child is ready to read. These skills are skills in both language development and the ability to recognize and play with sounds.

What are the Signs of Reading Readiness?

There are three important signs of reading readiness. When your child demonstrates these, they are ready to begin learning to read.
1. Interest in Books
2. Print Awareness
3. Growth of Language Skills

When Should a Child Be Able to Read?

Every child is different, so children will learn to read at different times. Typically, children begin learning to read in kindergarten and should be able to sound out words in first grade. If you have concerns, you should speak with your child’s teacher.