Disclaimer: Nothing in this blog is for medical purposes. It is only meant to be informative and educational. The content of this blog does not constitute as educational advice.
Is my child behind in reading?
Parents worry about their child’s education and development. Am I doing enough? Are they going to be successful? Am I setting them up for failure because I do xyz? The list of potential worries is endless.
I cannot eliminate all your parental worries (nor my own, unfortunately), but I can offer some helpful information for noticing when your child might benefit from more specialized reading instruction.
What does “behind in reading” mean?
Now, let’s define some terms. What does “behind in reading” actually mean for reading development? Generally being “behind in reading” means that a child has not yet mastered the skills a certain standard, benchmark, or curriculum has decided should be mastered by a certain grade level or unit.
Put more simply – “behind in reading” is pretty subjective in a lot of cases. Everything depends on what measurement you choose to use. This subjectivity doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful to sometimes measure your child’s reading development and intervene if that development seems to not be progressing. BUT, at the same time, remember that your child is an individual, not a textbook. Just because a reading curriculum follows a certain scope and sequence and your child is not mastering skills at the same rate the curriculum is moving, does not mean there is something wrong with your child. In some cases, there might actually be something wrong with the curriculum! Or even more often, your child just needs more time and practice on some reading skills.
If your child is homeschooled, it is your prerogative to determine what standard by which to measure their reading development. If your child attends a public or private school, there is likely a set standard for measuring progress used by the school. So, maybe you’re reading this because your child’s teacher said they’re behind and you aren’t sure what to do. Or, you might be your child’s teacher and you are concerned because they are not mastering reading skills at the same rate as the curriculum is moving. Both are good reasons to be here.
Regardless of which route you take educating your child, here are some questions I would ask as a parent before assuming a child is “behind” and in need of more specialized reading instruction.
Is the reading skill developmentally appropriate?
We cannot expect children to master skills that they are not developmentally ready for. Think about reading development like riding a bike. Would you be shocked to learn that a 2 year old cannot ride a bike by themselves? Of course not. Two year olds are tiny and just learning to run and jump. While some 2 year olds maybe can ride a bike, it is not the norm.
Now, don’t worry – I am not asking you to go down a long rabbit trail of child development theory to determine if a certain reading skill is developmentally appropriate for your child’s age. Just stop and think – am I asking too much of my child right now? For example, are you expecting a 5 year old to fluently read a book by himself? While that would be great (and some 5 year olds can), that is not a developmentally appropriate expectation. A reasonable expectation, however, might be that a 5 year old is beginning to identify letters and sounds. Following these questions I will list out some developmentally appropriate expectations to help you.
How much exposure has my child had to the skill?
So much of reading development has to do with exposure. Think back to the bike – maybe we expect that an 8 year old can ride a bike. But what if you were an 8 year old who grew up on a busy street without a big driveway, so your parents never bought you a bike? Would we expect that you would be able to hop on a bike and ride it? Of course not! You have not had adequate exposure to even know how to ride a bike.
Similarly, children must be exposed to reading skills in order to master them. If a child has never learned that letters have sounds, they will not be able to sound out a word. We do not consider a child to have a learning difficulty when they haven’t even been exposed to the skill we want them to know. When determining if your child needs more reading help, make sure you have carefully considered if they have been adequately exposed to the skill you think they need.
Has my child had enough time to practice the skill?
Exposure alone isn’t enough to build reading skills. Children need instruction and time to practice those skills. Think back to the bike – just seeing someone ride a bike does not transfer bike riding skills to you. You need to actually get on a bike and practice – even better if you have a coach teaching you how to pedal and brake. Like riding a bike, children need a coach and practice time. Before determining if your child needs more reading help, make sure they have been taught the skill and have been given time to practice that skill.
So is my child really behind in reading?
Without seeing some assessment results from your child, I unfortunately can’t tell you for sure if your child might be “behind in reading.” If you want me to review reading assessment results from your child, explain them, and create a custom tutoring plan for your child, I am happy to do that. You can purchase the Individualized Reading Plan here.
If you’re not ready for that step just yet though, below I will list out some skills I would personally expect a child to have in certain grade levels. Please note that this list does not take into account your child’s personal reading history. If you have questions after reading this list, feel free to schedule a 30 minute phone consultation with me.
General Reading Foundational Skills Expectations
These are my personal expectations from my experience as a kindergarten and first grade teacher and private tutor with a Master in Reading Education. These lists are based on a child having started Kindergarten at age 5 or 6.
End of Kindergarten
- Identifies letters and their sounds
- Identifies and creates rhymes
- Counts syllables
- Blends and segments sounds in simple words
- Begins to sound out simple words
- Reads some sight words automatically
- Enjoys listening to books read aloud and can answer some questions about the book
End of First Grade
- All of the above skills
- Beginning to sound out words beyond consonant-vowel-consonant words
- Reads many sight words automatically
End of Second Grade
- All of the above skills
- Beginning to flexibly read and sound out more complex words
- Reads most sight words automatically
- Thinking about and asking/answering questions as they read books
These lists are in no way exhaustive. Think of all of the above skills as things kids traditionally are working on in these grades.
Now what?
You’ve considered your child’s development in light of appropriateness, exposure, and practice time. You have seen a list of skills that might be expected of children at certain ages. So, now what?
YOU know your child best. And now you get to decide if you think they need more specialized reading instruction. You have lots of options.
1. You can just give your child more time with their current reading curriculum.
2. If you homeschool, you can try a new curriculum to see if your child jives with it better.
3. You can hire a private tutor to assess your child and then work with them on their not yet mastered skills.
4. You can assess your child and provide instruction on their needed skills.
Whatever you choose to do, I highly recommend doing a reading assessment of some kind. I don’t just say that because I create and sell them. As a teacher and private tutor, I always assess a child’s reading skills before doing anything else.
If you want to try assessing your child’s skills on your own, head over to my resource page. There are three assessments offered for children in elementary grades.
If you want to assess your child and then have me create a custom plan for next steps, purchase an Individualized Reading Plan Bundle. It includes all assessments and a consultation!
Whatever you choose to do, remember that your child is an individual. And where they are now in their reading development, isn’t where they have to stay.
Disclaimer: All content of this blog is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical or prescriptive advice.