Baseline to start reading independently ?

[DualvansMommy]

I'm prefacing my question with a nod that it really varies child to child. But I'd like to get an idea of a rough baseline when a child can read a book?

DS1 will be 5 in June, and is showing interest by asking me to read him menus for his meal options. So we do that, in addition to reading him picture/board books every night. It's usually just 2-3 sentences max per page, and he is losing interest in those.

What's next? Any recommendations? He's into superheroes, dinosaurs, solar systems, and nature.

compounding our issue, is I'm not sure whether his pace is on par to his peers because we tend to sign what is read to him. DS1 tend to look back and forth between the pictures in his book and to me, looking at what I was signing.


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[PZMommy]

To read independently, he will need to be able to decode (sound out words), and recognize basic high frequency words. How is he doing on those skills??

My DS loves super hero books, and we got him a bunch of world of reading brand books. They sell them at Target, Walmart, Barnes and nobles, etc. Level 1 is fairly basic, and then each level increases in difficulty. I found the stories to be rather boring, but my DS loves them, and that is what is important.

[mcmanutm]

You can start with some very basic sight word books that are full of repetition and picture cues. My son really likes these Scholastic Science leveled readers. They usually have smaller sets of these in the Scholastic Book Club magazines. Here's a link to the complete set: http://shop.scholastic.com/shop/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10751&productId=130196&urlRequestType=Base&langId=-1

They are very basic and helped my son build confidence as a reader.

As for learning letter sounds try the phonics dance. Look it up on YouTube. It really helped my son.

There are also sight word super hero books and easy phonics books that Scholastic Book Clubs sell. I highly recommend looking at a Kindergarten or preschool Scholastic Book Club flyer and ordering some sight word readers or leveled books (maybe levels A-D to begin with).

My son has blossomed this year in Kindergarten. He is 6. It will all start to come together and it is so neat to see!!!

[schrocat]

DS1 is 5 and will be going into Kindergarten in the Fall. I've always read alot to him, picture books, storybooks with not many pictures, lots of non-fiction books and he likes us reading manuals to him. He's always been really resistant to learning how to read. He's been about to decoded simple CVC words since he was 3 or 4 but I don't consider that reading. Late last year we started going through BOB books, about 3 a day and sounding it out till I know that he can read those words. I test the same words in a different context and when I know that he knows it, we move on. He's now on the 3rd Costco box set and I think we'll be finished with the whole box by the end of April. We're also working on reading and writing basic sight words. He's writing sentences with primary lined paper. He's mastered positioning everything perfectly which will help alot in the Fall.

[DualvansMommy]

To read independently, he will need to be able to decode (sound out words), and recognize basic high frequency words. How is he doing on those skills??

My DS loves super hero books, and we got him a bunch of world of reading brand books. They sell them at Target, Walmart, Barnes and nobles, etc. Level 1 is fairly basic, and then each level increases in difficulty. I found the stories to be rather boring, but my DS loves them, and that is what is important.

I'll look those up! I agree, level 1 is pretty basic and great starting point, DS1 is ready for next one or keep practicing at current level, but with different variety of books perhaps.

I'm not the best person to judge on the skills of sounding out words, nor even testing him at higher frequency words. I hear better with lower frequency sounds. When DS1 was younger, he "copied" my incorrect speech with a lot of words since he was taking his cues from me. Since then, I've always been leery of using my voice on a daily consistent level with him. DH is better at it, so we may have to switch reading to DS1 until we get a better sense of those skills.


DS1 is 5 and will be going into Kindergarten in the Fall. I've always read alot to him, picture books, storybooks with not many pictures, lots of non-fiction books and he likes us reading manuals to him. He's always been really resistant to learning how to read. He's been about to decoded simple CVC words since he was 3 or 4 but I don't consider that reading. Late last year we started going through BOB books, about 3 a day and sounding it out till I know that he can read those words. I test the same words in a different context and when I know that he knows it, we move on. He's now on the 3rd Costco box set and I think we'll be finished with the whole box by the end of April. We're also working on reading and writing basic sight words. He's writing sentences with primary lined paper. He's mastered positioning everything perfectly which will help alot in the Fall.

I'll check out BOB books at Costco! Thanks.


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[PZMommy]

When I say high frequency words, I mean words that you come across often, but can't really sound out. They are also known as sight words. The, see, I , like, a, am, and, go, play, are some of the first sight words we teach in kindergarten. Common core has a list of 120 high frequency words for kindergarten. You could probably Google common core kindergarten high frequency words and get a list of them.

[schrocat]

Could you sit with him at the computer and work through Starfall with him? It sounds out the words and you don't have to worry about him copying your incorrect speech. I learnt how to read by listening to tapes with books. I think you could probably get books with cds for him.

[teresah00]

DS is 5.5 (and DD 3.5)and loves to listen to stories. I try to go to the library every few weeks, plus he brings home a book every week from school. He has some favorites that we own that he likes to hear more regularly. He also likes to listen to books on CD. He used to flip thru and "read" the book while listening to Curious George on CD every day at quiet time. I just get whatever might interest him on audiobook from library, or what we can download a free rental from their website.
I personally don't stress about them reading. He knows his sounds and sight words for K. He can sound out easy words and knows some word families.
For your son's interest, take him to the library and see what interests him. Does he prefer fiction or non-fiction?


http://www.amazon.com/dp/0142408255/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=36285631179&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7829814769646884796&hvpone=4.64&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_5g3il87z5r_b

http://www.amazon.com/How-Dinosaurs-Say-Good-Night/dp/0545093198 (we just have the book)

[KrisM]

For reading to him, you can read much more interesting books than short picture books. His comprehension when listening is much higher than his reading level. I liked the Read Aloud Handbook (http://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Handbook-Seventh-Jim-Trelease/dp/014312160X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458702267&sr=1-1&keywords=read+aloud+handbook)a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Handbook-Seventh-Jim-Trelease/dp/014312160X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458702267&sr=1-1&keywords=read+aloud+handbook

At 5, my kids enjoyed My Father's Dragon, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and Henry Higgins types of books. None of my kids read more than a handful of words going into kindergarten. But, they all enjoyed being read to. They are all good readers now and I think a good chunk of that is from being read to.

[sadbunny]

My son is 5 and in Kinder (will be 6 next month) and your son sounds right about where my son was before he started school. He knew some sight words, and could read a little but not on his own. In school the teacher worked on a lot of sight words and we had index cards (that she gave us) so he could work on them at home. So now that school is almost over (yikes!) my son can read simple books like the BOB books, Dr. Seuss on his own. He still has to work on sounding out new words but he's getting better at it. Reading every other page of harder books helps him a lot.

[doberbrat]

starfall and some of the PBS kids games really helped dd2 learn to read. There are also nook and kindle books that are read along books. They are becoming more widely available at libraries if you don't want to invest a ton in them. dd2 reads very well for her age now, but still enjoys the read along books on her nook.

Also, there is a non-fiction series that dd2 LOVES - most of the books seem to be written by Mari Schuh - we've read a BUNCH of these. - anteaters, ants, bats, beavers, tigers, lions ....... they're cute and very short and include a glossary at the end.

Once dd2 started reading, I would have her pick out 2 books at bedtime - one for her to read and one for me to read. She'd pick something like the Mari Schuh books and would give me a longer/more complex book to read to her.

[ExcitedMamma]

I find it really hard to properly isolate sounds to demonstrate for DS. I don't remember learning to read at all and really have no idea about the different phonograms or sounds. Like all the sounds of OO sound the same to me but I guess they are different. I taught DS to read with books from All About Reading and they have free apps you can download to your phone and you can just press the letter or phonograms to hear the correct pronunciation which could be helpful for you if you are concerned about properly demonstrating. It's very simple to use, just pictures of letters, so he can push them to hear the sounds too.
http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/apps

[ExcitedMamma]

I find it really hard to properly isolate sounds to demonstrate for DS. I don't remember learning to read at all and really have no idea about the different phonograms or sounds. Like all the sounds of OO sound the same to me but I guess they are different. I taught DS to read with books from All About Reading and they have free apps you can download to your phone and you can just press the letter or phonograms to hear the correct pronunciation which could be helpful for you if you are concerned about properly demonstrating. It's very simple to use, just pictures of letters, so he can push them to hear the sounds too.
http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/apps

If he wants to blend you could check out First Start Reading by Memoria Press. It begins by introducing a letter and the sound and then slowly begins blending by tracing bubble letters. Like m, a...m am. Or m....a....t. mat. The first workbook is really cheap and you don't need the teacher's guide at all.
http://www.memoriapress.com/sites/default/files/products/samples/L.%201%20K%20Phonics%20A.pdf

Hooked on Phonics has an app that is periodically on sale and free. It has great little videos, games and stories to read that all involve beginning blending.
http://apps.hookedonphonics.com

I think the Usborne phonics books are all much better done than the BOB books, like Ted in a Red Bed. They are brightly colored and fun.

[smiles33]

Reading (and writing!) proficiency vary greatly among incoming kindergarteners (at least in my experience), so my message would be to not push your child more out of a fear that he'll be behind. Instead, consider how important it is to you that your DC can read and write sentences before school starts. Other than writing her first name (they didn't even know how to spell or write their last name!), neither DD could write sentences before kindergarten and neither could read 3+ word sentences. I admit I was surprised when I saw how other students could write correct b's and d's on day 1 (the teacher had them write out the alphabet), but years later, both kids are now flourishing academically.

FYI, I didn't use any reading programs with either kid--we just read to them for 20-30 min nightly before bed and let them pick out the books. DD1 loved all the Ramona books, DD2 hated them. They both loved Little House series. I liked reading them series as then there's something to look forward to each night as part of a continuing story as opposed to a short stand-alone children's picture book.

They knew a few EASY sight words before kindergarten, but I figured academics would come quickly enough so we focused more on play-based preschools and social skills (e.g., being a thoughtful friend, using words to resolve conflicts, etc.). DD1 was reading very short chapter books by the end of kindergarten but DD2 was a little slower and only reading chapter books now as a second-half of the school year 1st grader.

[anonomom]

My three kids have run the gamut, literacy-wise.

DD1 started reading around age 5; in preschool she read simple books (but she was 5y8m when she started Kindy, which helped). By the time she started Kindergarten she was reading chapter books.

DD2 did not read going into Kindy (at 5y6m). She knew some letters, but not all. She "clicked" on reading right around Christmas of that year and now reads chapter books to herself. But she doesn't like reading nearly as much as DD1 does.

DS is 4.5 now and will start Kindy the week he turns 5. He can write his name and identify maybe half the alphabet. He cannot read at all; not one single word, and he is not interested in learning. I'm a little concerned, but I am hoping he becomes more interested over the summer.

[anonomom]

My three kids have run the gamut, literacy-wise.

DD1 started reading around age 5; in preschool she read simple books (but she was 5y8m when she started Kindy, which helped). By the time she started Kindergarten she was reading chapter books.

DD2 did not read going into Kindy (at 5y6m). She knew some letters, but not all. She "clicked" on reading right around Christmas of that year and now reads chapter books to herself. But she doesn't like reading nearly as much as DD1 does.

DS is 4.5 now and will start Kindy the week he turns 5. He can write his name and identify maybe half the alphabet. He cannot read at all; not one single word, and he is not interested in learning. I'm a little concerned, but I am hoping he becomes more interested over the summer.

[catsnkid]

Like most of the other posters, DS really clicked into reading about halfway through kindergarten (at about 5 1/2). Prior to that he had gone to preschool and knew how to spell a few words and knew his letters. I noticed the big improvement this year in first grade, and he is interested in reading books that hold his interest. I did not do anything special with him except read to him most nights.

[elephantmeg]

I loved the leapfrog DVDs and the Now I'm Reading books. I love, love, love the now I'm reading books!