Developmental Stages of Reading

Young children go through a developmental process of becoming a reader during the preschool years. Many of the skills that are a part of the true reading process emerge during this time, although most children do not begin to read in a conventional sense until they are between the ages of 6 and 8 years.

Parents may observe some of the following stages of emerging reading in their child:

• Holds a book upright and turns pages one page at a time, beginning at the front of the book.
• Enjoys being read to and often asks to be read to.
• Requests favorite books to be read over and over.
• Begins to ask questions about the story being read.
• Can fill in phrases or words for a familiar story.
• Notices of the parent skips or changes the text of a familiar book.
• “Reads” familiar books to himself or others from memory and using pictures.
• Uses pictures to “read” a book that is not familiar to him.
• Uses a special “reading” voice when reading a book.
• Shows understanding that it is the print that is being read by moving a finger along the print when reading.
• Begins to pay attention to longer stories.
• Shows curiosity and an interest in print by asking, “What does that say?”
• Recognizes his name in print.
• Reads environmental print, such as “STOP” or “Wal-Mart”.