At what point do you consider your child a reader?

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

I realize this is pretty low on the important list :) but I was curious as to when you would consider your child (or any person, for that matter) a reader. When they can sound out 3 letter, short vowel words? When they can read at a certain reading level (level 1 or 2), or at a certain grade level?

 

What is considered general literacy these days? A fifth grade reading level?

[katilac]

When I suddenly notice they've been quiet for a long time, and see that the reason is because they are sacked out on the coach reading a chapter book of their choosing, I consider them Readers :001_smile:

[newlifemom]

When I suddenly notice they've been quiet for a long time, and see that the reason is because they are sacked out on the coach reading a chapter book of their choosing, I consider them Readers :001_smile:

 

:iagree:

[angela in ohio]

When I suddenly notice they've been quiet for a long time, and see that the reason is because they are sacked out on the coach reading a chapter book of their choosing, I consider them Readers :001_smile:

 

I agree, also, although I've noticed that most people say the age that they could read their first three letter word.

[beansprouts]

What they said. The child is a "Reader" when they are no longer "Learning to read" but "Reading to learn". ;)

[Pamela H in Texas]

I also agree that beginning chapter books are a good indication. It requires them to be able to read most common words plus decode many more, read at a decent speed, have some stamina, be able to comprehend what they read, etc. I've always used this as the indication for my kids. Using this, my kids were readers at 3 and 10.

[Emmy]

I guess I would say they are a reader when I can trust them to read something on their own without me having to sit with them and help sound out words or listen in to monitor their reading. When I can hand a book over and say - here read 2 chapters and come back and tell me about it - then they are a reader.

 

Before that - I would call them an early reader.

 

I have 3 versions at my house right now - my 8yo is an all out reader. I can hand him whatever and he will read it and we can discuss. This transition happened just in the last year. My 6 1/2 year old is reading frog and toad with me by his side. My 5yo reads CVC and long vowel readers. I would consider the younger two to be early readers.

Edited December 23, 2008 by Emmy

[Donna]

I considered mine readers when they could read an unfamiliar book (usually chapter books with my kids since they memorized picture books) with very little assistance on my part. When they could sight read or sound out the majority of the words (over 90%).

 

Before that point they were beginning/early readers.

[Colleen]

I use a book called "Reading Made Easy" and once my boys complete those lessons, they move on to Easy Readers such as Sammy the Seal, the Frog & Toad books, etc. At that point, yes, I consider them readers ~ or "early readers", as Emmy said.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

My oldest son is without a doubt a reader. :)

 

I was partly curious because while I find it tremendously enjoyable to watch my sons become readers, listening to a child take five minutes to read 'The fat cat sat on a hat' can be tedious at times. My 2nd ds just transitioned to reading Frog and Toad with not much effort (and a sweet little sing-song voice) and I'm *loving* it!! Thinking about it made me wonder if I considered him a 'reader' and at what stage others thought that point would be.

 

Thanks for humoring me. I enjoyed reading the replies!

[Chris in VA]

Welll... my education in Early Childhood says something rather ridiculous--that we are all readers, just in different stages of reading. I don't quite agree--I do think there are beginning readers and fluent readers. Beginners qualify as such when they put together their first word. Fluent readers may stop to sound out words, but can basically get thru a sentence or more with flow and ease. I love both stages--it's so exciting when they sound out their first word! And it's so great when they come to you with that dreamy smile and say, "Wow, I love this book!"

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I think that you know when someone isn't a reader yet. They switch between various vowel sounds, they get hung up with sounds spelled by several letters (ing, ough, th, sh, ph, wh and others). You listen to them and they are reading each individual word but not retaining the meaning long enough to know what the sentence said.

 

This is like the person who is on skis but has little control, doesn't know where to put their arms and legs and spends a lot of time on the ground.

 

And I think that you can tell when someone is a reader. They don't have to sound out every sound in a word, but let them smoothly flow together almost without thinking of what they are doing. They can read longer passages without stopping and thinking of the mechanics of what they are doing. They look at a piece of text and seek the meaning of the words, not the letters.

 

This is like a person who can enjoy skiing down a slope.

 

But once you have learned to read, there is still a constant continuum of improvement. There are always new words to encounter, either because they are less common and have a forgotten meaning or because they have an archaic or foreign origin and don't follow phonics rules. There are idioms and alliteration and rhyme and metaphor to explore. There are experiences to build up, so that when you read one story, it ressonates with memories of other characters and other situations.

 

This is the difference between a bunny slope skiier and a black diamond skiier. Both of them can go down their slope and stay on their skis. But they are tackling two very different slopes. But I wouldn't say that ability and enjoyment are always linked. That new skiier on a gentle slope, experiencing a new sense of control and speed might be having more fun than the person on a harder slope who is skiing and thinking about work or how cold their fingers are.

 

And there will always be a new challenge. New genres of literature need different skills. It is hard to enjoy Jane Austin if you mostly read technical manuals. It might be hard to follow an Economist article if you are used to science fiction.

 

This might be like moving to a new mountain or changing to a snowboard or cross country. Lots of skills cross over, but there are still differences.

 

***

 

That's my expaination of reading ability. As for the question of general literacy. I would try to define skills that a reader should have, not a grade level they should read at. First because I think that fifth grade is very low. Second because grade level definitions are constantly slipping lower. I would say that I hope adults could read a lengthy newspaper article or magazine profile on the level of a New York times piece or Economist article. I would hope they had that level of ability because without it, I think it is very difficult to expect that they can gather enough knowledge on important topics to form a well-informed opinion.

[LaxMom]

When I suddenly notice they've been quiet for a long time, and see that the reason is because they are sacked out on the coach reading a chapter book of their choosing, I consider them Readers :001_smile:

:iagree: Readers are people who read. Otherwise, they are literate, but not Readers. My 4 year olds are Readers. They are not so literate. Thus, they are learning.

[Ellie]

I can go with that. :-)

 

John Holt talked about playing the piano. At what point does someone go from "learning to play" to "playing"? John opined that from the time someone started lessons, he was playing the piano; he just wasn't playing as well as he would when he'd been playing for several years.

 

So I guess when I started teaching my dd to read, she was reading. She just read better each year than the year before. Eventually she was reading at her age level and above.

[Mommy22alyns]

I considered Becca a "reader" when she became fluent and wasn't sounding out or guessing words.