Question: Kindergartener not reading

We are almost to the half way mark of the school year and my kindergartener is not reading yet - should I be worried?

Answers:

Advice from Schoolfamily

cmccarthy writes:
At this point you should not be worried. Most experts agree that readiness to read is impossible to “hurry.” Children begin to read when they are developmentally ready. For some children this happens at age four, before kindergarten. For other children this doesn’t happen until they are six to six and a half, and in first grade. Many of my first grade students arrive in September unable to read. Yet by June, virtually all of my students are reading on or above grade level. You can help build and support your child’s readiness by practicing three core skills I call my “triangle base;” rhyming, one-to-one correspondence, and patterns. Here is a link to a blog that I wrote about this: Foundation Skills for Young Learners

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Community Advice

Gillian FitzGerald writes:
cmccarthy is right, you can't "hurry" a child to read. Kids start to read when their brain is physically ready to do so. Research shows that typically, girls develop the language and fine motor skill areas of the brain up to six years earlier than boys do. Which is quite a staggering gap if you think about it. The same applies to boys in targetting and spatial memory brain areas. I wrote an article on it a while back, which you can find here:
Learning to read: Boys are from Mars; Girls are from Venus

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Community Advice

Alex98 writes:
Take him/her to a readng summer camp. Load him/her with LOTS of books, and write each other little letters often.

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Community Advice

fsu8344 writes:
I have taught Kindergarten for 24 years and from my experience I wouldn't worry about it if my child wasn't reading yet. I truly believe that you have to be ready developmentally to achieve some things that the system wants you to achieve. Remember that your child will only be five for a short period because they grow up fast.

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Community Advice

fsu8344 writes:
I would not worry if my child was not reading yet. I have taught Kindergarten for 24 years and you cannot may a child be ready. It comes with time and maturity.