I don't mean sounding out words, I mean really fluently reading most of the words and maybe sounding out a few toughies. :)

I ask not for myself, but for my best friend, who is homeschooling her 6 year old and is panicked that she can only sound out words, and won't attempt any words that are more than four letters long.

(I have told her to stop worrying, but since my oldest child is not quite four yet, she doesn't take me seriously, lol.) And yes, I realize that you can't compare children, but I just want to have the info.

Michelle

My oldest son got it right before he turned five, but he was considered an early reader. We just got a letter from his 1st grade teacher the other day, where she reminded parents that the children should be reading at a level ten at this point (3 months into first grade). Level ten is where DS started K, reading mostly short phonetic words with a few sight words thrown in (and, the, etc.). The sentences and paragraphs were short and words were rarely more than one syllable.

Based on that assessment, it sounds like your friend's daughter is right on. I don't believe in pushing reading anyway, I think there are several teaching methodologies that don't start to push it until a child is seven or eight, so I wouldn't worry about it now.

HTH.

Mine was right at 2 years old, but he's atypical. I wouldn't have sweated it if he wasn't reading by 6.

Tara

5 yrs for two of my kids. My third child is 5 and we're only beginning letter sounds. I imagine she'll be reading simple stuff or more by 6 yrs. Once they get it they usually take off.

My Daughter was 8 and is reading Redwall now at 10. Reading is an individual thing if you ask me. I have had to remind myself many times that my goal is a child who eventually loves to read and we have LOTS of time.

My DS was 5 when he really got it, but I feel it's like any other milestone... individual to each child, like walking or talking. They all walk, talk, or read when they're ready, and when they're grown up, you can't tell who did what first. Sounds like your friend's child is right on track for her :)

Every child is so different! My oldest 2 were early readers. They started reading when they were 3. My son Jacob, who is now 5, read his first book when he was 3. He was interested in letters and numbers from the time he was an infant. He can read just about anything now at 5.

Then there's Reid. He's 9. Reading has been slower for him. He was a special needs adoption from India, extremely ill as an infant. He was busy trying to survive (literally) and was 17 months old when we went to India for him. He really just doesn't enjoy reading, but he does love having someone read to him. He's very physical, on the move all the time, and a very talented soccer player. Reid is the child who taught me that everyone is different and that's perfectly fine.

Then there's Lauryn, my 4 year old. I'm starting to think she will never be interested in reading. However, she has the brightest, most charming smile of any child I've ever met. She makes friends wherever we go. I'm thinking she'll be ok, too. :)

My dd is nine and still struggles.
However, she has dyslexia and reading has been a battle for her.
At six, she was NOT sounding out words.

My son is five and in K this year.
He has been learning sight words and his class is just now getting ready to sound out 3 letter words.
At that pace, I imagine in first grade/at six, he will be where your friend's child is now.

I do not think reading is something that all children master at the same rate.
I think it really is a shame that it is pushed early on children that are not ready in school.
I really don't think ALL K or first grade students are ready.
(Of course, I also think it is a shame that some children that are ready are held back in school!)

Hope

Ara just turned 6 and refuses to sound out words to read them. However, she will sound things out to spell them. She loves to write, doesn't really want to read yet. Simone is 3 and is starting to sound things out.

My neice was 7 when she started reading. She struggled for years (I think school pressured her to read too early) and now she is 11 and reads college level books for fun (not assigned). Things like Scarlet Letter, Fast Food Nation, Wuthering Heights, etc.

Every child is different. Lots of homeschooled kids don't learn until they are 9 or 10, but are "caught up" with thier age group within a few months of learning.

My 8 year old just started reading fluently enough for me to not hav to be right beside him. That happened shortly after turning 8. He had been sounding out words and struggling with vowel sounds 9he mixes them up still sometimes).

My 7 year old says he can only read 3 letter words. :rolleyes: When we sit and he reads to me, he is fluently reading Dick and Jane books with minimal help.

My 4 year old is recognizing sounds that letters make. But he hasn't quite gotten that if two sounds are beside each other they FLOW together! lol /b/ (pause) /a/ pause /t/) not /bat/. ;)

It will come together. :) Hard to have that faith though, especially with the first child, I think. I was really worried about Austin and would have probably looked into some type of reading helper this school year - but it really clicked all together for him, finally. :)

Kelly is 9 and in public school. She is in fourth and they don't like that she is reading at a 3rd grade level. The shrink just tested her and he told me his testing was higher. I don't care since she likes to read. I know it won't matter later on either.

Miles is 6. I gave up for now. He likes to write letters and words. He knows the letters, but not the sounds they make. He can't seem to rhyme either.

Raymond is 12. Not sure what level he is on. He is a good reader though. He was reading a Star Wars book recently.

Katie's 6 years 4 months and still sounds things out and still hasn't mastered a lot of easy sight words. Reading and writing are not what she enjoys, and I think the heavy emphasis on phonics in school trips her up and she doesn't learn how to recognize the whole word or the context of the word.

I was hyperlexic - reading fluently by 3 years old - so it has been hard for me to understand why it's coming so "slowly" for her. But every child is different and when they have other strengths, sometimes reading comes later. (For example, Katie just devours math and is far above grade level in it.)

my oldest starting reading independently at 9 1/2 when he started 4th grade. he could sound words out and would osemtimes read signs but was not interested in reading on his own.....one day i couldn't read to him anymore because i had to care for my then 11mo and he picked up the chapter book and read in to himslef.......well a month later he was reading the harry potter series and now at 13 reading is how he would spend all of his free time--if i let him.

luna

Sara could read a few sight words towards the end of 4 years, she didn't really make any leaps in reading until a few months after she turned 6. She could read fairly well all summer, at what I feel was age level, easy readers and what not. She really took off this fall though and just turned 7 last month. Reading at level U now (which is considered 5th grade here), teacher was shocked that we let her read easy chapter books at the beginning of the year, but after testing her is just flabergasted :) I think it's a total individual thing! I was reading at 4 but my brother didn't read well until about 3rd grade.

No pressure, really! My oldest always struggled, was in Title 1 during elementary school because she was always 1-2 grade levels behind in reading, until she hit 6th grade, and it all suddenly clicked, and she was tested at her grade level, then a grade level above.

now this year, she is in 7th grade and we are homeschooling for the first year, and she just tested at the 11th grade reading level!

Can you say wahoooooo! I rembember the years of struggles, the reading every night, the stressful parent teacher conferences, all of the worry...and my gut had always told me that she just wasn't ready, and when she was ready it would all fall into place (the teachers didn't like that theory..)

Well it did, it was almost an audible "click" when she "got it"..now we get mad at her for reading all the time, when she is suposed to do something else,,,she is an addict, really!

Don't worry, don't fret, kids learn at their own pace,,,the beauty of homeschooling I think. :)