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When Will Your Child Be Ready to Read?

The range of reading-readiness can range from ages three to six.

Dr. Richard L. Bucko


Reading readiness is the term used to describe the time when a child is ready to profit from reading instruction. It’s a transition period extending over several months during which the child gradually changes from a non-reader to a beginning reader.

During the process, students are led by parents or a teacher through the transition when past learning combines with new learning. It’s the time when the normal growth of neural pathways is ready to accept this new information.

Several skills are needed to learn to read. They are far more complex than you may realize. Some examples of reading readiness skills include, aural phonemic awareness, understanding concepts of print, left-to-right orientation to follow print, experience in the order of a book, and neural development to coordinate eye movement.

Aural phonemic awareness means the ability to recognize that a spoken word consists of a sequence of individual sounds. An emerging reader must understand the relationship between a letter, or group of letters, and the sound that we accept as its symbol.

Understanding the concepts and conventions of print refers to the understanding of what print represents and how it works. This includes knowledge of the alphabet, left-to-right in orientation, and punctuation.

Basically, it’s important for a child to know that letters have names, and they combine to make words, and that words have meaning.

But when can you expect your child to begin learning to read? The range of reading-readiness can range from ages three to six . This is a great range that makes it essential for all parents to have some basic understanding of the process of reading-readiness.

The best way to develop these early skills involves doing everything possible to be sure your child becomes familiar with the spoken word. From infancy (or before) the child's brain is a powerful receptor of information. The fact that words have meaning, the way sentences are made, the understanding that a story has a beginning and end—these are examples of the ways that children learn language and develop the skills necessary for reading.

Many reading teachers say the best way to develop reading-readiness is to read to your child. Sitting with a child and reading aloud can create readiness skills while associating it with warmth and love.

When parents stress literacy in significant ways, reduce TV and encourage reading for fun, they provide their children the base upon which future learning will be built. This is one gift you can give all year long.

A knowledgeable parent can be of far greater assistance to their child than one who has not given thought reading readiness, which is so important in a child's growth. It can also be a source of great enjoyment and satisfaction for a parent.


Richard Bucko, EdD. has been a school principal and chief school administrator for over 25 years. He is the principal of the award winning George C. Baker Elementary School in Moorestown , NJ . He was a naval officer and is an adjunct professor of education.