--- title: Reading skills at different ages description: Kids develop reading skills from the time they’re babies. Learn about literacy development. See a list of typical reading milestones for kids at different ages. slug: reading-skills-what-to-expect-at-different-ages author: Amanda Morin reviewer: Ginny Osewalt published: '2019-08-05T16:01:20.720Z' thumbnail: https://cdn-images.understood.org/p0qf7j048i0q/6ZaPjxnRJy5W1gCqALkXvm/8d492003b471128614d1430fa80980ad/G833615328.jpg source_url: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/reading-skills-what-to-expect-at-different-ages lang: en --- # Reading skills at different ages Even as babies, kids build reading skills that set the foundation for learning to read. Here’s a list of reading milestones by age. Keep in mind that kids develop reading skills at their own pace, so they may not be on this exact timetable. ## Babies (ages 0–12 months) - Begin to reach for soft-covered books or board books - Look at and touch the pictures in books - Respond to a storybook by cooing or making sounds - Help turn pages ## Toddlers (ages 1–2 years) - Look at pictures and name familiar items, like dog, cup, and baby - Answer questions about what they see in books - Recognize the covers of favorite books - Recite the words to favorite books - Start pretending to read by turning pages and making up stories ## Preschoolers (ages 3–4 years) - Know the correct way to hold and handle a book - Understand that words are read from left to right and pages are read from top to bottom - Start noticing words that [rhyme](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/when-do-kids-learn-how-to-rhyme) - Retell stories - [Recognize about half the letters of the alphabet](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/when-do-kids-know-the-alphabet) - Start matching letter sounds to letters (like knowing* b *makes a /b/ sound) - May start to recognize their name in print and other often-seen words, like those on signs and logos ## Kindergartners (age 5 years) - Match each letter to the sound it represents - Identify the beginning, middle, and ending sounds in spoken words like *dog *or *sit* - Say new words by changing the beginning sound, like changing *rat *to *sat* - Start matching words they hear to words they see on the page - Sound out simple words - Start to recognize some words by sight without having to sound them out - Ask and answer who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about a story - Retell a story in order, using words or pictures - Predict what happens next in a story - Start reading or asking to be read books for information and for fun - Use story language during playtime or conversation (like “I can fly!” the dragon said. “I can fly!”) ## Younger grade-schoolers (ages 6–7 years) - Learn [spelling](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/why-some-kids-struggle-with-spelling) rules - Keep increasing the number of words they recognize by sight - Improve [reading speed and fluency](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/8-reasons-kids-might-read-slowly) - Use context clues to sound out and understand unfamiliar words - Go back and re-read a word or sentence that doesn’t makes sense (self-monitoring) - Connect what they’re reading to personal experiences, other books they’ve read, and world events ## Older grade-schoolers (ages 8–10 years) - In third grade, move from learning to read to reading to learn - Accurately read words with more than one syllable - Learn about prefixes, suffixes, and root words, like those in *helpful*, *helpless*, and *unhelpful * - Read for different purposes (for enjoyment, to learn something new, to figure out directions, etc.) - Explore different genres - Describe the setting, characters, problem/solution, and plot of a story - Identify and summarize the sequence of events in a story - Identify the main theme and may start to identify minor themes - Make inferences (“read between the lines”) by using clues from the text and prior knowledge - Compare and contrast information from different texts - Refer to evidence from the text when answering questions about it - Understand similes, metaphors, and other descriptive devices ## Middle-schoolers and high-schoolers - Keep expanding vocabulary and reading more complex texts - Analyze how characters develop, interact with each other, and advance the plot - Determine themes and analyze how they develop over the course of the text - Use evidence from the text to support analysis of the text - Identify imagery and symbolism in the text - Analyze, synthesize, and evaluate ideas from the text - Understand satire, sarcasm, irony, and understatement Keep in mind that some schools focus on different skills in different grades. So, look at how a child reacts to reading, too. For example, kids who have trouble reading might [get anxious when they have to read](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/reading-anxiety-causes-help). If you’re concerned about reading skills, find out [why some kids struggle with reading](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/child-trouble-reading). --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/reading-skills-what-to-expect-at-different-ages#webpage","url":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/reading-skills-what-to-expect-at-different-ages","description":"Kids develop reading skills from the time they’re babies. Learn about literacy development. 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