Should a 5-year-old know how to read?

She should be able to read most of her sight words.

1 Like

My son started reading at 2 years old.

My kid learned letters in kindy! Def not reading. By end of grade one she reads! Its amazing. They learn fast.

1 Like

Yes here in the state of Florida they start them in kindergarten reading I was told that kindergarten is a 1st grade level but if they can’t read a certain amount of words per minute they can’t go forward

My 5 year old can’t read lol. She can sound out words & can spell most words if she sounds them out correctly, but not always.

Get a professional assessment by a child psychologist, your child may need to learn differently then the other children and is behind not because they will catch up with one more year but because they need to be taught a different way.

Does your child excel with oral questions? Can they write? Fine motor skills on par? If you read them a book can they memorize it?

Please don’t hold him back, instead work on his phonics, segmentation, closed and open syllables. Also sight words, letter sounds n letter recognition. Put him in Summer School, get a tutor, and or work with your child as well. Kindergarten is too young n early for retention!! Best wishes!! :blue_heart::blue_heart::blue_heart::blue_heart:

2 Likes

l get paid over $197 per hour working from home. l never thought I’d be able to do it but my buddy makes over $18234 a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The possibility with this is endless.

M0re Info. https://amazingworking126.pages.dev/

Basic sentences using sight words, yes. Start with flash cards. Start simple like 3 words until she has them down pat, then add only one at a time… go through them over and over until she has them down pat. Don’t overwhelm her or she’ll get discouraged. She’ll feel encouraged which is positive for reading. Put them together to make short senses. “The dog ran”. Play board games to build these skills as well. Interaction with YOU is HUGE, not a computer.

Do the same for colors, numbers, sequencing, and later learning multiplication tables. Flash cards were my best friend! You can make what you want as well. You got this mama. You are teacher #1!

If your kid isn’t up to their grade level you either need to cram with them to get them up to speed or hold them back, if not then all it will do is hurt them in the long run

1 Like

The standards they put on kinders is literally raised every year.

4 Likes

My girls were all starting to read at the end of vpk

Just practice. They should know some words. But full on reading comes in 1st. Do 30 mins to an hour a day of flash cards

My daughter cannot move from 4K to kindergarten because she cannot identify all letters. We were told they start reading and writing in Kindergarten and 4K is how kindergarten used to be when I was a child. It’s crazy how fast and early they expect kids to know these things.

No. Kindergarten is beginning the skills needed to start reading. Letter names, sounds, small words they can start sounding out when put letters together. If your needs extra help they should be receiving that and telling you what to help with at home. Typically reading starts in first grade and everybody does things a little different. Ask for information on what they consider “on level”.

Yes, they should be reading quite a bit (at their level) actually. My 5 yr old’s Kinder class was being given books to take home and read, and then return signed off by the parent once the child could read the book entirely on their own, then they would level up and get a new book. They’re just grade level phonics books with simple stuff like “See it. See it run. See Matt. Matt sees it.” Etc. As a matter of fact, I just now found the set his class used on Amazon. 

1 Like

I could read by 4 but they didn’t even start teaching reading in my elementary until 1st grade.

1 Like

No, i dont thi k you shpuld hold back fpr just that. . My 5 year old is just starting kindergarten because of the cut off and her bday being in October like mine. She’s right where she’s supposed to be if not better than where I was because she can count to 30. They’re them to count to 20. But she has an older sister and is learning from her. She doesn’t read yet though. Not even sight words. We’ve tried with the short ones. She’ll get there I’m not worried.

Maybe You Should Help Her Learn. My Daughter is In the Same Grade n Knows Some Words But can’t Read She Still Learning. I’ll Have to Teach her During the Summer to Read

Talk to the teachers, find out what “on level” means.

Obviously there is a standard and it’s measurable/outlined for testing. Maybe communicate with the teacher and school staff so you understand better

My son couldn’t read in kindergarten. They didn’t teach it though. He barely could read in first grade then he started reading EVERYTHING in second grade. He was never held back. He does have Adhd and an IEP though.

Yes and no. They are just learning to read at that age so some can read and some can’t. My son is 6, going into the 1st grade and struggles with speech and reading. If they want to hold him back, you should let them. Moving him forward if he is struggling is only going to make it harder for him.

My daughter knew sight words and stuff she could sound out. But In first grade her reading quickly flourished and she’s way above her grade at reading. She just finished second grade

When does when does she turn 6? I teach Kindergarten and this past year I had 17 students and only 4 were not reading on the level set by the state. 2 were EC students and the other 2 were being evaluated. If your daughter knows her letters and sounds - look up decodable texts online. Decodable texts have kids use their sound knowledge to read. There is also a resource called heart words that you can google. My students learned this way instead of memorizing sight words. There should not be any guessing in reading. You could also ask the teachers if they have any decodables or secret stories resourses for you too use with her this summer. There are many available for free. Here in NC first grade curriculum is intense and a big step up from Kindergarten. It would be better to give her another year to strengthen her skills to help her be more successful in first grade.

4 Likes

I was reading before kindergarten, my nephew got held back because of his reading skills in 1st grade (covid) it depends on the kid.

In kindergarten my daughter had to know 100 sight words by the end of the year. At the time I thought that was excessive for kindergarten. They do need reading skills at the beginning of 1st grade so yes they need to be able to read somewhat at the end of kindergarten.

2 Likes

Yes. Most kids who are read to every day pick it up way before 5. Maybe ask the school what the standard is?

Yes they do sight words mainly in kinder. The books are really simple “this is Sam” “Sam likes the sun” etc. not like full on chapter books. If they are not on level for kinder this probably means she is missing most of the letter sounds and isn’t able to write them all , and doesn’t know a certain# of sight words. advancing her before she was ready would be a disservice

My daughter learned last year and she’s 8 :woman_shrugging:
Each child is different and I haven’t seen a lot of kids leaving kindergarten or Creche being able to read

3 Likes

My (just turned) 6 year just graduated kindergarten, and she is actually reading at almost a second grade level, but other children in her class were reading at a beginning - first grade. Some were still struggling with it. Not all kids learn at the same rate. Extra summer reading, night time books, etc really help also. If she is into paw patrol, etc get books that pertain to things that she is in to. They have books at Walmart that are designed for by grade/reading levels. They’re actually really helpful also.

1 Like

I would recommend keeping your child back in K if the teacher recommends it. If there is a gap, it’ll only become wider as they progress through school. By the end of kindergarten, they should have mastered all letter names, sounds, be able to read CVC words, and many sight words. Give them that extra time to work on those skills in Kindergarten again. You’ll be glad you gave them a solid foundation

1 Like

My son can read and he turned 6 in January and also just graduated kindergarten. She should definitely be able to read the sight words without too many issues. My son is a little more advanced but that’s partly because him and my oldest enjoy reading together all the time. My oldest had a lot of influence on him.

Some read at a very early age, most don’t. I don’t know how I think about holding him back for only this, but I do know if it were me I’d try my best not to worry (yes, easier said than done) and I’d read with him daily and try fun reading things like games, etc that make reading fun!

No Don’t let them hold him back! They legally can’t anyways without permission from you. They couldn’t even legally hold my daughter back in 3rd grade which I didn’t know at the time or I would’ve said no. She is thriving now. She is in NJHS.

Hello, teacher here. If your child still cannot read and doesn’t know the basics I’d take the teachers advice. That’s one thing the education field is struggling with so much is kids keep getting pushed through unfortunately and we get so many kids who are not on grade level and it makes teaching difficult. Districts just push them through unfortunately. I’m doing summer school, teaching 1st grade and a lot of those kids don’t know their letter, numbers nor how to read. It’s so difficult teaching the material to them when they aren’t on grade level. Getting students pushed only gets worse as they continue to go into other grades. I had 3rd graders throughout the school year who some couldn’t read or write. My 1st graders now are learning everything in their native language, Spanish, yet still do not know how to read. It’s so difficult. Yes it’s very important to make sure your kids know how to read and write. I know people say kids learn at different rates, and I do agree but you cannot continue to push them through cause it becomes extremely difficult for them and discouraging when their peers know how to read but they don’t.

5 Likes

Sight words is what I was told the expect

1 Like

I did hooked on phonics with my daughter when she was young and she was reading books by then

My son is almost 6 an was in online school for kindergarten and they didn’t do shit for him and he can’t read. They expect way to much out of kids nowadays

My 6 yr old just finished kindergarten and can read very well. But all kids learn at different rates. If that’s the only reason they want to hold her back say no. I’d also ask what level she’s at. Is she completely not able to understand letters? Or just can’t read quickly. You can always ask for a reading tutor if the school is concerned.

1 Like

Every child is different and reads at different levels and in takes learning different. Having 4 kids who read at all different levels. Some were advanced and some where behind but where all to the proper reading levels by grade 6. You need to find what works for her and it can take time. As for holding her back what do you want?.

Age 6, 1st grade. They can read younger, but they shouldn’t have to before 6.

You don’t want your child moving on to 1st grade without being able to read at basic grade level.
Your child will not be able to keep up and the pressure will be detrimental to their self esteem.
Take the recommendation of the teachers/school and work with them to get a tutor or tips on what to do at home to help learn and get caught up.

1 Like

Bit of advice, kindergarten is the best time to hold a child back. If they’re not ready, they’re going to struggle more and more as they move to the next grade. If they’re recommending it, there’s a good reason why. Schools don’t really want to say that to a parent, so if they do, take it seriously.

2 Likes

She should be able to read sight words at kindergarten level and simple books at least. But all kiddos are different.

My oldest could read at 3 (simple books) and she reads at college level now in 7th grade, and has always surpassed end of year goals by the first conference in the fall. In fact, she is so far ahead in spelling they dont know what to do with her so she studies latin roots of words. Now my 3-year-old is a different story…she is very stubborn and everything is on her terms. We will be lucky if she knows her numbers and abcs by the time she gets into preschool :sweat_smile:

If they’re recommending it, do it. Your child will benefit better in the long run. Kindergarten is the best place to retain them.

I would take the teachers advise. My oldest needed help reading and would get pulled out of class for an extra reading program. It really helped her get where she needed to be.
Now my middle daughter just finished kindergarten and she is the opposite- reading level 1 and 2 books almost completely independently with the exception of a few words

Schools usually frown apon holding kids back, especially in kindergarten. Most kids will catch up by 2nd grade. She probably just needs some extra help

2 Likes

In January they told me they wanted to keep my daughter back because she was not ready to move to first grade, I bought her sight word games off Amazon and I got her hooked on phonics and she can now read pretty well. I worked very hard with my daughter, I found that in school she really wasn’t paying attention, she was bored. She is actually doing so much better that they decided she can move up to first grade.

My son turned 5 while in 4k. The teacher told me they only need to know 12 letters of the alphabet to pass. So reading at 5, in my opinion is not necessary

If you feel your child is behind his peers, then keep him back a year. Now is the time vs older grades when its going to be a bigger deal. If you dont and you think he will do fine in first grade then dont hold him back. Fact is school is a factory trying to pump out little workers. Most schools dont work individually with kids and you can’t blame the teachers because the whole system is messed up. All my kids were at different reading levels in kindergarten. My youngest just finished kinder and she is reading at the same level as my child who just finished 3rd grade. Some of her friends were way below what they wanted them at for reading and for no reason other than kids are different and will learn at their own pace. But either way teachers are forced to follow the district in the way they run their classroom. So if you feel he will fall behind and struggle next year in first grade, there is no shame in keeping him back. It doesn’t mean he’s stupid, slow, or that you’ve failed. It just means that he’s gonna get some help catching up before he gets to grades where that’s not an option.

It is better they keep her back now. And here’s why. Once in school, the first four years you learn to read, after that you read to learn. You have to get the basics

Work all summer on it that’s what I’m doing

I turned 5 the first week of kindergarten, but I could read. Other kids knew the alphabet but couldn’t read. By the end of the year, my mom said the whole class could read