Question: What are the signs of a reading problem in the early years? -- Concerned
Answer: Here are some warning signs that your child might have a reading problem:
Preschool:
- -Doesn't know how to hold a book.
- -Can't tell the difference between letters and squiggles.
- -Can't recognize own name.
- -Only says a small number of words.
- -Doesn't like rhyming games and can't fill in the rhyming word in familiar nursery rhymes.
Kindergarten:
- -Can't tell the difference between the sounds that make up a word (phonics).
- -Slow to name familiar objects and colors.
- -Can't remember the names and sounds of the letters.
- -By the end of kindergarten, can't write most of the consonant sounds in a word (it's normal for vowels to be missing until later).
1st and 2nd grades:
- -Has trouble pronouncing new words and remembering them.
- -Has trouble blending sounds together to say words.
- -Says reading is easier for his or her classmates.
- -Falls way behind classmates.
- -Can't figure out unknown words.
- -Avoids reading.
- -Resists reading aloud.
2nd and 3rd grades:
- -Starts to withdraw.
- -Has some troubling behavior.
- -Seems to guess at unknown words.
- -Does not get meaning from reading.
These signs of a reading problem were provided by Kyla Boyse, R.N. of the University of Michigan Health System. Additional information can be found online at www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/dyslexia.htm.