As a parent, you can learn a lot about your child’s learning and watch for signs of possible problems. Here are some things to look for and to discuss with his teacher:
Starting at age 3 or 4: Does your child remember nursery rhymes, and can he play rhyming games?
At about age 4: Can your child get information or directions from conversations or books that are read aloud to him?
Kindergartners: Is your child beginning to name and write the letters and numbers that he sees in books, on billboards and signs, and in other places?
At age 5: Can your child play and enjoy simple word games in which two or more words start with the same sound? For example: “Name all the animals you can think of that start with d.”
At ages 5 and 6: Does your child show that he understands that spoken words can be broken down into smaller parts (for example, by noticing the word big in bigger)? Does he seem to understand that you can change a small part of a word and make a different word (for example, by changing the first sound and letter of cat, you can make hat, sat, mat, bat, rat, and so on)?
(Adapted from Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children’s Reading Success. National Academy Press, Washington, DC: 1999. For the complete reference, see the Bibliography.)
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