When to worry about reading problems

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There are several signs you can look for to determine if your child is having trouble with reading. While all children develop at their own pace, if you suspect your child has a problem, the earlier it is resolved the better the outcome will be for their future learning.

Key points

  • There are several signs to look for at each grade level that will indicate if a child is having problems with reading.

There are several signs you can look for to determine if your child is having trouble with reading. While all children develop at their own pace, if you suspect your child has a problem, the earlier it is resolved the better the outcome will be for their future learning.

You should begin to have concerns and seek guidance from a teacher or other educational professional if your child demonstrates any of the following problems:

  • trouble learning colour names in junior kindergarten
  • trouble learning letter names in senior kindergarten
  • trouble hearing rhymes or isolating sounds in words
  • trouble blending sounds together
  • difficulty recognizing a word after having seen it many times in many different contexts
  • after sounding out a word, giving an unrelated word
  • frequent letter or number reversals by the end of Grade one, especially if there has been more than three months of practice
  • consistent omission or transposition of letters in words, for example, “gril” instead of “girl”
  • choppy, slow reading
  • a limited sight vocabulary
Last updated: October 31st 2009