Are children from 3 to 5 years old capable of developing reading skills?

Reading is a complex set of processes through which meaning is derived from written texts. Through the reading process, a set of skills is developed that require the student to use critical and creative thought processes. Processing skills, such as encoding and decoding, are used to combine related sources of information. A child who has been exposed to a large vocabulary learns from various resources and experiences to create meaning from both the spoken and written word. The child’s experience depends on her exposure to spoken and written language. The exposure allows the child to create meaning that is directly related to her experiences through the reading process.

There are two different points of view; the perspective that emergent reader instruction begins at age 5 and not earlier, and the latest research showing that children as young as 3 years old can understand and develop emergent reading skills. Neuman and Dickinson’s findings reflect the views of school officials and parents and represent the need for science-based instruction.

Marie Clay in 2007 introduced the term emergent literacy to describe the behaviors observed in young children when they use books and writing materials to imitate reading and writing activities, even though the children cannot read or write in the conventional sense. According to several researchers, children’s literacy development begins long before children receive formal instruction in elementary school.

Emergent reader programs may involve a structured reading program in which children learn through prescribed lessons. These lessons examine the concept that children may need to begin a formal reading program as early as 3-5 years of age, especially in low-income areas where exposure to the academic style of English is limited. Limited exposure to English limits the adult child as an adult. Leaders may need to be aware of the need for the target age group to be exposed to phonemic awareness, including letters and letter sounds. These children can also be taught to write their names and many letters of the alphabet. At first, they don’t understand what they are writing, but eventually they can distinguish between letters and letter sounds if taught in a formal classroom setting.

Reading has become the focus of much attention, both from the federal government and from researchers. Nearly 40% of children across the country cannot read at a basic level. Report cards indicate that children cannot code or decode at the level necessary to be successful. Reading deficiencies are greatest among ethnic and racial minorities (ie, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans). Nearly 60% of racial and ethnic minority students cannot read at expected levels.

Vygotsky (1986) showed that the process of learning to read is a movement from interpersonal to intrapersonal use of skills and knowledge. Children begin to develop an internal language, which then develops into speech and words that have representative meaning. An example of language development is when a child substitutes the word stereo for the word lubalow. Lubalow has no meaning to people who hear the word, however, the child and the child’s caregivers understand the meaning of the word lubalow. Children construct the world around them, which helps them in the construction of language. Children develop strategies for making sense of the written language they have devised by putting together the limited information they have in their own way. There is a clear difference between language and vocabulary development. Often children use words they do not understand, but the child chooses to use these words as if there is a prior knowledge base. This is the beginning of understanding the use of vocabulary.