Emergent Readers
Reading is an essential skill for building a life that encompasses possibility. Children enter the journey to reading by becoming emergent readers at about two years of age.
Earning a diploma, obtaining a driver’s license, and accessing most careers requires literacy. Successful readers have much greater opportunities, both academically and economically, than those with limited reading abilities. Unfortunately, not all emergent readers become advanced readers and, as adult literacy rates attest, a substantial percentage of the U.S. population never acquire reading proficiency.
Additionally, children who fall behind, even in the early years, may fall further behind each year as they encounter more complex reading tasks.
Known as the Matthew Effect, this term describes the fact that some students rapidly develop foundational skills and move toward becoming advanced readers while others fail to develop the necessary skills and continue to lag behind their achieving peers.
In other words, students who are unable to grasp early print concepts as emergent readers may experience difficulty with reading later. For these reasons, and many others (such as self-esteem), it is important to focus on giving budding readers the best preparation to become strong readers.
Learn more about the importance of Early Literacy from our other resources on the subject.
L earning to read is a developmental process that can be classified in 5 stages of reading development beginning with Emergent Reading. Because cognitive development is dependent on so many factors and each child is unique, it is important to understand that the timeframe for entering the first stage, and advancement from one stage to the next, cannot be accurately predicted.
The information presented here serves as a guide to the development of reading skills over time.
Emergent Readers
Beginning Reader
Basic concepts of print
Picture analysis
Sound-letter recognition
Early Readers
Word recognition
Sight words
Print reading
Gradual speed in reading
Transitional Readers
Towards fluent reading
Reading of length texts
Little reliance on pictures
Self-extending Readers
Independent Reading
Reading various texts
Reading for information
Advanced Readers
Mastery in reading
Proficient comprehension
Reading for information
Reading for pleasure
Inferential reading
Interpretive reading
Internalized reading
Internalized reading strategies