Learning to Read: Does My Child Need to Read Before School?

Created byThe Eastside Speech Solutions team

Clinical experts

Sofie KatakouzinosCertified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP)Alyssia TressosCertified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP)

No, your child does not need to read before starting school. Learning to read is taught in Kindergarten and the early school years, and teachers expect children to arrive at many different starting points. What helps most before school is strong talking and listening, a love of books, and a few early sound and letter skills.

This guide explains how learning to read usually unfolds, the pre-reading skills that make the biggest difference, easy ways to build them at home, and when it is worth asking a speech pathologist about reading and spelling.

When do children learn to read?

Most children in NSW learn to read in their first years of school, starting in Kindergarten. Teachers explicitly teach the link between letters and sounds, called phonics, and children practise blending those sounds into words. The NSW Department of Education notes that schools plan learning around the skills each child brings, so there is no expectation that children already read. For the practical side of starting kindergarten, see our tips on the transition to school.

Learning to read is a process, not a single moment. Children usually move through stages like these:

• Before school: enjoying books, playing with rhyme and sounds, recognising their name and a few letters.
• Kindergarten: learning letter sounds, blending simple words like cat and sun, and reading short decodable books.
• Years 1 and 2: reading more fluently, learning trickier spelling patterns and understanding longer texts.

Every child moves at their own pace. Steady progress matters more than the exact age a child starts reading.

What should my child know before starting school?

The most useful skills before school are not reading skills at all. The Australian Government’s Learning Potential site lists talking and listening, speaking clearly, understanding stories and beginning to identify some letters and sounds as signs of readiness, and is clear that reading is not required.

These pre-reading skills give children a strong start:

• Talking and listening: using sentences, asking questions and following simple instructions.
• Vocabulary: knowing lots of words, so new words in books make sense.
• Sound awareness: hearing rhyme, clapping syllables and noticing first sounds.
• Letter knowledge: recognising their own name and knowing the sounds of a few letters, like m says mmm.
• Book knowledge: holding a book the right way and knowing that print carries the story.

Sound awareness is a big one. Our guide to phonological awareness explains each sound skill and how to build it through play, and the school readiness checklist covers the wider picture.

How can I help my child get ready for learning to read?

You do not need flashcards, apps or worksheets. A few minutes of play each day, built into routines you already have, is plenty. The pre-reading games planner above gives you ideas matched to the skill you choose.

• Read together every day. Talk about the pictures, ask questions and let your child fill in familiar words.
• Play with sounds. Sing rhymes, clap the beats in names and play I spy with first sounds.
• Point out print. Notice letters on signs, cereal boxes and in your child’s name.
• Talk a lot. Chat about what you are doing, add new words and listen to your child’s answers.
• Keep it fun. Stop while your child is still enjoying it. Pressure tends to backfire.

If your child is keen and starts sounding out words early, that is great. Follow their lead. If not, that is completely fine too.

How a speech pathologist helps with early reading

At Eastside, a speech pathologist looks at the skills underneath reading: spoken language, vocabulary, sound awareness and letter knowledge. Sessions use games, movement and pictures to teach the next skill your child is ready for.

You see what works in the session and take home short practice ideas. If your child has started school, we can share goals with the teacher so home and school work together. Families come to our Randwick clinic from across the eastern suburbs, and we also see children by telehealth anywhere in Australia.

Literacy speech therapy

Can speech therapy help with reading and spelling?

Yes. Reading and spelling rely on spoken language and sound skills, which are core areas for speech pathologists. Speech Pathology Australia notes that its members are trained to build phonological and phonemic awareness and to link it with phonics and literacy teaching.

Speech therapy for reading and spelling usually includes:

• Hearing and working with the sounds in words.
• Linking sounds to letters and blending them to read.
• Breaking words into sounds to spell them.
• Building vocabulary and understanding of what is read.

Explicit teaching of letters and sounds is a key part of this. Our article on what phonics is explains how it works in the classroom.

When should I talk to a speech pathologist?

Children learn at different speeds, so one tricky skill is not a worry. It is worth getting advice if you notice any of these:

• Before school, your child finds rhyme, clapping syllables or their own name very hard.
• Your child’s speech is hard for others to understand.
• After the first year of school, they still struggle to link letters and sounds.
• They guess at words rather than sounding them out.
• Reading or spelling is making them upset or avoidant.
• There is a family history of reading difficulty or dyslexia.

You do not need a referral to see a speech pathologist privately. Our literacy speech therapy service can assess the skills behind reading. If dyslexia is on your mind, our guide to what dyslexia is explains the signs.

Literacy assessment

Your next step

Choose one pre-reading skill to focus on for the next two weeks, such as rhyme or first sounds, and play one short game a day. Keep reading together every night, just for fun.

If your child has started school, ask the teacher how they are going with letter sounds and blending. If both of you have questions, an assessment can show exactly where to focus.