As part of reading development, children must learn that the written word is made up of letters that are symbols for the sounds they hear.
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on the skills learned in the early stages of reading.
Children begin to make connections from one topic
to another and are able to consider several viewpoints
while reading.
Summary
Reading and writing are complex skills, and each
child has a unique learning pattern and her own tim-
ing in acquiring the skills necessary to become a read-
er and writer. The age a child learns to read depends
on the individual’s background of literature and
print. If given exposure to appropriate literacy expe-
riences and good teaching during early childhood,
most children will learn to read at age six or seven.
A few children will learn to read at four, some at five,
and others will need intensive individual support to
learn to read at eight or nine. Literacy experiences
that help a child learn to read are daily exposure to
print, vocabulary development, book retellings, and
an understanding of print concepts.
See also: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Bibliography
Griffith, Priscilla, and Mary Olson. ‘‘Phonemic Awareness Helps
Beginning Readers Break the Code.’’ International Reading As-
sociation 45 (1992):516–523.
‘‘Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Prac-
tices for Your Children. A Joint Position Statement of the In-
ternational Reading Association (IRA) and the National
Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).’’
Reading Teacher 52 (1998):192–216.
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF). Available from http://
http://www.rif.org/home.html; INTERNET.
Victoria L. DavidsREFLEXES
A reflex is an involuntary or unlearned response to
some type of stimulus. For example, when the cheek
of a newborn child is stroked, she will turn toward the
direction of the stimulation. This is the rooting reflex.
There are many of these reflexes that are present at
birth, most of which tend to disappear within the first
year of life. While the purpose of such reflexes as root-
ing and sucking is fairly clear (getting a good jump
on learning how to feed), the function of others is not344 REFLEXES