When did you learn how to read?

Reading is something we use every day. It is an essential skill and one of the very important ones, too. Some people take longer than others when learning how to read, which isn’t a bad thing.

Learning how to read takes time and not everyone does it at the same speed. Most people, however, have learned to read as children, at least by early elementary school. USNews says, “Experts say that most children learn to read by age 6 or 7, meaning first or second grade, and that some learn much earlier. However, a head start on reading doesn’t guarantee a child will stay ahead as they progress through school.”

Many have researched what methods have been used when first learning to read. According to EducationWeek, “Teaching young kids how to crack the code—teaching systematic phonics—is the most reliable way to make sure that they learn how to read words.” In simpler words, it means that teaching kids how to connect letters with sounds and knowing systematic phonics supports them when learning to read.

Learning Links states that “This process of recognizing and combining sounds to be able to read is known as decoding. In reverse, a blended word can be broken up into individual sounds to spell, which is known as encoding.”