Reading Readiness Milestones for 4-Year-Olds

Motor Skills

  • Shows emerging right- or left-handedness – uses the same hand more often for drawing, writing and eating.
  • Shows increasing hand and finger control – controls a crayon better than when younger.
  • Draws some recognizable shapes – draws a circle or straight lines, or can copy a square.
  • Can copy letters in her name – should be recognizable, but some errors are okay.
  • Can write some letters in her name from memory – should be recognizable, but some errors are okay. May need to copy her name initially, gradually remembering all the letters without assistance.

Language And Cognitive Skills

  • Recognizes a few familiar words in print.
  • Recognizes words that rhyme, such as mat, bat.
  • Recognizes her name in print – uses her name to find belongings or “cubby” at school.
  • Can point to and name several letters.
  • Begins learning letter sounds – starts to learn the difference between a letter name and its sound.
  • Claps syllables in words – claps once for each syllable.
    (Clap two times for Jamie, which has two syllables:  Ja – mie).
  • Can retell a simple story plot or sequence – tells what came first, next, etc. for a familiar story.

Helping at Home

  • Read books with more plot and character complexity – choose longer stories.
  • Encourage your child to use more precise descriptive words and sentences – speak to your child with varied vocabulary and in longer sentences. For example, you might say, “This lion has huge paws, but this kitten has tiny paws. What do you notice about this zebra and this horse?”
  • Provide frequent drawing and writing opportunities – use unlined paper, encourage creativity and make a connection between your child’s idea and how to draw or write it on paper.
  • Provide activities to build phonological awareness skills – play games with words that  rhyme or start with the same sound, mixing in made-up or silly words too.
  • Provide activities to build letter knowledge skills – point out letters in the environment or ask your child to find words on food packages that start with a specific letter.

Warning Signs

  • Does not read and write her name – only if she has had opportunities to learn this.
  • Does not know any letters – only if she has had opportunities to learn about letters.
  • Has trouble understanding spoken language – needs frequent repetition of simple requests; does not follow spoken directions well; needs you to show her things to help her understand.
  • Has trouble having a conversation – does not answer well when an adult asks simple questions like, “How old are you?” or “Tell me about your dog.”
  • Does not understand rhyming – does not appreciate and enjoy stories with words that rhyme, such as Dr. Suess; cannot say accurately whether two words rhyme, such as big, wig.
  • Does not draw a circle and straight lines – cannot draw a circle from memory or start and stop a line with good pencil control.

More Fun Ideas