Age to be concerned about a reading disability?

My DD is in Kindergarten and she knows how to identify and write both the capitalized and lowercase alphabet, as well as all of her numbers. At times she may flip a number, but for the most part she is pretty good. She knows a bunch of sight words and how to spell a few as well. However, she struggles to identify the sounds that the letters make when trying to read the word. She gets it right every couple of tries. If the word is "pen" she'll say "ca-ca" or some other letter not even close to "p" and when she does this I worry so much.

Does anyone else have a child who does this?
Thank you for reading.

Re: Age to be concerned about a reading disability?

I'm a first grade teacher. Some kids come into Kindergarten not reading at all and not even knowing their sounds. It is good she can identify the letters and write them. I would suggest working on phonics so she knows the sounds the letters make. Teach consonant sounds, word families, and short and long vowel sounds. Its still early in Kindergarten but I would focus on phonics at home and also let your child's teacher know you are concerned and ask what they are working on in class. When kids come into first grade without knowing all the sounds and having difficulty decoding I meet with them in a small group very often to work on letter sounds. Read with her everyday and take note of words she is having difficulty with. If you have any questions let me know.

Re: Age to be concerned about a reading disability?

My son has dyslexia. He also has a mensa level IQ so he memorizes words but could not sound anything out. He was diagnosed with dyslexia in second grade. I would go with my gut if you think there is a problem, get her tested. His spelling tests are perfect. For my son, he is doing well with an Orton Gillingham instruction. It is really helping him immensely. He now loves to read.

Re: Age to be concerned about a reading disability?

Sounds like early reading.
My DD does this. I put my finger under the letters and sometimes cover up the rest & get her to read what is there & not guess. DS did it too... Now he's reading fluently.
Sight words are memorization. I start with the phonetics.

Age to be concerned about a reading disability?

I'd recommend the DVD from Leapfrog called the "Letter Factory". They teach you the sounds of the letters. Both my kids (6yr, 4yr) learned letter sounds from that. My 6yr old is currently reading at a 2nd grade level (shes in first grade).

Re: Age to be concerned about a reading disability?

Re: Age to be concerned about a reading disability?

my dd will sometimes do the same . she knows all her sounds and will sometimes flip letters/numbers around when writing. she went into k as a non reader and now can somewhat read.
i think its still early . they have sooo much that they are learning now.