Developmental Stages of Learning to Read: What, Why, and How?
Most people are aware that learning to walk and talk are
developmental processes. New mothers realize their babies may
begin to walk at 10 months of age or not until they are 15
months old; they may begin to talk at 12 months of age or not
until they are 18 months old. Young children reach the
milestones of walking and talking at different ages. Before
children begin to walk, they crawl and sit up; before they talk,
babies babble and coo. Learning to read is also a developmental
process; all children do not begin to read at the same age.
Children reach literacy milestones along the way. For example,
children develop a basic oral vocabulary and understand the
alphabetic principle before they begin to read. Although
children may enter school at about the same chronological age,
they are at various stages of reading development. A child's
conceptual understanding of spoken words and his or her
knowledge of print have an impact on his or her beginning