Kindergarten & First Grade

Kindergarten & First Grade

• Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on an illustrated page with a picture of a dog
• Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on an illustrated page with a picture of a dog
• Does not understand that words come apart
• Complains about how hard reading is; “disappears” when it is time to read
• A history of reading problems in parents or siblings
• Cannot sound out even simple words like cat, map, nap
• Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound
• Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound

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Strengths

• Curiosity
• Great imagination
• Ability to figure things out; gets the gist of things
• Eager embrace of new ideas
• A good understanding of new concepts
• Surprising maturity
• A larger vocabulary than typical for age group
• Enjoys solving puzzles
• Talent for building models
• Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him

© Sally Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, pp. 122 – 123