What Should My Child Know Before Learning to Read? A Simple Guide for Parents

There is a lot of pressure around reading readiness, especially once a child gets close to kindergarten. Parents hear about letter recognition, phonics, sight words, rhyming, blending, and reading levels, and it can be hard to tell what actually needs to happen first.

The good news is that your child doesn't need to know everything before they can begin learning to read. In fact, some of the skills parents worry about are things children can develop as they begin reading.

So, what should a child know before learning to read?

A good starting point is knowing some letters and their sounds.

Your child does not have to perfectly identify every uppercase and lowercase letter in the alphabet before you begin. If they know a handful of common letter sounds and are starting to understand that letters represent sounds in spoken words, you have something to work with.

For example, if your child knows that m says /m/, a says /ă/, and t says /t/, you can start showing them how those sounds come together to make mat.

That step, called blending, is an important part of learning to decode words.

Letter names are helpful, but sounds matter too

Children often learn the alphabet song long before they understand what the letters actually do. Knowing that the letter comes after B or before D is useful, but eventually your child needs to connect the written letter with its sound.

When you're practicing at home, don't spend all your time asking, "What letter is this?"

Try asking, "What sound does this letter make?"

You can practice both together:

A a, apple, /ă/
B b, bear, /b/
M m, moon, /m/

Keep it quick and repeat the same letters often. You don't need a giant stack of flashcards or a complicated lesson.

Your child doesn't need to know every letter sound first

This is one of the things that can make beginning reading feel harder than it needs to be.

You can start putting sounds together as soon as your child knows enough of them to make simple words. There is no reason to wait until every single letter and sound has been mastered.

If your child knows s, a, t, m, you already have several words you can work with.

Try:

sat
mat
Sam

Once children realize that the sounds they have been learning can actually be used to read a word, things can start to click.

Can my child learn to read if they don't know sight words?

Yes.

There are words in English that don't follow the most straightforward phonics patterns, and children eventually need to learn those words. But that doesn't mean a beginning reader needs to memorize a long list of words before they can start decoding.

In the early stages, it is helpful to give children plenty of opportunities to read words they can sound out. This gives them a strategy they can use when they encounter an unfamiliar word instead of encouraging them to guess.

What about rhyming?

Rhyming is a fun way to play with language, and activities that help children notice and manipulate sounds are valuable parts of early literacy.

But if your child isn't great at rhyming yet, that doesn't mean you need to put reading on hold.

There are several pieces involved in becoming a reader. Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension all contribute to reading development, and they continue developing over time.

What if my child knows the alphabet but isn't reading yet?

That's completely normal.

Knowing letters and sounds is an important foundation, but reading requires children to put those pieces together. They need to recognize the letters, remember their sounds, blend those sounds, and eventually do all of that more automatically.

Some children make that leap quickly. Others need a lot more repetition before it feels natural.

If your child knows several letter sounds but hasn't started blending words yet, spend a little time practicing simple words rather than moving on to something much harder.

For example, point to m-a-t and have your child say each sound. Then help them run the sounds together:

/m/ /ă/ /t/ → mat

That is the actual work of learning to decode.

What should I do at home?

You really don't need a complicated routine.

Spend a few minutes practicing letter sounds, work on blending a handful of simple words, and give your child books that allow them to use the phonics skills they are learning. Reading the books aloud to your child is still important too. Children need plenty of exposure to rich language, vocabulary, and stories even when they aren't yet able to read those books independently.

For independent practice, decodable books can be especially useful because they give beginning readers a chance to apply the letter-sound relationships they have learned.

A simple beginning reading routine might look like this:

1. Practice a few letter sounds.
Keep reviewing sounds your child already knows while adding new ones gradually.

2. Blend a few simple words.
Start with words made from sounds your child knows.

3. Read a short decodable book.
Let your child sound out the words they are ready for.

4. Read other books together.
You can read the more difficult books aloud while your child listens and enjoys the story.

5. Stop before everyone is frustrated.
Five or ten minutes of focused practice can be plenty for a young beginning reader. Evidence-based phonics-blending guidance also recommends incorporating short daily practice.

When is a child ready to start learning to read?

There isn't one magic age or a checklist that every child has to complete first.

If your child is interested in letters, knows some letter sounds, can pay attention to a short activity, and is beginning to understand that spoken words are made up of sounds, it's reasonable to start introducing early reading skills.

And starting doesn't mean sitting down for a 45-minute reading lesson.

It can be as simple as practicing a few sounds at the kitchen table, sounding out a couple of words, and reading a short book together.

The goal in those early days isn't to rush your child into reading independently. It's to give them the tools and experiences that help them realize, "I can figure this out."

Choosing books for a beginning reader

Once your child starts learning phonics, the books you give them matter.

A beginning reader needs opportunities to practice the skills they are actually learning. If a book contains words far beyond their current phonics knowledge, they may end up relying on pictures, memorization, or guessing rather than decoding.

Ram Has Jam books are designed specifically for this stage. The series begins with letter sounds and simple CVC words, then gradually introduces more advanced phonics skills such as blends, digraphs, and long vowels with silent e.

[Explore the Ram Has Jam reading levels →]

The right book isn't necessarily the one with the lowest reading level or the fewest words. It's the one that gives your child a chance to experience real reading success while they're still learning how to do it.