Kindergarten Reading: goals and how we get there
A kindergarten reading student at Learn To Be does three things:
- Learns to sound out words, and gets fast at it.
- Works through the Early Reading Program, and reads real books and passages about real things.
- Reads a little every day (at home!).
The goals
By the end of kindergarten, a student:
- Reads 67 words per minute out loud.
- Knows all 52 letters, uppercase and lowercase, and names each one instantly.
- Knows a starter set of 25 common words on sight.
Speed is what turns sounding out words into real reading. It starts with knowing letters and first words on sight.
We are building flashcard decks for letters, common words, and vocabulary. Until then, practice them by reading out loud.
Reading speed
Reading speed is how many words a student reads correctly in 1 minute, out loud.
To check it: pick a book at your student's level. Time them reading out loud for 1 minute. Count the words they read correctly. Check at the start of the year, and again every few weeks.
| Grade | Words per minute, out loud, by the end of the year |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 67 |
| Grade 1 | 104 |
| Grade 2 | 114 |
| Grade 3 | 133 |
| Grade 4 | 146 |
| Grade 5 | 150 |
| Grade 6 | 150 or better |
| Grades 7 and 8 | 150 or better, for long stretches |
The kindergarten target is 67. If your student is far below the target for their grade, find the grade they are ready for in this table and use that page.
The courses
Learning to read: the Early Reading Program
The Early Reading Program has 1,745 lessons. It teaches phonics: how to sound out words. It starts with single letter sounds like "a" and "m". Then it blends sounds into words like "am" and "ma". It also teaches "heart words" like "the", which kids learn by heart.
- There is no placement test. To find where to start, skim forward through the lessons until your student stumbles. Start there.
- Do not skip lessons after that. A student moves on only after they master a lesson.
- Open the Tutor Toolkit. It is a card on the course page. It has guidance for tutors on how to run the lessons.
Reading to learn: Kindergarten Reading
Kindergarten Reading has 38 lessons. Each lesson is a short science or history passage to read and talk about together.
Writing. At this age, writing is part of reading. For extra writing practice, use Writing Foundations K-1.
The reading list
True topics
Read books and articles about these topics, and talk about them together. This is also your student's science and history.
- Nursery Rhymes and Fables
- The Five Senses
- Stories
- Plants
- Farms
- Native Americans
- Kings and Queens
- Seasons and Weather
- Columbus and the Pilgrims
- Colonial Towns and Townspeople
- Taking Care of the Earth
- Presidents and American Symbols
Stories to read aloud
The tutor mostly reads these to the student. They are classic picture books and first chapter books. They help a child get used to the sound of good language.
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- Corduroy by Don Freeman
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
- Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
- Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
- Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
A typical session
- Warm-up read-aloud, about 10 minutes. The student re-reads something familiar out loud. This builds speed and confidence.
- Course lessons. This is the main part of the session. Do one or two Early Reading Program lessons together. Do not move on until the student masters the lesson.
- Real reading together. Read a Kindergarten Reading passage or a book from the reading list. Read it together and talk about it.
Between sessions (at home)
Daily practice happens at home, not in your session. A little every day works better than a lot once a week.
Tell the parent:
"Every day, have your child sign in at learntobe.org and do their reading lessons. Then have them read out loud to you for 10 minutes from a book they can read easily. This is the one thing that helps most."
Show the parent and the student how to sign in and find the course during your first session.
Other resources
- IXL. If your student has an IXL account through our pilot, its diagnostic shows the grade level your student works at in English language arts. Use it as an extra check, not instead of the course. See How should tutors use IXL?