Most seven-year-old children are reading at a level in line with their grades in school. Most seven-year-old children are in first or second grade, so those in first grade should read at a first-grade level, and those in second grade should read at a second-grade level.
Level 7. Recommended reading age 6 - 7 years. Children can read complex sentences fairly fluently, taking note of punctuation. They use expression and do not rely on illustrations to help them.
Most kids learn to read between the ages of 4-7 and some do not until age 8. If kids don't learn to read in Kindergarten, they're not behind. They don't have a learning disability, although some may. They just may not be ready to or interested in reading yet.
Reading fluency occurs when a child has developed the knowledge and skills to recognize words automatically, accurately and quickly. This usually develops at ages 7 to 8.
First and Second Grade (Ages 6–7)
"sound out" or decode unfamiliar words. use pictures and context to figure out unfamiliar words. use some common punctuation and capitalization in writing. self-correct when they make a mistake while reading aloud.
While most children have "learned to read" by age eight, they are still building confidence in their fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension skills as they grow into strong readers.
Elementary Level: Children ages 8 to 12, or 4th through 6th grades. These children read sentences of approximately 10 words, with the maximum number of words being 20. Most books written at this level range between 20,000 and 40,000 words.
“Some signs that your child might be struggling with reading are avoidance, slow labored oral reading, or selecting books quite a bit below the grade level and perhaps still struggling. The child shows difficulty in decoding words.” Sometimes, the underlying cause of reading struggles is dyslexia.
Children's Books: These usually come in around 1,000 to 10,000 words. This is the 7-8 year old age range who are beginning to read chapter books.
You can start with a conversation with your child's teacher, who should be able to share your child's reading level with you. Scholastic Books has put together a great list of books that are appropriate for different guided reading levels from Pre-K through Grade 3 and up.
Chapter books still feature illustrations, but fewer than early readers' picture books. Generally speaking, children become ready to transition to kids' chapter books at around age 7 or 8.
The Harry Potter book series is Middle Grade, not YA (Young Adult). This means it is generally written for children ages 8-12 and grade levels 3-7.
Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words. Inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word. Difficulty spelling.
Handwriting expectations
A child at this age will be able to print many words. They should be able to manage a task that requires some dexterity such as doing up a necklace. Children should be able to form upper and lower letter correctly. Their visual memory will have developed.
However, reading ages should not be used to make those decisions, because they are deeply misleading. The problem is that while reading ages seem straightforward, they actually tell us less than it might seem. This is because there isn't one six-year-old way of reading, or a 10-year-old way of reading, and so on.
Some kids have a learning disability that makes reading difficult to learn. Others come to school without the literacy. experiences they need to become readers. Some children struggle because they've received poor or inadequate reading instruction.
Learning difficulties
For example, they may have a visual or auditory impairment that is affecting their reading abilities. Children can also experience learning disabilities like dyslexia, where they have challenges with decoding. Decoding is connecting how words sound to how those sounds are represented by letters.
Learning to read is one of the most important skills children need to master in the first few years of school – but it doesn't always come easily. Some kids struggle to grasp the very building blocks of reading, while others get the basics but find it hard to build fluency or comprehension.
By this time, children can dress themselves, catch a ball more easily using only their hands, and tie their shoes. Having independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become more and more important.