The Stages of Reading

Frank Armbruster wrote an article in Practical Homeschool in which he listed his idea of the "Stages in Reading."

Frank Armbruster's Stages in Reading

0 — Non-reading

1 — Realization that some marks on a printed page stand for words (phonemic awareness)

2 — Learning the code to translate the marks to sounds (emerging reading)

3 — Using the code to extract ideas from printed material (able reader)

4 — Reading assigned material, but perhaps reluctantly (able, but no a willing reader)

5 — Reading assigned material without reluctance (willing reader)

6 — Seeking out written material in order to learn something (avid reader)

7 — Neglecting other—perhaps pleasurable—activities in order to read (voracious reader)

I found this very interesting, especially when I placed my own children in the levels defined by Mr. Armbruster.

• Joely (5yo) is borderline Stage 2/3—emerging/able reader
• Jaden (10yo) is Stage 5—willing reader
• Jerah (8yo) is Stage 7—voracious reader

Jerah's already a voracious reader, so our goal is to increase Joely and Jaden's reading levels through modeling and encouragement; the modeling part we already have down pat, but the encouragement part is going to take a little longer.