The Active Reader

As the school year comes to an end, many parents start asking the same question:

"Did my child make enough progress in reading?"

But here's something I wish more parents knew:

Not all reading growth shows up in a reading level.

Sometimes progress looks like a child who no longer gives up when reading gets hard.

Sometimes it looks like a child who starts noticing words on signs, cereal boxes, and store shelves.

Sometimes it looks like a child who asks questions about a story, attempts unfamiliar words, or realizes when something they've read doesn't make sense.

And sometimes the biggest growth of all is confidence.

The child who once said, "I can't read," now says, "Let me try."

As a literacy specialist, I've learned that strong readers aren't built through giant leaps.

They're built through hundreds of small moments that often go unnoticed.

So before you focus on where your child falls on a chart or benchmark, take a moment to celebrate how far they've come.

Reading progress is about more than levels.

It's about skills.
It's about confidence.
And it's about helping children see themselves as readers.

Summer reading doesn’t have to feel forced.

It can feel light.

It can feel playful.

It can feel consistent.

And it can still lead to real progress.

Imagine your child spending summer:
✔️ building confidence
✔️ playing literacy games
✔️ reading great books
✔️ learning through hands-on activities
✔️ moving through a real reading progression

For early readers, that progression may look like:
- letter sounds
- phonological awareness
- blending
- reading simple words

For more advanced readers, it may look like:
- long vowels
- vowel teams
- fluency
- stronger confidence

Real progress happens when skills build on each other.

And when learning feels fun, children are much more likely to stay engaged.

We’re building something special for summer 👀

The Active Reader Summer Club is coming soon.

Want to support reading early with your toddler? Start here.

One of the biggest misconceptions about early reading is that toddlers need formal instruction.

They don’t.

At this age, the goal isn’t having the alphabet memorized.

The goal is building strong language and literacy foundations through everyday moments.

That can look like:

✔️ talking throughout your day

✔️ reading aloud regularly

✔️ singing songs and nursery rhymes

✔️ playing with sounds in words

✔️ building vocabulary through conversation

And toddlerhood can also be a great time to begin a soft introduction to letters.

Think:
• letter sounds
• books
• songs
• tactile tools
• play-based activities

No pressure. Just exposure.

These early experiences help build the foundation children will later rely on when formal reading instruction begins.

Small moments matter and they add up over time.

“My child knows all their letter sounds… so why are they still struggling to read?”

This is one of the most common questions I hear from parents.
And usually, the issue isn’t that a child is behind, it’s that they’re ready for the next step.

Knowing isolated letter sounds is only the beginning of learning to read.
Children also need to learn how to blend those sounds together to read words.

For example:
c-a-t → cat
m-a-p → map

They also need practice pulling words apart:
cat → c-a-t

This helps children understand how words are built and gives them the tools to decode unfamiliar words instead of guessing.

This is where many children get stuck, and where confidence can start to drop.

If your child knows their letter sounds…that’s a great start.

Now it may be time to focus on blending.

And for many children, that’s when reading starts to click.