Reading benchmarks · by age
What should a 6-year-old be reading?
At 6, most children are learning to decode: blending sounds into words, sounding out a new word left to right instead of guessing, and reading simple books with only occasional help. Slow, effortful reading is normal at this age. What matters is that words are being sounded out, not guessed from the first letter or the picture.
Benchmarks for a 6-year-old
Each line says where it comes from. Children reach these on different timelines; treat them as a guide to what to practise next.
- Reading stage for this age
Ages 6–7 · learning to decode
Learning to decode is the stage the check below expects at 6. It lists every skill in it, with the stage before and one stage beyond, so you can see exactly which skill is next.
- School year
Usually 1st grade in the US
A child who is 6 at the start of the school year is usually in 1st grade (Year 2 in England and Wales). Birthdays and cut-off dates can move a child a year either way.
- Reading speed by the end of 1st grade
60 words correct per minute (50th percentile, spring)
The middle of the year figure is 29. There is no beginning-of-year figure for 1st grade in the norms. The 50th percentile is the middle of the group, not a pass mark.
- Daily reading time
About 20 minutes read aloud to them, plus 15 minutes of their own reading
Our practical synthesis for at-home practice, not a clinical prescription.
Check your 6-year-old in 2 minutes
Age 6 is already picked. Tick only what you've seen your child do on their own, more than once, then see which stage they're in and the next skills to practise.
Tick what you've seen
Only tick a skill you've seen your child do on their own, more than once.
If they're below that line
If blending short words is still hard, go back to the short-vowel lists first and practise a few minutes every day.
Once those come easily, the next pattern in the usual teaching order is two letters that make one sound: sh, ch and th.
This is not a diagnosis
This is not a diagnosis or an assessment, and a reassuring result doesn't rule anything out. Children learn to read on different timelines. If you're worried about your child's reading, talk to your child's teacher. The figures on this page describe groups of children, not a line your child has to cross by a certain date.
Frequently asked questions
Should my 6-year-old be reading fluently?
Not yet, for most children. At 6, reading is usually slow and takes effort, and that's expected. Smooth reading comes later, once sounding out is quick and automatic.
My 6-year-old guesses words from the pictures. Is that a problem?
It's worth working on. Cover the picture, point to the word and sound it out together, left to right. A made-up word like "zim" is a useful test: a child can only read it by decoding.
How many words per minute should a 6-year-old read?
Most 6-year-olds are in 1st grade. Hasbrouck and Tindal's 2017 norms put the 1st-grade midpoint at 29 words correct per minute in the middle of the year and 60 at the end; they publish no beginning-of-year figure. A speed score tells you less than a phonics check at this age.
Free: reading milestones by age: a parent checklist
The skills that usually come together at each stage from age 3 to 12, as a tick-list you can turn into a practice plan. One printable page.
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Where the numbers come from
- Stages and skills: our reading-level-by-age check, built from the questions in our "Is my child behind?" quiz. These are our rules for a parent check, not published norms.
- School years: our school year and grade equivalents chart (age at the start of the school year).
- Hasbrouck, J. & Tindal, G. (2017). An Update to Compiled ORF Norms (Technical Report No. 1702). Behavioral Research and Teaching, University of Oregon. Table 4: Compiled ORF Norms 2017 (report p. 10).
- Daily minutes: our practical synthesis, for at-home practice, of the American Academy of Pediatrics' literacy promotion guidance (Pediatrics, 2014) and Anderson, Wilson & Fielding's reading-volume research (Reading Research Quarterly, 1988). Not a clinical prescription.