Five Stages of

Reading
Development
“[In] a developmental theory, literacy is
not a single skill that simply gets better ...
Being literate is very different for the
skilled first grader, fourth grader, high
school student, and adult, and the effects
of school experiences can be quite different
at different points in a child’s
development.”
— Catherine Snow
Proust and the squid: the story and science of the
reading brain. These five stages are:
1. the emerging pre-reader (typically between 6
months to 6 years old);
2. the novice reader (typically between 6 to 7
years old);
3. the decoding reader (typically between 7 - 9
years old);
4. the fluent, comprehending reader (typically
between 9 - 15 years old); and 
5. the expert reader (typically from 16 years
and older).
Preliminary Note #1: “As every teacher
knows, emotional engagement is the tipping
point between leaping into the reading life ...
An enormously important influence on the
development of comprehension in childhood is
what happens after we remember, predict, and
infer: we feel, we identify, and in the the
process we understand more fully and can’t
wait to turn the page. The child ... often needs
heartfelt encouragement from teachers, tutors
and parents to make a stab at more difficult
reading material.”
Preliminary Note #2: Across this lengthy
period of development, leaners are required to
consolidate certain skills only to encounter new
challenges. The one rule that applies equally is
as follows: “Experts [agree] that readers, no
matter which reading philosophy is followed,
have to practice, practice, practice.” 
(You Need /r/ /ee/ /d/ to Read). There is no
better way to exemplify this than in the
following anecdote from Maryanne Wolf's
book Proust and the squid: the story and science of
the reading brain.
Stage 1: The Emergent Pre-reader (typically
between 6 months to 6 years old) 
“The emergent pre-reader sits on ‘beloved
laps,’ samples and learns from a full range of
multiple sounds, words, concepts, images,
stories, exposure to print, literacy materials,
and just plain talk during the first five years of
life. The major insight in this period is that
reading never just happens to anyone.
Emerging reading arises out of years of
perceptions, increasing conceptual and social
development, and cumulative exposures to oral
and written language.” (Wolf, 2008, p 115)
Stage 2: The Novice Reader (typically between 6 to 7
years old) 
In this stage, the child is learning the relationships
between letters and sounds and between printed and
spoken words. The child starts to read simple text
containing high frequency words and phonically
regular words, and uses emerging skills and insights
to “sound out” new one-syllable words.  There is
direct instruction in letter-sound relations (phonics).
The child is being read to on a level above what a
child can read independently to develop more
advanced language patterns, vocabulary and
concepts. In late Stage 2, most children can
understand up to 4000 or more words when heard but
can read about 600.
 Orthography
“Orthographic development consists of
learning the entirety of these visual
conventions for depicting a particular
language, with its repertoire of common
letter patterns and of seemingly irregular
usages ... Children learn orthographic
conventions one step at a time.” (Wolf,
pp 120)
 Semantics (vocabulary)
“For some children, knowledge of a word’s
meaning pushes their halting decoding into
the real thing.” (Wolf, pp 122)
“For thousands of code-cracking novice
readers ... semantic development plays
much more of a role than many advocates of
phonics recognise, but far less of a role than
advocates of whole language assume.”
(Wolf, pp 122)
Stage 3: The Decoding Reader (typically between 7 -
9 years old)  
In this stage, the child is reading simple, familiar
stories and selections with increasing fluency. This is
done by consolidating the basic decoding elements,
sight vocabulary, and meaning in the reading of
familiar stories and selections. There is direct
instruction in advanced decoding skills as well as
wide reading  of familiar, interesting materials. The
child is still being read to at levels above their own
independent reading level to develop language,
vocabulary and concepts. In late Stage 3, about 3000
words can be read and understood and about 9000
are known when heard. Listening is still more
effective than reading.
CV: A script you can read fluently works
on you very differently from one that you
can write; but not decipher easily. You can
lock your thoughts in this as though in a
casket.
Barrier for the Decoding Reader
--- “30 to 40 percent of children in the
fourth grade do not become fluent
readers with adequate comprehension
... One nearly invisible issue ... is the
fate of young elementary students
who read accurately (the basic goal in
most reading research) but not
fluently in grades 3 and 4.” (Wolf, pp
135)  
Stage 4: The Fluent, Comprehending Reader (typically
between 9 - 15 years old)  
By this stage, reading is used to learn new ideas in order to
gain new knowledge, to experience new feelings, to learn new
attitudes, and to explore issues from one or more perspectives.
Reading includes the study of textbooks, reference works, trade
books, newspapers, and magazines that contain new ideas and
values, unfamiliar vocabulary and syntax. There is a systematic
study of word meaning, and learners are guided to react to
texts through discussions, answering questions, generating
questions, writing, and more. At beginning of Stage 4, listening
comprehension of the same material is still more effective than
reading comprehension. By the end of Stage 4, reading and
listening are about equal for those who read very well, reading
may be more efficient.
Stage 5: The Expert Reader (typically from 16 years
and older) 
“All reading begins with attention -- in fact, several
kinds of attention. When expert readers look at a word
(like ‘bear’), the first three cognitive operations are: (1)
to disengage from whatever one else is doing; (2) to
move our attention to the new focus (pulling
ourselves to the text); and (3) to spotlight the new
letter and word.” (Wolf, pp 145) 
“William Stafford expressed the first element in these
changes when he wrote how ‘a quality of attention’ is
given to us.” (Wolf, pp 156)
“How we attend to a text changes over time as we
learn to read ... more discriminatingly, more
sensitively, more associatively.” (Wolf, pp 156)