A free 3-minute check that shows which guessing habit it is
A child can guess from the first letter, from the picture, or from memory. And some children who seem to guess cannot yet join sounds into a word. Each one needs a different push. Do this check together. It takes about three minutes.
How to do it: do not teach and do not correct. Just listen, and tap what your child could do. Nothing you tap is sent anywhere.
Show your child this screen. They read each word. There is no picture to help. Tap each word your child reads correctly, however slowly.
These words look alike on purpose, so a guess from the first letter fails. Your child reads each one. Tap each word read correctly.
First read these two sentences out loud to your child, once: “A hen sat on a log. The dog dug in the mud.” Your child says them back. Now your child reads the same words below, mixed up. Tap each word read correctly.
When your child gets a word wrong, what happens most often?
Guessing is the first thing that works. In a book with a picture for every line and a pattern that repeats, a child can say every word without reading one. Some children were even taught to look at the first letter, look at the picture, and guess. So the habit pays off, until the pictures go and the words look alike. Is it common? At five, six and seven, yes.
It is not a diagnosis, and it is not a test for dyslexia. Guessing at words on its own does not mean a child has dyslexia. If your child is seven or older, or finds reading very hard in other ways too, tell their teacher what you saw and ask what the school has noticed.
More help: Why can’t my child blend sounds? A free check · What is a sight word? · Why does my child mix up b and d? A free check
