Red Flags — - Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
□□ Requests adult to read or write
□□ Understands that print carries a message
□□ Shows ability to participate in routines
By 4 ½ years
□□ Tells stories with clear beginning, middle
and end
□□ Matches some letters with their sounds
(e.g., Letter “t” says tuh)
□□ Recites nursery rhymes and sings familiar
songs
□□ Reads a book by memory or by making up
the story to go along with the pictures
□□ Can guess what will happen next in the
story
□□ Retells some details of stories read aloud
but not necessarily in order
□□ Traces circle, triangle, square using
templates
□□ Recognizes signs and symbols in daily
environment (e.g., traffic signs, washroom
signs)
□□ Holds a pencil correctly
□□ Identifies the names of 10 alphabet letters
(likely from own name)
□□ Understands the concept of rhyme;
recognizes and generates rhyming words
□□ Changes a sound in a word to make a new
word in familiar games and songs
□□ Enjoys being read to
□□ Is motivated to try to read
By 5 ½ years
□□ Can match all letter symbols to letter
sounds
□□ Reads some familiar vocabulary by sight
(high frequency words)
□□ Can label pictures quickly
□□ Knows parts of a book
□□ Understands the basic concepts of print
(difference between letters, words,
sentences, how the text runs from left to
right, top to bottom, white space between
words)
□□ Knowledge of the basic concepts of print
shows in child’s writing (letters instead of
scribbles, letter groupings that look like
words, invented spelling)
□□ Points to and says the name of most letters
of the alphabet when randomly
presented (upper and lower case);
recognizes how many words are in a
sentence
□□ Prints letters (by copying, or in her full
name, or when attempting to spell words)
□□ Makes predictions about stories; retells the
beginning, middle and end of familiar
stories
□□ Can recall a brief story that has just been
heard
□□ When being read a story, connects
information and events to real life
experiences
□□ Can identify the beginning and ending
sounds in words e.g., “Pop” starts with the
“puh” sound
□□ Can shift attention from meanings of words
to sounds of words
□□ Draws diagonal lines and simple shapes
□□ Able to sort objects by size, colour, use, etc.
□□ Able to understand simple patterning
□□ One to one correspondence for numbers
from 1 through 10o for hel
See also
• Speech & Language
Speech and language difficulties are often
associated with weak literacy skills.
Note: Low literacy level of parents is also a risk
factor for literacy development.
WHERE TO GO FOR HELP
See Literacy & Numeracy in the Where to Go for
Help section at the back of this document.
November 2007
Red Flags: Early Identification in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark
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