Is Your Story Difficult For Children To Read?

In writing for children, there is a lot of pressure when choosing words. There is the pressure for the words to be active versus passive, to show not tell, and to keep your verbs in one tense. In addition to that, is choosing words that your intended age group will comprehend and be challenged by. As a children’s writer your words must not only tell an engaging story but also inspire confidence in the reader.

This post looks at the literary milestones of children from kindergarten to sixth grade. 

Kindergarten/ Reception

An adult often reads stories to children of this age. Children begin to listen carefully when being read to with most stories holding their attention for ten to fifteen minutes. Children may pretend to read by using the pictures to imagine the story.

They can match each letter to the sound it represents and identify the beginning, middle, and ending sounds. They can identify words that rhyme and repetition is empowering to the child. Children of this age can answer who, what, where, when, and how.

First Grade

Simple sentences from five to six words in length are common for children this age. At this age, children can count the number of syllables in a word. Stories are usually under 500 words and it is very common to find stories as short as 100 words.  Children begin to recognize each letter in the alphabet and its corresponding sounds. Some children may struggle with letter sounds at this age; rhyming books can help with this.

Second Grade

The main character should match the age of the reader or slightly older. Children can recall facts and details from the story. They use context clues to sound out and understand unfamiliar words. They also begin to understand humor in the text. Children begin to think ahead while reading and predict how the story will end. The sentence length remains similar to stories for first graders but now varies up to ten words. Stories are usually around 1,000 to 1,500 words.

Third Grade

Children are now reading on their own and can decode most words. Hyphenated words are recognizable as well as prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Titles become important as children at this age begin choosing their own books. 

Fourth Grade

Children are now entering into the middle-grade genre. Stories are usually 20,000 to 40,000 words. They can now understand similes, metaphors, and other descriptive devices. Sentences vary in length from ten to twenty words. Series tend to do well with children of this age.

Fifth Grade

The plots become more advanced and children can identify symbolism in the text.

Sixth Grade

Books for children in sixth grade tend to range from 25,000 to 55,000. This age group uses adult vocabulary as readers at this age begin to lean into the young adult fiction genre. Readers now have longer attention spans and stories tend to have details that are more descriptive.