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Mother and child reading

FEATURED ACTIVITY

Ball Begins With B!

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Reading BrightStart! Screener

Is your 3-, 4- or 5-year-old child on track to read? Find out now.

Take the Screener
Mother and child reading

FEATURED BOOK

The Cow That Went OINK

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Reading BrightStart! Screener

Is your 3-, 4- or 5-year-old child on track to read? Find out now.

Take the Screener
Tools for Educators

Preschool Reading Screener

A reading screener is a questionnaire that asks about your child and reading.

The Reading BrightStart! screener is made for parents and caregivers of children ages 3, 4 or 5 years old. It has 31 questions and takes about 15 minutes. Please complete the screener in one visit because the website won't save your answers.

Preview the Screener

Read each of the following 31 items and check “Yes” if you are confident your child routinely succeeds with that item. If you are not confident your child is successful with the item, check “No.”

*Required field

I certify that I am an adult as defined in my state of residence. *
Is this the first time you’re taking the Preschool Screener? *
Child's Age *
Child’s Gender *

Screener is not intended for diagnostic purposes. See your child’s pediatrician if you suspect your child is struggling with developing age-appropriate skills.

Research Notification and Consent Statement: Nemours Children’s Health collects and analyzes responses to the Nemours Children’s Reading BrightStart! preschool reading screener as part of ongoing program quality assurance, evaluation and research. Your completion of the preschool reading screener is voluntary. At the end of the screener, you will have the option to provide your email address to be reminded to recomplete the screener in 6 months and/or to be added to Nemours Children’s email marketing list. If you opt to provide your email address for either purpose your email address will not be shared with the research team; your responses to the screener will be anonymous to the research team. Since it is impossible for the research team to identify respondents, there is no way to penalize or reward anyone for participating or declining to participate in research. If you have questions about the Nemours Children’s Reading BrightStart! preschool reading screener, please contact nemoursbrightstart@nemours.org. By completing the preschool reading screener, you are agreeing to have your responses used for research, evaluation and quality assurance associated with Nemours Children’s Reading BrightStart!

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Oral Language

Includes the ability to understand spoken language and speak clearly to communicate with others.
You must answer every question.

1. Likes listening to stories that I read aloud
2. Follows simple two- and three-step directions
3. Continuously understands and uses new words
4. Retells a basic sequence of steps from an activity (such as baking cookies) or a story
5. Connects own feelings and experiences to stories we read together
6. Answers questions about experiences and stories in complete sentences
7. Identifies common signs in the community (restaurants, stores)
8. Uses a variety of descriptive words when talking (such as “gigantic,” “excited,” “frustrated,” “patient,” “ridiculous”)
9. Asks questions to clarify or extend conversations

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Letter Knowledge

Includes recognition and naming of letter names and letter sounds.
You must answer every question.

10. Recognizes his or her own name in print
11. Sings, says or recites the letters of the alphabet
12. Names some letters, especially those in his or her name
13. Points correctly to some letters as I name them
14. Points correctly to some letters as I name the letter sound (“Which letter makes the /b/ sound?”)
15. Says the correct letter sound as I point to letters (“What sound does this letter make?”)
16. Can identify at least 18 uppercase letters as I point to them

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Phonological Awareness

Includes understanding that words are made up of syllables and sounds that we can separate and blend, that some words start with the same sound, and that some words rhyme.
You must answer every question.

17. Answers correctly when I ask if two simple words rhyme (“Do 'cat' and 'bat' rhyme?” or “Do 'car' and 'house' rhyme?)
18. Tells me a word that rhymes with the word I say (“Tell me a word that rhymes with red.”)
19. Points to pictures that have the same beginning sound
20. Names a word that begins with a specific sound (“Tell me a word that starts with /b/.”)
21. Identifies the beginning sound in words (“What sound do you hear first when I say 'doll' and 'door'?”)
22. Blends words into compound words (base + ball = baseball)
23. Blends smaller parts of simple words (b + at = bat), using pictures for support
24. Breaks compound words apart (pancake = pan + cake)
25. Removes part of a compound word (Take away “stop” from “stoplight,” and you have “light”)

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Beginning Writing

Includes fine-motor skills and eye-hand coordination for controlling writing tools, understanding that we can show our thoughts through drawing and writing, and writing letters that represent sounds in words.
You must answer every question.

26. Enjoys drawing and scribbling
27. Holds writing instrument with a comfortable grip
28. Understands that writing is different than drawing a picture
29. Writes his or her name (all letters don’t have to be completely accurate, but the name should be recognizable)
30. Writes some letters that I name
31. Tries to write words or stories and uses one or more correct letters (such as “lo” for “yellow,” “r” for “are,” “hs” for “house,” etc.)

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