DD8.5 was 5 before she could read. We found out that she had amblyopia at 4yrs and was functionally blind in one eye and had pretty bad vision in the other. Even after this was identified, she was patched and forced to use the weak eye for 1.5 yrs. I think this hid a lot of her abilities. Hard to read when you can't see!
She did not like to read at all and fought it at all levels. It was grade 2 before she would read independantly and for pleasure (although I am sure she was capable of it long before then). I enrolled her in reading sessiosn at the public library that matched reluctant readers with therapy dogs. She met and read to 'Cosmo' each week. It really brought her out of her shell! She was excited to pick out new books each week. By the end of two months she moved from easy readers to grade 4 level books. I think she lacked the confidence to do it (secondary to her extreme perfectionism). The dog was nonjudgemental and did not care if she made mistakes. I found it ironic that it took a strange dog to unlock her love of reading when we have three of our own at home who would have been happy to oblige her.
DS 2yr10mo can pick out a few words, but I don't think he is anywhere close to reading. From what we can tell, his vision is fine. I am interested to see how differently he presents from his sister as a preschooler.
