If your child is 5 to 10 and a teacher just told you to “wait and see” about reading, here is the short answer: you can respect the teacher and still refuse to wait. Waiting is a plan only if there is a date when someone checks again, a reason to expect change, and something happening in the meantime. Most “wait and see” advice has none of the three. This post gives you the two moves that matter: one on paper with the school, and one at your kitchen table.
Why do teachers say “wait and see”?
Most teachers who say it are not brushing you off. They are repeating what they were taught: children develop at different rates, some “click” late, and labeling a five-year-old feels risky. Some schools also run every struggling reader through a tiered support process (often called RTI or MTSS) before anyone talks about testing, so “wait” may really mean “we have a process and you are early in it.”
That context matters, because it lets you go back to the teacher as a partner instead of an opponent. It does not change the facts about reading, though. A child who is not yet linking letters to sounds is not just “late.” That is a skill, and skills are taught.
Here is what “wait and see” often sounds like, and what you can ask back:
- “Boys read later.” Ask: “Which specific skills is he missing right now, and how are we teaching them?”
- “She’ll catch up.” Ask: “What would catching up look like by winter, and when will we check?”
- “It’s too early to test.” Ask: “Can you put that in writing, along with what data you used to decide?”
Do struggling readers usually catch up on their own?
Usually, no. The best-known evidence is a longitudinal study by Connie Juel that followed 54 children in one Texas school from first through fourth grade. A child who was a poor reader at the end of first grade had a .88 probability of still being a poor reader at the end of fourth grade (Juel, 1988, summarized by Reading Rockets). Of the 24 poor readers in first grade, 21 were still at least six months behind three years later.
That was a small study in one school, so it is not a national rate. But later, larger studies point the same way. The American Federation of Teachers summarized this body of research under a blunt headline about “late bloomers” (American Educator, Fall 2004): studies following students in Connecticut through ninth grade and later through twelfth grade found that struggling readers mostly did not close the gap without effective teaching. The same summary notes the hopeful half: the gap can be largely closed with appropriate early intervention.
So the real choice is not “label my child or wait.” It is early, structured teaching now, or the same teaching later with more ground to make up.
Can I ask the school to evaluate my child now?
Yes. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), public schools have a duty called Child Find: the legal responsibility to identify, locate and evaluate children who may have a disability. You can ask for an evaluation yourself. Do it in writing (email counts in most places), keep a copy, and send it to the principal or the special education coordinator as well as the teacher.
Three things are worth knowing before you hit send:
- The clock usually starts with your written consent. Federal law gives schools 60 days from consent to finish an initial evaluation, unless your state sets its own timeline, and several states do. Sign the consent form promptly when it arrives.
- A tiered support process cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation. The U.S. Department of Education’s special education office said this directly in a January 2011 memo to states (summary from Disability Law Colorado). The school can offer extra support at the same time, but it cannot make you wait for the process to finish first.
- If the school says no, it has to say so in writing. A refusal comes with Prior Written Notice explaining what was refused, why, and what information the school relied on. That notice also explains your options for disagreeing.
A simple request can be three sentences: “I am writing to request a full educational evaluation for my child, [name], in [grade], for a suspected learning disability in reading, including dyslexia. I have concerns about [one or two specifics]. Please send me the consent form and let me know the next steps.” For state-by-state rules, the Dyslexia Institute keeps a guide to dyslexia laws by state, and our free Advocating for Your Child course walks through the meeting that follows.
This is general information for parents, not legal advice. Special education rules and timelines vary by state, so check your state’s rules or talk with your state’s Parent Training and Information Center.
What can I do at home while the school decides?
This is the part nobody tells you: you do not need a diagnosis, a school meeting or a tutor to start. The kind of teaching that helps children with dyslexia (explicit, systematic, multisensory phonics, often called structured literacy or Orton-Gillingham) is also the kind that helps any beginning reader. If testing later says “not dyslexia,” your kid has still had excellent reading practice.
A realistic first week looks like this:
- Get a baseline. Spend ten minutes with our free parent dyslexia screener. It is not a diagnosis, but it gives you specific words for what you are seeing, which helps your school email too.
- Set the time. Plan for 30 to 60 minutes a day, broken into short pieces if that works better for your kid: sounds, blending, reading real words, a little writing, then a story.
- Teach clean sounds. Say /m/, not “muh.” Our Resource Hub has Sound Cards with audio so you can check yourself.
- Follow a sequence. Use a scripted program so you are not guessing what comes next. Our Level 1 workbook (on Amazon) starts with the first sounds and closed syllables, and our curriculum page shows how the lessons fit together.
Keep the tone light. You are not testing your kid every night; you are practicing together. If you want help with timing, our post on how many minutes a day to practice breaks a session down step by step.
How will I know if things are getting better?
Write down a few specifics now so you have something to compare against in six weeks. Good markers for a 5 to 10 year old include:
- How many letter sounds your child knows quickly and accurately.
- Whether they can blend three sounds into a word (/c/ /a/ /t/ into “cat”).
- How many short, decodable words they can read from a list in one minute.
- Whether they guess from the first letter or the picture, or actually sound words out.
Share those notes with the teacher. A date-stamped list turns “I’m worried” into evidence, and it is the most useful thing you can bring to an evaluation meeting. If progress is slow even with steady practice, that is not a failure on your part; it is information, and it strengthens your request. Our guide on when to test for dyslexia explains what a full evaluation includes.
“Wait and see” is a sentence, not a plan. You can be kind to the teacher, put your request in writing, and start tonight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it rude to ask for an evaluation after the teacher said to wait?
No. Asking for an evaluation is a normal part of special education law, and good teachers expect it. Keep the tone friendly, thank the teacher for their observations, and explain that you would like more information. Putting it in writing protects everyone, because it creates a clear record of what you asked and when.
How long does the school have to evaluate my child?
Under federal law, schools generally have 60 days from the date you give written consent to finish an initial evaluation. Some states set a shorter or different timeline, and some count school days differently. Check your state's special education rules or ask your state's Parent Training and Information Center for the exact deadline.
Can the school make us finish RTI before testing?
No. The U.S. Department of Education's special education office told states in 2011 that a response-to-intervention process cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation for a child suspected of having a disability. The school can provide extra support while the evaluation happens, but the two can run at the same time.
What if my child is only 5? Is that too young?
Five is not too young to notice and act. Many signs, like trouble learning letter sounds, rhyming or remembering letter names, show up in kindergarten. A formal diagnosis may come later, but structured practice with sounds and letters is appropriate at five and helps whether or not your child turns out to have dyslexia.
Will practicing at home affect the school's evaluation?
Home practice does not hide dyslexia. A good evaluation looks at how your child processes sounds and words, not just what they have memorized. Keep notes on what you practice and what changes, and share them. That record helps the evaluation team see how your child responds to teaching, which is useful information.
