ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Learning to read

Learning to read is when you start to understand the words printed in a book or on a page. It starts with understanding the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. When you recognize all 26 letters and their sounds, you can begin to put them together to create words. After you learn what all the different words mean, you can start to combine those words together to form sentences and stories.