In the book Overcoming Dyslexia, by Dr. Sally Shaywitz, there was a section about a study that showed a correlation between kids not "hearing" nursery rhymes being at a much greater risk for reading issues than those who could hear the rhymes.  I did not realize at the time there were any concrete signs of dyslexia in kids not yet reading.  I think my exact thoughts upon reading this went something like, " %^&$ if I had known that, I would have had him tested at four!"

Most kids don't get tested until around age nine or ten.  They are often considered "late readers" and parents are told to give them more time.  Children with dyslexia often have very high IQ's so they find ways to stay under the radar and to compensate for their weaknesses.  This falls apart for them about the end of 3rd grade and into 4th grade when they are expected to read independently for information and their coping strategies crumble.

Ryan had no phonological awareness.  We thought he was just super adorable the way he would mess up nursery rhymes and Jack and Jill was the worst.   Jack and Jill went up the mountain to..... get water.   Jack fell down and bonked his head....until he was about nine, you could ask him what 2 words rhymed from a list and he couldn't do it.  I spent a lot of time reading poems and rhymes while teaching pre-k, kindergarten and first grade.  I wish I had known what to look for or more importantly, WHY it was important to be doing it.  Here is the list of the earliest big red flags...

The Preschool Years

• Trouble learning common nursery rhymes, such as “Jack and Jill”
• Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet
• Seems to be unable to recognize letters in his/her own name
• Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
• Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat
• A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties

Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity is an excellent website ( and from where I pasted the list).
  Pages of great, easy to read information and news.  You job is to spend 10 minutes exploring it and report back to me what you have learned!