Receptive language is the individual's capacity to understand what he hears or reads. Objective: to evaluate the performance of kindergarten children in terms of their receptive vocabulary. 159 students from a public school participated in the study and responded to the Peabody Test that evaluates the lexical development in the receptive domain. Procedure: after obtaining authorization from the school principal's office and parents, the children were evaluated individually. Results: 61% of the children showed a lower performance than expected for their age. The 1st grade students demonstrated better results than those in the 3rd grade. The child's gender and the mothers' level of education did not interfere in the test performance. Conclusion: as early as kindergarten, it is already important to work on vocabulary, in order to develop the children's potential for communication.
Child reading; Child language; Vocabulary
