Comments on: Help Your Child Improve Reading Comprehension

By: Claire M. Caterer

Claire M. Caterer — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:14:59 +0000

Great tips here! I’m a big fan of reading with my child over the summer (and during the school year!). Even if your kid is too old to be read “to”–as mine is–you can still enjoy a book together. Take 20 minutes to read together as a family, and talk about what you read. Visit the library together. Go to your local bookstore. Even though my daughter is 18 and has her own pocket money, she knows I’ll always buy her books!

By: PragmaticMom

PragmaticMom — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:58:12 +0000

My middle child, PickyKidPix, is a proficient reader but she has trouble with complex plot lines like flashbacks (like When I Reach You) different narrators (like From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler), and too many characters to keep track of their relationships (like The Westing Game).

Usually she will complain loudly about Not Getting the Book and it’s a good sign to switch books. Her teacher said to try The Westing Game maybe 6 months later, but we’ll see. There are plenty of books that keep her attention so maybe we’ll save these more complex ones for middle school.

I find it helps just to ask them to tell me what’s going on. Or ask what a particular vocab word means. This helps them to understand what they don’t understand. Nice post! Such an important topic!

By: Veronica

Veronica — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:50:23 +0000

Great article. This is very interesting to me because I plan on homeschooling my daughters but have worried a bit about making sure they are learning right. I look forward to reading the next section.

By: Michelle Breum

Michelle Breum — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:39:10 +0000

Super post! This is straight forward and very helpful. I’ll be sharing this in a few places today. I look forward to your next post.

By: Rebekah @ The Golden Gleam

Rebekah @ The Golden Gleam — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:51:14 +0000

So true that it’s equally important that kids understand the text they are reading. Deciphering the words is just half the battle.

I love the tip that kids need to understand that they don’t understand. That seems so obvious but that kind of metacognitive understanding doesn’t always come naturally to kids, and they need parents and teachers to model and teach what not understanding looks like.