5 Eye-Opening Details to Help Your Child with Reading Comprehension will review basics of what is necessary when comprehending after reading. Comprehension is defined as the understanding and interpretation of what is read. In order to understand what they have read, they need to
(1) decode what they read
(2) make connections between what they read and what they already know
(3) think deeply about what they have read.
Although the concept seems simple, it’s difficult for some children. Mainly, because the issues lies within at no fault of their own. Here are some things that can cause a child to struggle with reading comprehension.
What Are Some Reasons Kids Struggle with Reading Comprehension
Below are reasons listed that may explain why you child is experiencing reading comprehension.
- Learning disability
A learning disability such as dyslexia or difficulty with vision, hearing, or speech may cause difficulties in reading comprehension.
- ADHD
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder can make it difficult for a child to focus. Therefore, the child may be less motivated to comprehend what he/she is reading.
- Phonological awareness
Trouble sounding out the words on a page can lead to reading comprehension difficulties. A child who takes twice as long to read the words on a page will spend less processing time trying to understand the meaning and that leads to frustration as well as decreased comprehension of the text.
- Lack of vocabulary
Similarly, a lack of grade-level vocabulary can delay comprehension if the child does not know the meaning of most of the words he is reading.
- Lack of interest
If a child is not interested in the content, he/she is reading, he/she will not be motivated to understand it.
Having difficulty with reading comprehension can cause frustration, stress or anxiety about schoolwork. This can lead to greater difficulty with reading comprehension.
Also, there may also be an unknown reason not previously listed that is causing a struggle with reading comprehension that has not been diagnosed.
Signs that your child is struggling with reading comprehension
Your child can’t provide a summary of what they have read and mainly focuses on only a small aspect of the entire story
The child is unable to explain what a character’s thoughts or feelings might have been
Your child doesn’t connect the events in a story to events that have happened in real life
The child may be able to tell you what happened in the story but cannot say why those things happened.
What Can I Do to Help My Child
First, seek professional help to determine the child’s issue. They may have a personalize plan to help your child. Also, get vision and hearing screenings to rule out those issues. Below are 5 Eye-Opening Details to Help Your Child with Reading Comprehension.
Activate background knowledge – Ask them what they know about the topic and can they relate anything in life to it. This will help them connect the current reading to their already existing knowledge and make the new reading more stimulating and engaging. The strategy allows students to work their way up from an already existing schema, instead of starting a new one.
Questions – Ask questions. Who, What, When, Where, How, Why. Then ask thought provoking questions like what the author was trying to convey? Or ask A ‘research question’ which encourages the students to look for information beyond what is in the text. This allows for more comprehensive active learning to occur.
Analyze Text Structure – Like cause-effect pattern, problem-solution pattern, or a descriptive pattern like a list, web or a matrix pattern. Understanding the pattern in which the material is presented allows the students to comprehend the information better. It is important to teach all the patterns of a text structure to the students, as each structure is different and takes time to learn. They should also be taught to make use of subheadings, labels, captions, tables, graphs, etc. as these help students to understand the material better.
Visualization – Encourage your child to visualize what they are reading. As it helps them to comprehend better. Research suggests that students should visualize them as structural images or diagrams instead of mere pictures, as pictures have a tendency to fade.
Summarizing – The last technique is to ask child to summarize the material read. Research has indicated that the ability to summarize enhances comprehension. They can summarize the material in the form of diagrams, either visually or in writing.
Review
Consistency and/or repetition is key. The main takeaway is to ask the child to visualize the reading material as if they were watching a movie. Then, ask them questions about the text. Show, tell, do never fails and it really helps them remember. Whether you are showing examples and explaining or something else. Anything, that can help activate their memory is vital.
