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Reading Comprehension: Teach Your Child

Reading comprehension is difficult for children aged five to eight. They often are so focused on "sounding out" words that they lose their understanding of what they have read. Here are some ways for parents to teach reading comprehension. Choose an age-appropriate book for your child to read. Read the material before you sit down with your child.

Previewing, Predicting, Summarizing

Prior to reading the book, show the cover art to your child and tell him/her the name of the author. Ask your child to predict what the book is about and what might happen. Preview the book with your child by looking at the pictures and telling him about the characters. Previewing helps the child understand what he will soon read. Summarize the plot briefly.

Rereading as Preparation for Comprehension

Before your child can focus on understanding what he reads, he must be able to read the words. Practice reading the text with your child; help the child sound out words, learn sight words, and notice punctuation. Have the child reread the text at least three times.

Restatement

Restatement is a reading comprehension technique that can be used with sentences, paragraphs, pages, or chapters of books or text. For children aged five to seven, it's best to restate sentences and paragraphs. As the child improves, use restatement to help him understand pages and chapters of books.

To use restatement, have your child read the first sentence and restate it in his own words. Continue to do this for each sentence. For example, if the sentence reads "The leaves on the trees are changing colors." Ask him, "What season of the year is it?" He says, "Fall." He reads the next sentence and says, "The boy is tired." You ask, "How do you know that?" "The story says he's yawning," he replies. He reads the next sentence and says, "The teacher says the day is special." You ask him, "What does special mean?" He responds. As your child reads, help him restate the facts and discuss the actions and feelings of the characters.

You can increase comprehension and basic knowledge by asking questions that go beyond what is actually in the text. For example, you could ask your child in which country the book is set or about the characters' values based on inferences, images, or statements found within the story.

The purpose of restatement is to help your child understand new words and facts and verbalize concepts. If there are pictures, ask questions about them, too. After the child has restated the entire page, have him reread it aloud.

Comprehension

As your child improves his comprehension skills (prediction, restatement, definition of words, verbalization of concepts, answering who, what, where, when, why questions, describing characters, locations, events, and problems), have your child restate whole paragraphs, pages, and chapters.

Conclusion

Some children may find restatement a bit tedious, but it is an excellent technique for teaching reading comprehension to young children. By making the process fun and interactive, or breaking it into shorter learning segments, parents or tutors can help children progress from "sounding out" to understanding. With just a bit of time and some basic skills building, your child can be on his way to a lifetime of reading adventures.

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