Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension can be a significant issue for many children. Even though a child can decode words and appear to be a good reader, he may not be able to recall any meaningful details from what he just read.

The National Reading Panel concluded: "Reading comprehension is very important to the development of children's reading skills and therefore to their ability to obtain an education. In carrying out its study of reading comprehension, the NRP noted three main themes in the research on the development of reading comprehension skills.

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The National Reading Panel also says, "Vocabulary development has long been considered important for reading comprehension. The Panel concluded that vocabulary should be taught both directly and indirectly. Repetition and seeing vocabulary words several times is also important. Learning in rich contexts, incidental learning, and the use of computer technology all help children develop larger vocabularies. A combination of methods, rather than a single teaching method, leads to the best learning.

"As with vocabulary development, text comprehension is improved when teachers use a combination of reading comprehension techniques such as question answering, question generation, and summarization. When students are able to use them successfully, they perform better in recall, answering questions, generating questions, and summarizing texts."

To teach vocabulary in order to increase comprehension, you might want to consider Wordsmart Vocabulary Software. We have several of our home schooling friends with learning difficulties that particularly like this program. This fun vocabulary software has engaging games that provide children with the learning tools that can enhance vocabulary at a fast pace. Wordsmart Vocabulary Software works much faster than traditional vocabulary building methods – words are presented in an optimal order for faster acquisition. Word Smart publishes vocabulary activities, math games, and word games, all of which are fun, engaging ways to reach your child with critical vocabulary skills. You can check out additional information about building vocabulary skills on our Vocabulary page.

Most Reading Comprehension programs are really comprehension 'practice' programs, and do not teach comprehension skills. In fact, finding a program that teaches a child HOW to comprehend what he's read can be a challenge. When we ran into difficulty with comprehension, it took a lot of digging to find programs that teach the skills in any depth. In addition to working on Reading Comprehension as a specific skill, you will want to help your child develop a rich vocabulary to enhance his comprehension. (continued below..)

You'll find many programs that provide comprehension practice, and they are great for that--practice. To teach your child reading comprehension skills, you'll need a program that teaches them visualization and questioning skills. Your child needs to build pictures in his mind, like an ongoing movie as he reads. Doing this helps a child remember what he's read, but it is not a skill that is easily learned. When working on this skill, you'll have to stop your child's reading, then tell him "picture that in your mind", and then move on. Stopping your child regularly will help him develop the habit of building pictures in his mind.

A great program for helping teach visualization skills is Lindamood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing. The program isn't inexpensive, but it is a winner for actually teaching skills. To start out, you'll need the Visualizing and Verbalizing Manual and the Visualizing and Verbalizing Stories. These materials will help you your child develop critical visualization skills.

Another program that teaches reading comprehension is "Thinking Reader" This is a computer program that uses classic literature selections along with guiding instruction to help engage a child in the story and teach him comprehension skills. The program is award winning, teaches a child to stop and visualize, and uses questioning to help a child key into critical aspects of what he's just read. I really like this program. You can get a free trial version, which is well worth the effort, before deciding to buy. This program is not cheap (by any means), but it is very effective for any child who particularly likes working on their computer. You can have your child read one chapter per day in your selected book and it is an 'easy' activity to get children to participate in. The lessons are rather fun, and in small chunks.

Now.. The above two are the "best" solutions, but not ones easily afforded by many. IF you can only do one, the Lindamood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing is the least expensive and sufficient for making a lot of headway. If you are looking for a 'fun' engaging way to work on comprehension, be sure to check out the trial version of Thinking Reader

If neither of these are manageable in your budget, then the Reading Detective, from Critical Thinking Books is an excellent choice. The books don't provide as much reading instruction as a child generally needs, but they do teach some rather than just provide practice. If you can take the skills taught in the books and assist your child in applying them to everything he reads, your child will develop some reading comprehension skills. My child liked these books, but they were not sufficient for helping him overcome a lack of comprehension. We did have to go for the heavy weight solutions.

In any case, with patience and practice, hopefully your child can learn the necessary skills so he can learn from his reading.

Best of Luck!
SandyKC