When kids are tested in reading comprehension skills, recent results show poor scores. This is an issue of great importance among educators. A great deal of research has been conducted to attempt to develop reading comprehension strategies to reverse this unfortunate trend.
As a parent, teaching kids these strategies can begin before your child ever gets to school. This teaching process should continue throughout the school years. The results will astound you. The benefits last a lifetime. Here are techniques you can use to give your child a solid base from which to grow. These methods are easy and do not require formal education in teaching.
Start with favorite bedtime story books. Children’s story books are lavishly illustrated, but with relatively few words. Here’s where you should encourage a child to ask, “Why?” For example, the hero of your story is a flamingo, scouring the waters for her lost babies. As you read, you might point out the brilliant pink coloring. Pose a question like, “Wow, she’s pink! I wonder why she’s such a bright pink?” The child may respond with, “Does she have a sunburn?” Then, you can say, “Oh, I remember why! I read (or saw on TV) that they’re so pink because all they eat are pink shrimp. They eat so many, they turn pink!” Encouraging kids to understand the ‘why’ of things engenders curiosity, retention and an inclination to integrate other sources of knowledge when they read.
Building vocabulary indisputably increases reading comprehension, through all age groups. Learning new words develops another important component in reading comprehension strategies. Let’s say your flamingo story has a page illustrated with fluffy white clouds. Perhaps the word fluffy is not used in the text. Take the opportunity to introduce a new word. Point this picture out to your young reader. “That’s such a soft, fluffy cloud. Umm, nice.” There are many adjectives that might be attributed to a cloud: fluffy, dark, long, rainy, etcetera. These qualifying words promote good reading comprehension.
Perhaps our flamingo story book becomes a favorite. You can reinforce the idea of integrating and correlating new information in this way: find an old issue of National Geographic with an article pertaining to tropical birds, find Animal Planet or Discovery channel programming which is topically related or just find some information on flamingos on the net. The initial fascination with the story book has now flourished into an interesting and thorough reading comprehension strategy, all in a package that is fun for the child and sets the basis for a lifetime of good reading comprehension skills.
Your goal in developing your child’s reading comprehension strategies is to teach critical thinking skills, an awareness of the multiplicity of ways to investigate, learn and integrate their knowledge. The student does not need to understand why there is a method to your program. They will reap the benefits of your efforts for a lifetime.