Help Support Your Child’s Reading Comprehension

How to Help Your Child Read Like a Pro – Tips to Improve Reading Comprehension

I always tell my students that words are power. They can help you access information that you want and help you get what you need. Giving your child the gift of words – I believe – is truly empowering them.

So what to do if your child struggles with reading comprehension? Well, first let’s talk about what reading comprehension is. Simply put, it is the ability to read and understand what is going on in the text. We are no longer worried about our kids sounding words out – they have mastered that already – but now we want to make sure that they are getting it.

This is important. If we hope to get our children to love reading, they first need to understand what they are reading and feel successful when doing it. The best way to do this is to talk to our kids about what they are reading. This will help them think about the words on the page and make it their own by putting in their own words.

Here are some questions to get you started:

Before Reading:

What do you think this story will be about?
What can you tell from the title and/or pictures that you see?

During Reading:

What is the story about so far?
Who is/are the main character(s)?
What are they trying to do? Where are they going?
Where and when does the story take place?
Why is the character…?

After Reading

Did you like the story? Why or why not?
If you could change any part of the book, what would you change? Why?
Why do you think the character….? Would you have done the same?
What was your favorite or least favorite part of the book?

I put some of these questions along with some others on a bookmark and let my son, Noah, decorate it and use it during his own reading. Guys, this is tried and trusted. For him, it is a fun bookmark that he got to decorate. For me, it is a reminder to stop and have a conversation. Whenever I see it, I remember to take a second and just talk to him about his book!