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Supporting children to enhance their comprehension skills can be achieved by:
- Asking them to read out loud: This helps them slow their pace, which provides them with more time to grasp what they just read and consequently improves comprehension. In addition, not only are they seeing the words but also, they're hearing them1. Take turns reading with your child to model more advanced reading skills. 2
- Offering them books adequate to their age:Choose books that are not too hard for your children to practice on. They must identify at least 90 percent of the words without any intervention.
- Rereading the book to build fluency:To encourage comprehension, let the child extract and gain meaning from text. While practicing rereading, your child will be able to read swiftly and smoothly and achieve what’s defined as “fluency”.
- Getting expert advice:Teachers can aid in providing fun ways to help your child build the necessary comprehension skills and assess them frequently.
- Inviting them to express their opinion:This "verbal processing" aids in remembering and thinking through the themes of the book. “Ask questions before, during, and after a session to encourage reading comprehension”. For example:
- Before:"Why did you choose this book? Do you like the picture on the cover? What do you think will happen in this story?”
- During: "How do you think the story might end? Has anything like that happened to you? Which character in the story is your favorite?”
- After:"What was the best part in the story? Did you like this book? Why?” 3
Parents who spend time reading to their children create nurturing relationships, which is important for a child’s cognitive, language and social-emotional development. 4
Dr David Amendine
Pediatrician Neonatologist
