 The school year is well underway, and as the seasons continue to change more families find their activities moving indoors. This change in scenery offers a wonderful opportunity to encourage reading as an indoor activity! Now is a great time to remind your children to curl up with a book and get lost in their story. Did you know there are also tactical ways to improve reading comprehension? Our expert tutors share their tips and tricks for cultivating this skill at home.
Read with Your Child Reading with your child is imperative to improving reading comprehension. As tutor Michelle Vranicar shares, “One of the best things parents can do to help their child improve reading comprehension is to read to or with their child at all ages. It has been my observation that students who share the reading experience with their families are well on their way to developing strong reading comprehension skills.” Encouraging reading with your child and as a family fosters quality bonding and discussions, which only further promotes comprehension. Children often learn by modeling what their parents, siblings, and caregivers do, so reading together shows your child the value and importance of reading. Talk About What They’re Reading Another step to improved reading comprehension is discussing with your child about what they are reading. Tutor Michelle Vranicar again shares, “For emerging readers, stop often to talk about what is happening in the story and ask questions to model comprehension. For young readers, take turns reading together and discussing key elements of the story as well as unfamiliar words. This will help to build vocabulary skills. Finally, for independent readers, have a ‘book club’ with your child where you each read a chapter and then talk about what happened or what they think might happen next.” Taking the time to talk with your child about their reading shows them that reading is valuable and special. Having quality discussions about their stories offers them the opportunity to share and verbalize their ideas, while also improving their comprehension. Encourage Reading Out Loud If your child is reading independently – or you are enjoying a book together – encourage reading out loud. Tutor Jill Suter says, “I find reading out loud with a student expands their vocabulary, increases their attention span – which in turn improves their comprehension – and helps to develop an increased interest in reading.” Reading out loud also presents your child with the opportunity to sound out difficult words and ask questions about vocabulary or the plot of the story. Providing this comfortable setting to ask questions and discuss their reading facilitates increased comprehension and models for them that reading is an activity that is meant to stretch and challenge the mind. If you’re looking for additional support, or have any questions, reach out here. Comments are closed.
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