Does your child struggle with reading comprehension? It’s more common than you think. According to Vanderbilt University, an average of 25% of young school-age kids struggle with their reading comprehension. Fortunately, there are some simple yet effective ways to help your child improve their reading skills, regardless of whether they are in kindergarten, a third grader, or any other grade level.
I’m Ken Scott, Atlanta’s #1 magician. I’ve been presenting reading-themed school assemblies at elementary schools for over 20 years. Each month, I create educational blog posts for parents and educators with valuable information.
I’m also a father to three beautiful children. After researching this topic carefully, I’ve discovered that while many may struggle with their reading, improvement isn’t hard. In this article, I’ll present several simple solutions you can use to help your child. These techniques may help any child, whether they reading picture books, magazines, chapter books, or something else.
Not Enough Daily Reading
Why do so many students struggle with their reading comprehension? A big problem is ‘reps.’ That is, their daily reading habits. Outside of the classroom, a slight majority of children do not do enough independent reading. According to the website WeAreTeachers.com, approximately 54% of kids do not read enough on their own.
Most educators and other experts recommend at least 30 minutes a day of daily reading. Again, that’s outside of schoolwork and classes. But less than 20% of children read 30 minutes a day. In fact, it’s only 18%. Without their daily ‘reps,’ children cannot reasonably expect to increase their reading comprehension.
Muscles and Exercise
If you have ever exercised, you know what it’s like to start a workout program. Maybe you started jogging. Or lifting weights. But if you’re like most people, you were probably sore the next day. But if you kept exercising regularly, eventually that soreness went away.
You had to condition your muscles for the extra activity. And this little tidbit often surprises many people. Your brain is a muscle, too. Many of us forget that. Why? Because our brains do not physically engage or help us move the same way we think of, say, our biceps.
And like any muscle, the brain has to get used to the extra work. This takes time and regular practice. Without it, your brain gets weaker. Think of a time when you exercised regularly, but then tapered off. Maybe life got in the way., Your schedule changed. Whatever.
Once you stopped working out, what happened? You got weaker. Maybe you didn’t feel it right away. But if you went months without working out and then started again, you noticed right away how quickly you backslid!
The Summer Slide
If you want to get an idea of how quickly your child can backslide, consider the ‘summer slide.’ It’s a known phenomenon in education. When kids are off school for the summer, many of them don’t read at all. But when the new school year starts, the teachers have to spend a opt of time during the beginning of the school year to help students get to the same level they were at the end of the school year.
The best way to prevent the summer slide? At least 30 minutes a day of independent reading. It’s that simple. And get graphic organizers to help track and organize your child’s progress. Now that we understand how important daily work is for reading comprehension, let’s dive into some techniques and strategies you can use to help your child.
Reading Comprehension Skills Technique #1: Meet Your Child’s Teacher
If your child struggles with reading, it’s time to meet with their teacher. The two of you can discuss what may be causing your child to struggle. And you can work together to help them become a better reader.
Outside of school, as your child’s parent or guardian, you can observe their behavior. You can make assumptions. And if your child is willing to open up and talk to you, you can glean more information. While all of this is important, it doesn’t paint a complete picture.
Your child’s teacher is in a similar situation…well, kind of the opposite. Your teacher spends a opt of time with your child. But they’ll never know your child as well as you will. And they only see your child in class, under very specific parameters. They don’t know what’s going on in your child’s personal life. Or how certain personality traits may be affecting them.
While good teachers can (and do) use their training, tests, and other tools to give your child the specific help they need, insights and information from you are going to paint a more complete picture. Meeting with your child’s teacher can help both of you.
Reading Comprehension Skills Technique #2: Have Your Child Read Out Loud
Having your child read out loud does a lot of things. First, it forces your child to slow down. And by slowing down, they focus more on each word and in short passages. They pay better attention and retain more information. It focuses them on the task at hand instead of doing too many things at once.
Unsurprisingly, having loud music, the TV, or other distractions splits our focus. We can’t concentrate on what we are doing because there is too much going on. All these other things pull at our attention. The result? A lack of focus and decreased reading comprehension. Reading out loud helps them to focus.
But that’s not all. Reading out loud helps your child hear the words. While that may sound obvious, realize that not everyone processes information the same way.
A Brief Detour into How Humans Learn
We process the world around us with our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. And because each person is unique, not everyone learns the same way. There’s no right, and no wrong, but people just develop in different ways. As an example, imagine you’re verbally giving driving directions to someone. Even if you give the best directions possible, not everyone will be comfortable with your directions.
Some people are visual learners. Give them the driving directions on something as simple as sticky notes and they can find their way. Others learn best by hearing. If they verbally hear the instructions, they can get to where they want to go. And others learn by touch or doing. In the case of finding their way, they retain the information faster by actually driving or walking the directions themselves.
Back to reading out loud. If your child reads out loud, it helps their reading comprehension because they are getting another sense involved. Even if their primary learning method is not auditory, just by reading a different way, they’ll improve simply because they involve multiple senses.
Reading Comprehension Skills Technique #3: The Right Books at the Right Grade Level
Every child has great books available to them at the appropriate reading level, from young readers to higher grades. If your child is a third grader, be sure they are reading books appropriate for their level. A good rule of thumb is how many words they recognize and understand. When reading, your child should recognize about 90% of the words in the book. Working through the new words they don’t understand is the best way to get good mental exercise.
They get practice discovering the meaning of unknown words through context clues in the surrounding text. Working out the meanings of words this way will help them get to a higher level of comprehension.
If the percentage of words your child does not recognize is higher than 10%, they will be stopping too often to struggle with the words. They slow down, have to regroup, and start again. This likely increases their frustration level and slows their progress.
When you talk to your child’s teacher, ask them for an approved reading list at your child’s level. Let your child pick books from subjects they enjoy. Independent reading should be fun for them. If they enjoy what they are reading, they’ll want to do it more. And the more they read, the better they get!
Reading Comprehension Skills Technique #4: Talk to Your Child
This is closely related to technique #2. Have a discussion with your child about their reading assignments. Ask some comprehension questions. By talking to you, your child can help their own comprehension instruction by working their way through the logic of what they read. They will be exercising another part of the brain and increasing their comprehension.
Start by asking your child what the main idea in the book is. See if they can identify the main character. Ask them if they like the book. If they say they don’t like it ask them what they specifically don’t like about the book. If they are only partway through a book, ask them what they think will happen. And once they finish the book, ask them to give you a quick rundown of the entire book in their own words.
Reading Comprehension Skills Technique #5: Read Their Favorites Again
Does your child have a favorite book, or better yet, a series of books? Encourage them to re-read their favorite books from time to time. This is a great way to increase their fluency skills. For example, a third grader should be able to read 90 words per minute. Kids who do this increase their speed, become strong readers and get to relive fun times with characters they enjoy in familiar reading passages. It’s an easy way to get their daily ‘reps’ in.
This applies to re-reading a nonfiction book, too. Just because they have prior knowledge of what they’re reading doesn’t mean they can’t gain something. Each reading of a non-fiction passage will help them discover new information.
A Reading School Assembly for Your Child’s School
Want a fun way to get your child and all their friends excited about reading? I offer fun-filled reading-themed school assemblies for elementary schools. From exploring space to geography, my reading programs are filled with great information. But I don’t just talk to kids. I enhance the lessons and reading messages with fun-filled magic! Kids get involved onstage, from the audience, and more. Each magic show also features a colorful backdrop, my own PA system and microphone, and my 100% money-back guarantee.
If your child’s school is in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, or Alabama, I’d love to visit your child’s school. Visit my Contact Page to request free information and a no-obligation quote for your area. Just for responding, I’ll also include my FREE report: “The 3-Word Secret to Hosting the Best School Assembly of Your School Year.” It’s yours free!