Is Your Child Struggling with Reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension is one of the most important academic skills your child will learn in their lifetime. After second grade, students will spend most of their reading time learning to

 decipher themes and analyze texts. But what happens if your child just isn’t “getting it?” when it comes to reading comprehension? How can you tell? These are simple signs that I look for in students who are struggling with reading comprehension, and they are easy enough to recognize at home as well. 

Have your child read out loud while you watch and listen closely. If they skip over words and letters in the text, or have trouble pronouncing words properly, they may be unable to put together the sounds necessary to understand the words they’re reading. If they’re mixing up the letters in words (reading “d” as “b” for example), or have major issues with spelling, the best thing to do is develop their phonetic skills in order to improve their reading.

If you find that your child uses words repetitively or struggles to find the “right” word, they might have an issue with reading comprehension. Children who are active readers get 2160 minutes of reading time over the course of the school year, exposing them to new vocabulary and ideas. If your child’s vocabulary is very limited, this may be a sign that they are not understanding and retaining the story’s vocabulary in context. 

As strange as it might seem, children with reading comprehension issues also have issue with following written directions. Because they cannot understand what they have read, students may skip or add steps to a process, or ignore directions entirely. If your child cannot summarize the story or recall it’s details, this is a sign that they have not retained even basic information from the story.

Reading comprehension is such a fundamental skill that we even use it in other subjects! Children who have reading comprehension issues may misunderstand mathematical word problems. Because of reading comprehension issues, these students cannot filter out unnecessary information in word problems from important information, and they may even misunderstand which mathematical operations to use without the knowledge of context clues. If your child really struggles with solving word problems, this could be a sign of reading comprehension issues.

          If you notice any of these signs in your child for longer than two months, it’s a good idea to talk to your child’s teacher, or look into supplemental programs. Genie Academy’s multi-faceted approach to Reading and Reading Comprehension can help set your child back on the path to success.

Links: 

http://rms.pthsd.k12.nj.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_29002/File/Reading%20Minutes.pdf