I Want to Help My Child With Reading and Reading Comprehension

What are some things you as a parent can do to help your children improve their reading and reading comprehension skills?

Encourage your child to spend some time each day reading. It is important for you to be a good role model. Your children need to see that reading is important to you and that you enjoy reading. They need to observe that you value reading, that it is a daily habit for you and you need to talk about how reading helps you everyday, including at your place of employment. Talk about what you are reading to your children. Point out articles in newspapers and magazines that you have read which they may find interesting. Tell them the storyline of the latest book you are reading. Ask them questions about the materials they are reading. Show a real interest in what they are reading.

"A room without a book is like a body without a soul". You may not agree with the ancient orator Cicero who said that, but having lots of books around your home is very important. There should always be something for kids to read. Check books out of the public library. Find out about authors your child enjoys and order more books by that writer. There are many great magazines for kids.

In order to improve listening comprehension it is important to talk with children about movies and television programs they watch and books and stories you have read aloud to them. See how much of the material they have heard they can remember. Here are some kinds of questions to ask children to answer after they have read or heard a story or book, or watched a movie or television program.

*Who were the main characters? What did you find out about them? How are the characters like you? Which character was most like you? How are you different than the characters? If you got to play the part of one of the characters in the movie which one would you pick and why?

*What is the setting? Where did this story take place? Did it take place in the past, present or future? How do you know?

*What questions do you have after reading this story or watching this movie?

* Now that the book or movie is over what do you predict will happen next to the characters? If there was a sequel to this book or movie what would it be about? If you could change the ending what would you have happen instead of what happened in the book or movie?

* Can we learn any lessons from this television program? What does this book teach us? What message do you think the movie director wanted to get across to people?

*What was the mood? Was it scary? Did it make you sad? Was it a tragedy or a comedy?

*What would you change about this movie or book? What was your favorite part? What was the worst part? Why did you like it? Why didn't you like it? If you had to give this movie or book a rating out of 10 what would you give it and why?

*Every good story has a problem that needs to be solved. What was the problem in this book, movie or television program? How did it get solved?

*See if you can describe the beginning, middle and end of this story in a few sentences.

* What kind of story was this? Science fiction? Mystery? Adventure? Biography? Historical Fiction?

* Do you think this story was fiction or non-fiction? Why do you think that?

If you can, spend time every day reading aloud to your children. The great American poet Robert Frost once said, "You can't read a word you've never heard." Children need to hear the beauty of language from adults who love and care about them. This fosters not only family togetherness but a love of literature and an appreciation of the power of language.
Happy reading!