by Mary Ann Neber

Created on: May 26, 2008   Last Updated: September 24, 2008

Is your child having difficulties with reading comprehension? Is your child's reading level where it should be? YOU, as the parent, are the first and most important teacher in your child's reading education.The following comprehension skills can be taught at home while reading aloud to your child:

Analyzing the title and cover of the book before reading is a great strategy to teach the skill of main idea. Ask your child to tell you what he/she sees in the picture (details), what does he/she think the story will be about(drawing conclusions and prediction), where does the story take place(setting). It simply gets your child to think in a logical manner. Your youngster will begin to understand that the printed word is definitely related to the illustrations!This is a strategy utilized by teachers who prepare students for the state language arts tests.

Daily reading to your child is imperative to developing listening comprehension (the highest level of comprehension). As you read the book aloud to your child, examine together the illustrations and have them describe to you what they see. Ask your child who, what, where, why, when and how questions.This is a lesson in comprehension skills on details.

Whenever possible ask your child to predict what will happen next. This is fun for your youngster because it is like a game and they will be delighted when they are correct or surprised when the story takes a different slant than they predicted. This is how you would help develop higher level thinking skills in comprehension.

If your child loses their place frequently when they read, give them an index card so they can practice keeping their eyes focused on the line they are reading. They will need to do this until they train their eyes to stay focused.

Reading aloud to your child helps to develop listening comprehension (the highest level of reading a child can comprehend) and promotes fluency (the pace at which the child reads with good comprehension skills).

Make reading fun. Enjoy this precious quality time with your child. Your relationship will become stronger and your child's reading level will begin to soar!

Learn more about this author, Mary Ann Neber.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.