Today's world is very competitive, and there is great pressure on our children to succeed. However, with the increasing levels of illiteracy there are more distractions for teachers and hence there is a greater chance for our children to drop behind. Research has shown that children who fall behind in primary school find it harder and harder to catch up later. For these reasons it is important to get involved and teach reading comprehension techniques to your children as soon as possible.
If your child is just starting to read then you can still start reading comprehension techniques. These are skill which can be learnt along side each other, don’t get talked into the whole idea of getting reading established before understanding, these should work together. Children will only really enjoy reading if they understand as well.
The method you use to teach your children reading comprehension techniques will vary greatly depending on the age of your children when you start. Even if your children are older, however, they can still benefit from reviewing basic reading comprehension techniques.
Building Their Skills
One of the most important aspects of teaching reading comprehension techniques to your children, is to help increase their vocabulary and to make sure that when they read new words they understand them and how to put them into the correct context. When children find a word they don’t recognize, they will first try to sound it out. If you have made it a part of their vocabulary, they will be able to understand it once it has been spoken. Teaching your children new words as often as possible, is the first step in teaching reading comprehension techniques.
The second step in teaching reading comprehension techniques is to determine just how much your children are absorbing of the texts they are reading. It is easy to get a feel for the amount your child understands, simply get them to read a couple of paragraphs of a chosen text and then ask a few questions at the end, without allowing them to look at the text again. If they are able to recall most of what they read, then retention is not a problem. If they are not, then a simple and often very successful reading comprehension technique is to have them read out loud, this may help them to better remember what they have read.
The third step in teaching reading comprehension techniques is to have your child’s reading level assessed professionally at least once a year. If you are looking to develop a personalized plan for your child's reading comprehension then this will give you a starting point and the expert who assess your child will be able to advise on the plan as well. Some schools offer these assessments as a normal part of their curriculum. It is in the interest of schools to ensure that children are literate and if you have any question the school will probably be happy to help, they are supportive of parents who are trying to help and provide a suitably environment for their child to learn in.
If you are looking for more ideas for teaching reading comprehension techniques, contact your child’s school and ask to speak to a reading specialist. There are a number of different methods that teachers use for teaching reading comprehension techniques and you will find that most of them will be more than happy to share their knowledge with you, and they will be able to explain which reading comprehension techniques they will use in school so you will be able to follow your child's development and progress.
There are many things which we rely on our children learning at school, however, reading is such an important skill that it is essential that we ensure this is properly mastered or children will find it hard to succeed at any written subject at school and with out achieving basic requirements at school, life will be much more challenging for them. These are unnecessary challenges which may be avoided by parents and primary carers learning a few reading comprehension techniques.
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