Reading Comprehension -- how did you help your child improve

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I was homeschooled and my mum used a program called "Reading Detective" with me. http://www.criticalthinking.com/series/015/index_c.jsp

The most effective way to teach reading comprehension is to discuss each page or concept in a book with your child as you read together. Ask them questions like "why did that character do that" or "what do you think might happen next" etc. Not sure if you are already doing this but it would be worthwhile beefing it up You could also try choosing a list of books that have had movies made out of them, and watch the movie together first, then read the book, and harken concepts back to the movie, what characters did and why, what it looked like in the film, how and why the film was different than the book, additions and omissions, etc.

My son who is a junior in HS has struggled for years with reading comprehension. not all books, but some. We now depending on the read, buy books on tape and also we will buy the movie to watch first or while he is reading this is a last resort though.

It is usually the type of books that get our kids stuck. I also buy cliff notes for him.

My son who is a junior in HS has struggled for years with reading comprehension. not all books, but some. We now depending on the read, buy books on tape and also we will buy the movie to watch first or while he is reading this is a last resort though.

It is usually the type of books that get our kids stuck. I also buy cliff notes for him.

I agree with many of the above ideas. One which has been very helpful to me (when I was tutoring students as part of my Literacy degree) was to identify a purpose for reading. Kids with scientific oriented minds can be confused by narrative text structure. It helps to have them "attack" the text as they would a science or math problem by constantly asking "Why am I reaing this?, What am I expected to learn?, What clues should I be looking for?"

KWL charts for for this.
Taking notes in a "double page way" work. Draw a line down the center of the paper. On the left write the page number and a sentence on the right explain why this sentence (or peice of the plot) is important.
Using sticky notes works well. Write comments on the sticky and attach to the page as you read. Then you can "flip back" by reading the stickys to remember what was important and why.

Good luck.