Reading Comprehension -- how did you help your child improve

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Quick background --

Our son is reading Call of the Wild for English class. We are discovering that he is reading, but not getting ANY OF IT. My husband discovered how little my son knew with the latesst chapter, and they both stayed up until 2:00 am going over and over this chapter. [after hours and hours of going over other homework -- it's not always this bad]

What do you as parents, or as students, do in order to increase your reading comprehension? Of course, I would like to find a way to help my son catch onto what he's reading WITHOUT STAYING UP UNTIL 2:00 AM. We actually thought he was improving in this area. Guess not.

1) what's your technique for improving reading comprehension
2) If it was a problem in your past, when did you feel that it improved
3) will it always be a problem?

Does he read very fast and did he learn to read very early? This could be a sign of hyperlexia. Here's a link.
http://www.k12academics.com/disorders-d ... hyperlexia

I am kind of in the same boat with my son. He has always struggled a little with reading, and never really liked it much, with a few exceptions. He finally found a book he loves and he will read and re read the series. It is a bit below his grade level (he is in 6th grade and the series is a Diary of a Wimpy Kid) but not too far. He devours the series and waits for the next book eagerly. His comprehension on that series is pretty much perfect. His comprehension on books he doesnt like, or is bored with...not so good. He does consistently low end of average on his annual no child left behind reading tests with regard to comprehension, so for my son it is a matter of interest rather than ability. He just has a hard time staying focussed when he is bored.

The end result is still the same, regardless of the lack of reading comprehension skills' origin.

For myself, I have to reread things over and over again to remember them if it a subject that doesn't hold my interest. I was much like my son when I grew up, and I would say it never got better, BUT, I just overcompensated in college by working harder than most in reading the texts. I didnt like it, but worked hard at it to get it done well.

I would suggest introducing your son to some books that are perhaps tied to any special interest he might have. Even video games, there are plenty of books out there about video games, and while it doesnt exactly help him in school directly, reading well is reading well, regardless of subject matter. It will still help his mind develop. My son has some video game guide books he keeps in the bin next to the toilet, and I have caught him reading them now and then.

Well, the obvious solution would be to let him read things he is interested in. That would motivate him to actually understand what he is reading. Beyond that, he just needs lots of practice.

What is he interested in?

He's interested in video games. He's also interested in travel -- so I've bought a subscription to a National Geographic travel magazine. He actually reads that, amazingly enough. He will not read for pleasure, but he seems as if (?) he is enjoying the latest book he has to read for English (and do a report on).

We are concerned because this is the classic struggle, as others have mentioned, of not paying attention to fiction literature that your child has no interest in but has to read for school. Call of the Wild is an exciting book, but the language is old enough that he doesn't understand some of the simplest concepts (as in when a main character DIES!! !)

I just read about a strategy that is touted in educational circles called the Paraphrasing strategy where one apparently:

1) reads a paragraph,
2) tries to figure out the main point, and
3) restructures the concept in a student's own words

Can you imagine going through an entire book doing this?

Gosh.

I'm just stymied by this. He seemed like he was doing so much better for a while.

I have encouraging words for you.

People with ASD disorders do often catch up with regards to this. This is a delay, it will one day change, and sometimes there is a huge leap ahead almost overnight.

I struggled with reading comprehension in grammar school, then some point around age 10 or 11 things began to change. I think the novel that did it was The Pearl by Steinbeck. When it clicked in my mind, the reading comprehension thing, it completely clicked. Most of the class struggled with this novel, I completely understood it. I quite literally leaped from struggling to being at a college level with regards to reading comprehension. The change was practically overnight.

The point is have patience. There are struggles now, but they are not indefinate.

You mean people can do that once every paragraph? I have to do that for every sentence... Except I don't really restructure the concept into words per say, but more so just ideas that make sense to me.

But don't worry too much about it. If it makes you feel any better I never actually read call of the wild, roll of thunder, or any of the other books I supposedly read in school. I just read the summaries online and lied to my parents and teachers when they asked me if I read the book.

I did however read lots of books about NASA's Apollo program, and the space race when I was about your son's age. Very interesting topic. Does your son watch any of the history, or national geographic channel? Those are a good way to find interesting things.

starygrrl, you're a godsend. Sometimes, just sometimes, you need a voice of encouragement. I can be patient if I know that someday, it will improve.

Tracker -- I love your posts. I know the feeling of having to stop with every sentence and think about it for meaning. Makes for slow-going, doesn't it? And I was an English major in college. Go figure.

My son likes to watch the type of thing on national geographic channel, discovery channel, etc. Things about Tornadoes, national parks, hurricanes, volcanoes (all my kids love that type of thing). He really likes cooking shows, oddly enough. Well, entertaining cooking shows, not one that actually show you much about cooking -- stuff like the Man Vs. Food show.

I actually think he kind of likes reading. But when tested or asked about content, he hasn't a clue what is going on.

Some tips!

Active readers, or readers who are good at reading are constantly going through a script in their head and answering
questions such as who, what, why, where, when.. encourage your child to write down critical questions as he reads.

Good readers are very good at making inferences and predictions. They can predict what will happen and make inferences about how a character will behave. Have your child practice predicting what will happen. Slow him down - it should take hours to read a novel. A novel is an art form that is focused on detail - a slow experience if you really enjoy it!

Re-telling the story is another good strategy. Have him retell or summarize after every chapter (or page or whatever you need)

Do you know what a graphic organizer is? It is a visual representation of a text. It can be used in many ways to organize the sequence of a chapter, map emotions of a character, map character development and on and on... What you can do is make graphic organizers (look for templates on google). Then try and make a few organizers. Try and get your child to sequence what is happening. Remember, writers give you tips on how to read what they have written. They leave cues in the writing so that the sentence you read makes sense because you read the sentence before it.

Use sticky notes. Have him write down questions, main ideas, important facts on sticky notes and then have him put the sticky notes in the book. Then go back. Also, after every paragraph have him put a "+" or a "-" at the end of every page. If he feels he understands then put a "+" at the bottom of the page, which means go on. If not, put a "-" at the end of the page, which means re-read.

Re-review reading strategies. He has probably not had to learn them sense he was a child. They include things like : slowing down, re-reading, making connections from the book to the outside world, making connections from the book to your life, using text features (pictures), asking people for help, using a dictionary, using the internet, making predictions and inferences. It's really important to make connections from the book to his previous knowledge. If he has AS then he will likely have a lot of knowledge (or strength!) to make connections with.

There is heaps of literature about this topic, so check out your local library
!

HTH GL

I used pictures to comprehend stuff...I mean...um...when I was an early voracious reader, my basic comprehension was helped by visual aids....that kind of stuff still tends to be the case...my dad was really big on giving me these classics illustrated books and such...and it made it easier in the long run for me to get the gist of things....I still kinda go through spells where my ability to concentrate wanes and I simply can't mentally string the sentences on the page to really mean anything...Often outside factors are involved...stress...other stuff on my mind...my basic eyesight...My eyes go in circles and circles on the page and I am reading but not really reading at the same time...if it is something I MUST do, that pressure might make it difficult for me to engage myself....
You could maybe sorta submerse your child into comprehension of call of the wild in a sort of muitl-media way...the movie is good...I don't know how close it is to the book,(because I don't recall reading it..I started but never finished it)...There are even comic books (like classics illustrated) that follow the actual novel quite closely..When I was in my special GT classes, they sometimes let me turn in essays in the form of comics...the point being that I had a basic comprehension of what I had read....even if the comics weren't very good...

For some students, reading fiction is very, very difficult. All the things that are expected of the reader: inferencing, imagining, foretelling - these are things that some students find almost impossible to do. For those students, non-fiction can be very understandable. Is the reading comprehension a problem across the board, or is it certain kinds of reading that present the problem?

For a student who can't project into the future, or imagine something that doesn't exist, much of fiction reading is a nightmare. Serious accommodations and individualized instructional methods need to be used by the school (think, IEP changes) in order for this to happen. Some of this might need to be done with the help of an SLP.

If the problem is in all reading comprehension, it is more a matter of the issues others have mentioned, with slowing down and re-phrasing, taking notes, etc. These may also need to be in the IEP, but a different person may need to oversee the specialized instruction - maybe a reading teacher.

Schlep, this approach has worked for us. For years I have taken my son to the bookstore once every couple of weeks or so, and let him choose two or three books, magazines, graphic novels etc. on almost any topic (I get the final say, but he generally sticks to appropriate topics on his own). He used to read graphic novels and comic books, but gradually gravitated toward young adult novels. I think the point is, he gets to pick what he is interested in. Good luck! -DD

If you look at the lexile system for rating books, this is actually a complex series - that book has a lexile of 950 (higher than Eragon), which TOTALLY stunned me. My daughter, however, figured it out: the book jumps around, and if you didn't get and remember an earlier part, you get lost on a later part.

Hows that to make you feel even better about it?!

Hi DW, what is the lexile system?

It is what the teachers are using at my children's schools to evaluate the appropriateness of the books they choose: http://www.lexile.com/

They also have a way to test the kids to give them an individual lexile. How accurate it is ... hm, no idea, lol. But it can be interesting as a rough guide.

Wow, that is pretty cool information. Shows how much we can short change our kids...now I know he is holding out

Seriously, that is a cool system, actually. I had never heard of it until now, thanks for sharing!