The Importance of Reading Comprehension

  Suppose your child is brilliant at crunching numbers and can memorize facts like nobody’s business, but they aren’t making much headway on their reading comprehension scores. And maybe you’ve been thinking, “What’s the big deal?” 

  And I am here to tell you that reading comprehension may not seem very important now, but will make learning increasingly difficult as the child gets older if they show little to no improvement. 

  All information is passed on from teacher (or parent) to the child through language. If the child does not fully comprehend what they are hearing, then they do not obtain the knowledge that a teacher is attempting to pass on to them. There are also numerous studies that link poor language development to behavior issues. Here is one such study: http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/language-development-and-literacy/according-experts/literacy-outcome-language-development-and-its

As you can read from this study, there is a strong correlation between poor reading comprehension, poor language development, and increased diagnoses of ADHD.

So what can you do to help your child?

 Many researchers have discovered that simply reading to your child on a regular basis can significantly improve your child’s reading and language development. The Children’s Bureau has a terrific article about the importance of reading to your children. https://www.all4kids.org/2017/03/03/importance-reading-children/

Another great way to help your child improve their reading comprehension is to have them do similar exercises as the one posted last week. Story mapping helps a child slow down pay more attention to what he is reading. Such exercises also help a child develop good listening skills as well such as when a teacher is giving instructions. This is a crucial especially for children with attention disorders.

Check out this great Scholastic article on other ways to help kids with reading comprehension! https://www.all4kids.org/2017/03/03/importance-reading-children/

The main point is this: You as a parent can start helping your child to learn better reading and communication skills by giving them the tools they need to succeed!