"My child's teacher says he needs to work on reading comprehension."
When parents are told that their students struggle with reading comprehension, the initial response is, "Ok, I will have my child read more." What is not mentioned is that reading comprehension is a sizable collection of skills. Students reading skills are layered and built over time. Think of a puzzle. Every school year, three to five pieces are added to the puzzle. The reading skills are introduced, practiced, and perfected each year to prepare for the following year. There are times when skills are not mastered, and students move on to the next year. It is at this point when issues in reading begin to surface. Many times, parents, students, and teachers may only see a glimmer of a problem the following year. Proficiency begins to lower, but not at an alarming rate. It is normally two years after the lapse when red flags begin to fly. At that point, students are one to two years behind. Why? All reading skills build on prior learning. Much like a solid building, without a strong foundation, readers will face challenges if their reading comprehension skill sets are weak.
What, exactly, are these skills?
According to Kylene Beers*, the general term, "Reading Comprehension," is an intertwined marriage of five skills: comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition/fluency/automaticity, spelling, and engagement with the text. When students struggle with one of these five areas, all the other pieces of the puzzle are impacted.
What can you, as a parent, do to help your student? What are your child's teachers doing to help? This is the first of a series of seven posts that will help you understand and help your child succeed as a reader.
Please know that you, like your student's teachers, must be patient and compassionate during this process. Just as your child is a uniquely awesome person in so many different ways, the same is true in regards to the type of learner your student is.
*Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do. Heinemann, 2003.
