Your kid may love to read, but do you know if they are comprehending the material enough? As your child grows up, a big part of learning and schoolwork is being able to reflect on the material read, and to then gain a firmer and deeper grasp on the material. To ensure your child is enjoying reading and also learning the proper tools of reflective reading, there are few things you can do while they grow to help set them up for success!
Reading with Them
It can never be stressed enough how important reading with your child can be while they are growing. You will want to ensure you are not reading at too high of a reading level for them, but other than that, the more reading the better! This helps them develop a love of reading to begin with, as they learn to read and put the words together and use their imagination to create these worlds from within the pages.
It is also a great activity to spend some time together, especially one-on-one if you have more than one child. It does not have to be just a bedtime story, either! You can help them learn to read and say words out loud, and you can also ask them questions about the material as you are reading to see how much they are understanding the story. They do not have to get it right away, of course, but being able to have a good baseline is always recommended, as then you will be able to see their progress more easily!
Comprehending More
Although you will most likely be reading a book at their learning level, that will still entail running into words your children are unfamiliar with. They will continue to run into slightly bigger words over the course of the next few years, and it is vital that they understand what they are reading in the moment. Make sure to help them figure out what the words mean and then how to apply that meaning to what they are reading. Too often, children might be reading on their own and run into words they do not know, and may forget to ask their meaning or lose focus when you both go over the words later on.
Making sure they are comprehending the information on a regular basis is always vital as well. Ask questions periodically while you are both reading a book together, to see how well they are catching on to the information. And after the book is done, ask a few questions about the ending and what they think it means, even if it is something as simple as the cow flew over the moon! This will still help your child develop their comprehension skills and apply that to the next book!
Katie Kyzivat