Ways to improve reading comprehension for kids

My goal as a reading specialist and former social worker is to maintain excitement, confidence, and interest in reading during those years that kids are still learning the mechanics. I care more about a child’s confidence and identity as a learner than their “reading level.”

There are lots of ways to keep kids feeling good about themselves and motivated. One way is to make things easier by helping them organize their thoughts visually. Writing their ideas or drawing them also increases executive functioning skills, which are important and often lacking in today’s digital world. Print these graphic organizers to help your child strengthen comprehension skills and learn the text structure of any story.

This pyramid below shows the five components of reading and how each concept builds on the other to allow children to truly experience a book. Comprehension is the entire point of reading, which might sound obvious. If you picture a beginning reader sounding out words, you will notice that most of our young readers aren’t able to understand what they are reading. Their brains are focused on remembering each letter’s sound. That’s why most kids are learning to read until third grade and then reading to learn after third grade.

If your child is still mastering the mechanics of spelling and reading, they can still utilize the organizers with drawings. If they struggle with writing, write for them. It’s completely ok for a child to focus on practicing one concept like comprehension while you help them with the mechanics. Otherwise, frustration will prevent them from enjoying the purpose of the activity. Let me know how this works for you and your child!

Is My Child on Track? Literacy Milestones from Infancy Through Third Grade

When you become a new parent, there is an overload of information. It seems there are a million markers, tests and charts to ensure your child is on track and the pediatrician is walking right alongside every week to check off your child’s progress. There is a marker for every little hiccup in early childhood, but then when our kids enter school, milestones can feel vague and confusing. It seems you must wait for the report card or progress report to know if your child is progressing.

To provide a little help, I've created a short write-up of literacy milestones to look for and encourage in your child from birth through third grade. You might cringe when kids begin to recognize the C or M for Chick-fil-a and McDonalds because now you are going to need to stop for a snack, but this is actually a positive sign. They are learning to read logos and symbols, and this skill will help them when they learn to match a sound to a letter shape. To get the developmental chart click the link below and I’ll send it to your inbox. As always, let me know if you have any questions or ways that I can help!