Reading to fast and comprehension?

[bry's-gal]

My 6 yr old LOVES to read and can read fairly big words. The problem is she reads so quickly that she doesn't truly comprehend what she is reading. When I ask her questions about what she has read, she can not answer simple questions. We've tried reading out loud and her reading to herself. I allow her to pick what she wants to read (with my approval) so I know she is interested in the book. Any ideas on how I can get her to slow down and THINK about what she is reading?

[Flux]

Well, all I can do is tell you my own experience with this...Growing up, I was always far ahead of the rest of the kids in my class. There was talk of moving me up from K to 3rd or 4th, but that idea was nixed so that I wouldn't get teased by the bigger kids. I thought that what made me smart was that I knew more, could figure things faster etc. I thought that was the whole point of it all.

Fast forward to 4th grade: Our teacher was calling us in his office individually for timed reading tests. Eager to perform well, I went in and read 2 pages of whatever it was in lightning speed. Then he asked me what I had just read:001_unsure: I couldn't tell him if it was about birds, people, buildings, or dirt. I was drawing a complete blank. I was devastated when, at the parent/teacher meeting, he was explaining to my parents that I had 0 comprehension. I felt as if I were damaged goods, it was the first time I had ever not done well in anything at school. It's not that I couldn't comprehend what I was reading, it just had never dawned on me that they were looking for anything more than speed. I thought it was all about the speed!:tongue_smilie:

I think before you start getting worried about problems etc. Just talk to her about it. Maybe she is just too busy trying to read fast? Or even make it into a game. If she is proud of her reading ability, then give her opportunities to demonstrate that ability. Make another game out of seeing how slowly she can read, and how much she can remember. I don't think it's a big deal to separate the two, if it helps her. I think that eventually the two will meld together. Sorry if I'm rambling, I am trying to feed kids lunch while typing this!

[Flux]

My daughter likes to play games where I try to "trick" her or I'll tell her that I am going to ask her to do something that 8 year olds can do, so it's ok if she gets it wrong (to ease the pressure). I try to set her up to get it right, at least at first. Then I slowly make the game harder, maybe over the course of a couple of weeks. Of course your daughter might not like this kind of a game. You could also try and make up a game of red light/green light, where she gets to take steps for remembering a "tricky" question you ask (that might not even be all that tricky!). I don't know. I hope someone else can give you some ideas.

[trying my best]

I had this issue with my 5 year old but not anymore. Sometimes i still do this trick time to time to make sure he is not just reading but understanding.

This is what we do:

1. Remind the child that a good reader always picture in her/his head what he is reading about. Picturing is very important.

2. after every page cover the text and ask her questions. She will soon get the idea of remembering the info she read.

3. Our books come with comprehension quiz (about 10 questions). Multiple choice. He knows that he needs to answer questions and he pays attention to his reading.

[Flux]

Remind the child that a good reader always picture in her/his head what he is reading about. Picturing is very important.

 

Yes; read-a-louds or audiobooks are good extra practice for this, too. Discuss how you both visualized different things.

 

You could also come at it a little backwards and ask her a question or two in advance. If you give her an early reader, you could pose a few questions that you know will be answered in the book, and then wonder aloud if the book might answer those questions. Then she'll be looking.