buttercup Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 My ds who is currently in 5th grade will be in 6th grade next year has a really difficult time with reading comprehension. He can usually easily answer what, when, where questions, but when it comes to how and why that is where he struggles. I tried using oral narration but he really struggles with narration as well. Any suggestions??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerPoppy Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Some thoughts: Work on narration, as a more holistic approach to understanding what is read. Try working on "why" questions separately... ask him things like "Why do you enjoy Lego" and have him come up with reasons that go beyond "Because it's fun/awesome." I really love the Sylvan Reading Comprehension workbook (grade 4 or 5) for the detailed way they break down the various skills used in reading and comprehending. I also love the book Verbal Intelligence, which goes into ways to help kids think and reason. Be sure he gets lots of exposure to general knowledge (history, science, culture, geography, and so on) so that he comes to reading with a large foundation to build on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imhim Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 My 3rd grader, too. She is not a good listener, and she reads fast and does not stop to think, or pay attention to details. I have just started Specific Skill Series and morwing on the booklet called "Getting the main idea" - but the series has 7 specific sckills, each with their booklet. I am hopeful this might get her into thinking about what she is reading... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Reading Detective by Critical Thinking Company is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttercup Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Thanks ladies! At the same time, I am really trying to teach him to think. He can find answers that are straight out in the text, but anything that requires thinking is very difficult for him. I really need to equip him with skills and expect more of him in the way of thinking. I will check out the books mentioned. Could they be found on amazon? Any other tips would be appreciated?? (I still do not know if he could have a learning disability, I do believe however, that laziness in paying attention to what is read plays a factor as well. There are times when I am reading a book or the Bible to my children and then I'll ask just simple questions that are obviously answered in the text and sometimes when he is not paying attention, he can't even answer them.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Some thoughts: Work on narration, as a more holistic approach to understanding what is read. Try working on "why" questions separately... ask him things like "Why do you enjoy Lego" and have him come up with reasons that go beyond "Because it's fun/awesome." I really love the Sylvan Reading Comprehension workbook (grade 4 or 5) for the detailed way they break down the various skills used in reading and comprehending. I also love the book Verbal Intelligence, which goes into ways to help kids think and reason. Be sure he gets lots of exposure to general knowledge (history, science, culture, geography, and so on) so that he comes to reading with a large foundation to build on. Would you please share more info about the Verbal Intelligence book, like the author or ISBN? This sounds like it would be helpful. Thanks! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerPoppy Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Here you go! http://www.amazon.com/Increase-Your-Childs-Verbal-Intelligence/dp/0300083203 Great book in many ways, but it is not laid out in in a ready to use way. It takes a certain amount of messing around. The exercises are really helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidirenata Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 My DD7 is like that. Thus her nickname is Busy. She is not learning disabled she is simply too busy to slow down to do many of the things that I want her to do. She does not have attention deficit because she has no problem paying attention to the things she wants to do. She is just in full throttle most of the time so she misses a lot of details because her mind is already off on some other tangent. Interestingly she can explain these tangents to me in great detail. I do need to find a way to have her slow down a bit in certain circumstances in order to prepare for testing. However, I don't want to stifle her creativity either and if she misses details of a book because she has rushed to the end in order to get right to a pencil and paper to design a contraption that something in chapter 7 made her think up well, it's hard to say that's a bad thing. But I do understand your dilemma. I have no solutions but just wanted to say you're definitely not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 We just studying a little unit on "cause and effect" today. Looking for resources that cover this subject area might help you. Based on the tutorial we watched today I think these would be the "how and why" questions. Do you think the issue he has is with the subjectiveness of the question? "Why" in particular may be difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillehei Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) I love the Remedia books on reading comprehension. I am thinking of using them for my upcoming 4th grader. http://www.rempub.com/reading/specific-reading-skills/specific-skills-series-set Also, the Scholastic Dollar Deals has some good looking deals, as well. http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/subject/reading/comprehension?&product_type=269&view=all Edited May 25, 2012 by lillehei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttercup Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 Heidirenata, My ds is similar to your daughter in that he will retain and be able to spout off information that he is really interested in which right now happens to be any animal information. He has a much tougher time with stories though. Momma2hwtk, I do feel that he does have problem with subjective questions and the why like you mentioned. Lilliehei, I will have to check my local homeschool store, they carry Remedia Publication books. I love those books. I bought one for Math several years back. Thanks ladies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Here you go!http://www.amazon.com/Increase-Your-Childs-Verbal-Intelligence/dp/0300083203 Great book in many ways, but it is not laid out in in a ready to use way. It takes a certain amount of messing around. The exercises are really helpful. Thank you! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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