Twinmom Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 My 7 yr old nephew is having some mild issues with reading comprehension and my sister is looking for ways to shore him up. She's already doing things with him individually but is looking for some games, websites, etc. that he can play by himself to help improve his comprehension skills. He's an avid game player...has a Wii, a Nintendo DS and a computer. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 I think http://www.starfall.com is hard to beat for reading -- it's great, and you can start where he's at in reading level. The games are fun. My ds really enjoys it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandalwood Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 My 7 yr old nephew is having some mild issues with reading comprehension and my sister is looking for ways to shore him up. She's already doing things with him individually but is looking for some games, websites, etc. that he can play by himself to help improve his comprehension skills. He's an avid game player...has a Wii, a Nintendo DS and a computer. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks! I agree with using Starfall. It helped my son around that age tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magistramom Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 He should have his eyes checked as well. When children have mild farsightedness, there is a higher chance that they can have comprehension problems as well. I wouldn't put pressure on him - he's SEVEN!!!! But some things that can help... have him narrate stories back to you; have him comic strip draw the beginning, middle, and end of a story, and highlight the conflict or rising portion of the prose; conduct a series of questions that require him to talk to you in full sentences rather than answer yes or no; break his reading times into 20 minute sessions three times per day - only one session should be "academic" - the other two will be reading for fun from a variety of resources. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magistramom Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Whoops - I wrote the above without considering that "you" were his aunt (I did realize that...). Oh, well - you'll get the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinmom Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 Thanks for the suggestions! He's used Starfall before and enjoyed it, but now my sister is looking for something more focused solely on comprehension. Does anyone have any suggestions for other websites or games? I agree...she's worrying too much. However, that's where she's at so I promised her I'd help her find some games he can play independently. She's already doing the narration thing with him herself. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 (edited) I think children with reading problems should *not* be left to their own devices to somehow improve their comprehension or anything else with reading. Several things need to be in place for a child to be able to read with good comprehension. First, he needs to be able to decode accurately and automatically. Second, he needs to read fluently on grade level (or preferably above). Third, even if decoding and fluency are in place, he needs to have some knowledge of what he is reading before he reads it (see ED Hirsch's writings for more on this). The more background knowledge a child has, the higher the reading comprehension is going to be. He also needs to have decent visualization skills. If your sister is worried about her son's reading, the first thing I would have checked is his vision with a developmental optometrist. Developmental vision problems will cause all kinds of reading problems and are *not* screened for during routine vision assessments. Assuming that the vision checks out, I would then check his decoding skills. The book Reading Reflex has some good tests to uncover decoding issues. Then, I would do a fluency assessment (look at the Read Naturally or Six Minute Solution websites for more information and fluency charts). If all of this checks out, she could look into programs that specifically target visualization skills, such as Idea Chain. But before going into something like Idea Chain, I would try just having him read aloud to her *every single day* starting with easy books and gradually working up to harder books. Make sure the books are interesting to him. Discuss the reading. Have him narrate. See what he remembers. It should take less than 30 minutes a day. IMHO, what I've described here will be far more powerful than a computer program or a reading comprehension workbook. Edited to add: There is a difference between poor reading comprehension and doing poorly on reading comprehension *tests*. If she suspects that his comprehension is intact and he is just testing poorly, then a program targeting comprehension testing would be helpful. Also a good online diagnostic test is the DORA, though it doesn't specifically test for fluency. Edited October 11, 2008 by EKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deana FL Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 www.bookadventure.org might be helpful. It provides comprehension quizzes for a variety of books that can be found at the library. It has been a great incentive tool for my kids. Hope it helps in your case... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Wow, that site looks interesting, Deana -- thanks for sharing :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deana FL Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 We created our own prize system with the points...ie, 1000 pts earned them a cookie from the bakery...something simple like that. For the most part, though, my kids just like taking the quiz to see if they can get all the questions right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 This is a great post and I agree with everything. Is he having problems just with comprehension of what he reads himself, or also what is read to him? If his listening comprehension is fine, but he has trouble with reading comprehension, he probably just needs to improve his decoding and fluency. In that case, working on "comprehension strategies" isn't going to be of much use. If his listening comprehension isn't great, I'd spend a lot of time on narration. Start with just reading a couple sentences to him and have him retell. Gradually work up to a paragraph and then a longer section. I am doing this with my son using SWB's Story of the World, and he is making a lot of progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 It's by Modern Curriculum Press (MCP), called Comprehension Plus. It came recommended here from someone.... I wanted to use SOMETHING b/c, although my kids read a lot, I was worried that they weren't "getting it". So I have been using it more as a diagnostic tool than a teaching tool. I am finding it pretty comprehensive in what is covered, though if a kiddo has trouble with one or the other topic, you'd have to go elsewhere for extra/more practice. I have enjoyed this workbook for our purposes, but I'm a workbooky kind of girl. http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ155&PMDbSiteID=2781&PMDbSolutionID=6724&PMDbSubSolutionId=6731&PMDbCategoryId=3289&PMDbProgramId=256&level=4&prognav=po GL and HTH! - Stacey in MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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