Struggling with comprehension

[swainsonshawk]

My 11 yo daughter is in the 6th grade and is struggling with reading comprehension.  She reads at about a 4th/5th grade level, but not always with understanding.  She always wants to read with me because I help her stop and go over words she misreads and I ask her comprehension questions along the way or clarify points that I know she missed.  How can I encourage her to develop her own comprehension skills?  There are lots of comprehension passages/books out there, but they seem to test/question if the student has a skill and don't actually teach the student how to develop the skill.  Do you know what I mean?

 

I'm looking for something I can do to move her reading forward.  We are already doing Megawords to help with her decoding of unknown words.  She practices fluency passages 1 or 2 times a week and we read together for 20 min or so a day.  She reads on her own what she is assigned, as well, but doesn't always understand all of what she reads, so I keep it to short passages and high interest books (Dork Diaries)

[Rosie_0801]

Keep doing what you're doing!

 

When you are checking she understands the definition of a word, how do you do it?

 

I start by asking my dd what a word means, and if she doesn't know, what kind of a word it is, e.g.. is it a moving word, a gardening word, an angry sort of word, etc. 

 

I think a large part of it is making the habit to consider the context. Even when my dd knows what all of the words mean, she doesn't necessarily know which noun each pronoun is addressing, presumably because she's getting enough out of the story without paying that kind of attention. *shrug*

 

We're working through the Third Parker Reader. It's rather difficult to add vocabulary when no one around you is using it either.

[Ellie]

My 11 yo daughter is in the 6th grade and is struggling with reading comprehension.  She reads at about a 4th/5th grade level, but not always with understanding.  She always wants to read with me because I help her stop and go over words she misreads and I ask her comprehension questions along the way or clarify points that I know she missed.  How can I encourage her to develop her own comprehension skills?  There are lots of comprehension passages/books out there, but they seem to test/question if the student has a skill and don't actually teach the student how to develop the skill.  Do you know what I mean?

 

I'm looking for something I can do to move her reading forward.  We are already doing Megawords to help with her decoding of unknown words.  She practices fluency passages 1 or 2 times a week and we read together for 20 min or so a day.  She reads on her own what she is assigned, as well, but doesn't always understand all of what she reads, so I keep it to short passages and high interest books (Dork Diaries)

 

Have you always homeschooled? IOW, did you teach her to read? Does she have any learning difficulties otherwise?

 

My recommendation would be to go back to a good phonics method, which for me would be Spalding, to make sure she has strong decoding skills. If there are no learning disabilities, lack of comprehension often means that the child doesn't have the phonics skills needed and so is often guessing at words, which will prohibit comprehension. Spalding does include work with comprehension in the form of the McCall-Harby booklets.

[Storygirl]

I have two children with reading disabilities. DD11 has dyslexia (called Specific Learning Disability in Reading by the schools), and DS12 has SLD in Reading Comprehension. Their reading troubles are night and day opposites of each other.

 

So yes, you didn't ask, but someone can have a disability in reading comprehension. However, because you mention that your daughter has some trouble with decoding and needs help figuring out words, it sounds more like the root cause could be dyslexia or a weakness with decoding. If someone is using her brain power just to understand what each word is, it can be difficult for her to keep the train of thought of the sentence in her mind.

 

Figuring out the root cause will help you make a plan for what she needs for her schoolwork. Did she struggle to learn to read? How is her phonological awareness (dyslexia is a phonological disability)?

 

If her phonics are not solid, you can expose her to age-appropriate reading material through auditory means (reading aloud or using audio books), while backing up and having her actual reading practice use material at her reading level, which could be much lower. Some children with a phonological weakness can be helped with a standard but thorough phonics-based reading program. However, if it is dyslexia (true reading learning disability), the student may not respond to traditional materials and may need an approach meant for teaching dyslexics.

 

If reading has always been a struggle, I would recommend getting some evaluations. If you want advice about that, posting on the Learning Challenges board will make sure that your questions are seen by moms who have experience with that.

 

If you are certain that it is a comprehension issue and not decoding, I can recommend some books for you.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Storygirl

[swainsonshawk]

I have two children with reading disabilities. DD11 has dyslexia (called Specific Learning Disability in Reading by the schools), and DS12 has SLD in Reading Comprehension. Their reading troubles are night and day opposites of each other.

 

So yes, you didn't ask, but someone can have a disability in reading comprehension. However, because you mention that your daughter has some trouble with decoding and needs help figuring out words, it sounds more like the root cause could be dyslexia or a weakness with decoding. If someone is using her brain power just to understand what each word is, it can be difficult for her to keep the train of thought of the sentence in her mind.

 

Figuring out the root cause will help you make a plan for what she needs for her schoolwork. Did she struggle to learn to read? How is her phonological awareness (dyslexia is a phonological disability)?

 

If her phonics are not solid, you can expose her to age-appropriate reading material through auditory means (reading aloud or using audio books), while backing up and having her actual reading practice use material at her reading level, which could be much lower. Some children with a phonological weakness can be helped with a standard but thorough phonics-based reading program. However, if it is dyslexia (true reading learning disability), the student may not respond to traditional materials and may need an approach meant for teaching dyslexics.

 

If reading has always been a struggle, I would recommend getting some evaluations. If you want advice about that, posting on the Learning Challenges board will make sure that your questions are seen by moms who have experience with that.

 

If you are certain that it is a comprehension issue and not decoding, I can recommend some books for you.

I'm pretty sure she's dyslexic (slow reading, struggles to decode new words, still sometimes reverses b and d), but I don't have the resources to provide special tutoring. I had considered giving her more phonics instruction, but she has such a good visual memory and she sight reads everything, so how do you force phonics/decoding study on someone who is already reading rather well (if slowly and lacking comprehension)? I mean, she wouldn't be decoding the words in a standard phonics lesson anymore, she can already read them all. . .

 

I have always homeschooled her so any of her weaknesses are my fault, you know?

 

I've never taught spalding, etc. Would it be useful for a student who already reads?

 

Megawords is providing sylabication/decoding practice right now, but it seems rather easy for her (she's working in level 1).

 

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[SarahW]

I'd x-post on the LC board.

 

There's other resources you can do at home besides Megawords to remediate dyslexia. Yes, Megawords is usually used in schools for remediation of a language disability. You're already doing it. I'm sure the experienced folks on LC can help you out with it, and discuss if there's other things you can do to help your daughter. But if she is dyslexic you need to make sure you work with her brain, not against it. 

[Rosie_0801]

I'm pretty sure she's dyslexic (slow reading, struggles to decode new words, still sometimes reverses b and d), but I don't have the resources to provide special tutoring. I had considered giving her more phonics instruction, but she has such a good visual memory and she sight reads everything, so how do you force phonics/decoding study on someone who is already reading rather well (if slowly and lacking comprehension)? I mean, she wouldn't be decoding the words in a standard phonics lesson anymore, she can already read them all. . .

 

 

I'm wondering if that's why the syllabary worked well for my dd. 

 

I worked on that with dd, then did the I See Sam readers because she needed something painfully incremental. Then we spent a few months watching the phonics vids on The Phonics Page, and are now working through the Third Parker Reader, which is also linked on The Phonics Page somewhere. We're also doing morphology work in Apples and Pears, which reinforces the syllable work too.

 

It sounds like you guys are where dd was before we did the vids. Anyway, they are free, so there's not much harm in giving them a go.

[swainsonshawk]

I'm wondering if that's why the syllabary worked well for my dd.

 

I worked on that with dd, then did the I See Sam readers because she needed something painfully incremental. Then we spent a few months watching the phonics vids on The Phonics Page, and are now working through the Third Parker Reader, which is also linked on The Phonics Page somewhere. We're also doing morphology work in Apples and Pears, which reinforces the syllable work too.

 

It sounds like you guys are where dd was before we did the vids. Anyway, they are free, so there's not much harm in giving them a go.

Can you give me more info about these resources? I'm seriously considering Barton, but I really like the sound of free resources better. Plus Megawords is working . . . And I'd just like to add something to it.

 

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[Ellie]

I'm pretty sure she's dyslexic (slow reading, struggles to decode new words, still sometimes reverses b and d), but I don't have the resources to provide special tutoring. I had considered giving her more phonics instruction, but she has such a good visual memory and she sight reads everything, so how do you force phonics/decoding study on someone who is already reading rather well (if slowly and lacking comprehension)? I mean, she wouldn't be decoding the words in a standard phonics lesson anymore, she can already read them all. . .

 

I have always homeschooled her so any of her weaknesses are my fault, you know?

 

I've never taught spalding, etc. Would it be useful for a student who already reads?

 

Megawords is providing sylabication/decoding practice right now, but it seems rather easy for her (she's working in level 1).

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

Yes, absolutely, Spalding would be useful for a student who already reads. An added bonus is that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg: all you need is the manual (Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards. The McCall-Harby booklets are not very pricey, either.

[Rosie_0801]

http://www.thephonicspage.org/Phonics%20Lsns/phonicslsnslinks.html

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/webstersway.html (Scroll down for the Parker Readers)

 

Don't try the readers until after the vids.

 

Dd could have gone from I See Sam to the Second Parker Reader, but after the vids, I put her into the Third. She was well able to read the last lesson in the Third Reader, but the Fourth would have got too tricky too quickly. 

 

Anyway, there's no harm done in giving them a go. :) 

 

[City Mouse]

In addition to the phonics work, when you want to work specifically on reading comprehension have her read passages that are 1-2 years below her current reading level. If a student is having to focus her energy on decoding the words, overall comprehension is often to much for them to keep up with.

[shinyhappypeople]

My 11 yo daughter is in the 6th grade and is struggling with reading comprehension.  She reads at about a 4th/5th grade level, but not always with understanding.  She always wants to read with me because I help her stop and go over words she misreads and I ask her comprehension questions along the way or clarify points that I know she missed.  How can I encourage her to develop her own comprehension skills?  There are lots of comprehension passages/books out there, but they seem to test/question if the student has a skill and don't actually teach the student how to develop the skill.  Do you know what I mean?

 

I'm looking for something I can do to move her reading forward.  We are already doing Megawords to help with her decoding of unknown words.  She practices fluency passages 1 or 2 times a week and we read together for 20 min or so a day.  She reads on her own what she is assigned, as well, but doesn't always understand all of what she reads, so I keep it to short passages and high interest books (Dork Diaries)

 

I know exactly what you mean.  I'm using Corrective Reading - Comprehension with younger DD right now.   It's not cheap, but so far it's working very well for her.  They also have a Decoding program that's supposed to be used prior to Comprehension, if needed. I have no experience with that part of the program, though.  

 

If you're interested, placement tests are here.

Edited January 2, 2017 by shinyhappypeople

[Storygirl]

Given that you suspect dyslexia, I would guess that her comprehension issues are related to her reading skills. So a big part of the answer is to remediate the dyslexia.

 

The standard approach is to use an Orton-Gillingham based method. Barton is the one most used by the homeschoolers on the LC board (I have not used it, because DD is being helped by outside sources). I know Barton is expensive, but it also has good resale value, so you can recoup much of your cost when you sell each level.

 

I think you will get a lot of helpful responses if you post about your child's reading challenges on the Learning Challenges forum. I know that since she is reading, it seems like it doesn't make sense to go backwards and work on more elementary skills. But the fact is that those phonological skills that she lacks are the foundation for her future reading success. To move forward, you likely need to go back to re-teach basics first, using a multisensory approach. If her reading foundation is shaky, the other skills that you are attempting to build are going to be precarious instead of solid.

 

Her comprehension skills are essential, I agree. But I think you need to work on the dyslexia issues primarily, plus work on comprehension using a text or program that is super easy for her to decode (or one that you read aloud to her).