Encourage Reading Comprehension in 3 Key Steps

As your child moves through early elementary school, they’ll make the shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Parents can help encourage reading comprehension and set a framework for how their children learn from the words they’re reading.

1. Before You Open the Book

Even before the first page is turned, stop to examine the book’s cover. Ask your child what pictures they see, then look at what the title says. Next, think together about what past experiences might set the stage for what you’re about to read.

Practice making predictions, or guesses, about what might happen in the story. Making a prediction automatically gives reading the book a purpose, since you’ll have to finish it to find out whether your guess was right. Establishing that purpose helps your young reader stay engaged.

2. While You Read

The first few sentences or pages of a book often answer basic “who, what, where” questions that help establish the characters and setting. Point these story elements out to your child, and connect them to personally relevant experiences whenever you can.

As you get deeper into the story, point out any emotions the characters may feel and talk about why they feel that way. Practice story retelling and sequencing by summarizing what has happened so far, since your child’s understanding may shift and change their original prediction based on new information. Along the way, check for understanding of new vocabulary words by asking your child to explain the meaning or suggest a synonym.

3. After You Read

Model a brief summary of events and ask your child to try recounting the main details. If there’s a theme or moral, take a moment to explain that too. Try asking your child, “What did you learn?” “What was your favorite part?” or “Do you want to read it again?” Finally, circle back to your initial prediction and talk about how what you guessed would happen compared to what actually happened.

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It’s important to include informal “knowledge checks” as you read through a story to make sure your child is actively engaging with the content. If the reading level is too high or too low, engagement will decrease. For early readers, parents play a huge role in modeling an internal dialogue for comprehension, which is exactly what the shift from learning to read to reading to learn depends on.

Reading comprehension is important for tracking vocabulary gains, understanding narrative structures, and synthesizing information, all necessary for continued language development and academic success. If you’d like additional support building your child’s reading skills, check out our reading and tutoring services or contact our team at ETLC.