Posted by Jody on September 21, 1999 at 21:02:23:
In Reply to: Re: comprehension/reading posted by M.E. on September 11, 1999 at 22:37:09:
My son is 11 and hates to read. When he is forced to read, his comprehension seems to be OK (except when it is an academic book, science/soc. studies). When I read to him, his comprehension skyrockets and he loves it. The problem is that he never wants to read on his own after I’ve read to him. But, I’m afraid that I am doing him a disservice because I will not be able to read to him forever and I think he needs all the practice he can get. What will happen when he is in high school and (hopefully) college? I have the same idea about books on tape. Don’t I need to force him to work on this skill for his future? I’d love some opinions on this topic. Thanks, Jody
: I don’t know if this info will be helpful or not, but my son has made great gains in the last year in reading comprehension (he scored in the 3rd percentile on achievement testing in reading comprehension just a little over a year ago and the school psych bet my husband he would never be a completely independent reader).
: The one thing that I believe that has made all the difference is my reading to him. I read to my child *every day* without fail. Reading aloud to him means that he spends at least twenty minutes each day having to “visualize” the scenes in the story, the action and the characters interacting as I read (he is usually in bed while I’m sitting beside the bed reading the book and he can’t see the words).
: We started out with an easy, but engrossing children’s series “The Magic Treehouse” books. They were relatively short stories, but with an adventure story line about two children, that he was quickly swept up in and didn’t want to stop. The 20th book in the series will be released in January, 2000 and he can’t wait until it comes out as we’ve finished all the other books before it. He was so excited by these books that he often would grab them out of my hands after I finished my nightly two-chapter reading and would start to read more, on his own.
: I’ve read him three of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, which are just wonderful “real life” stories that kids can easily identify with and imagine what it would be like if they lived in pioneer times like Laura did. We talk about what is happening in the chapters as we read them and that way I know he is comprehending the plot. He often asks me to explain things he doesn’t understand, and that way I get feedback about what he needs more help with comprehending.
: As my son became more interested in and excited by the books we were exploring, I got him his own subscription to the I Can Read books. He gets two books in the mail every month and he can’t wait for them to arrive. They are easier books that he can read himself and as his reading has improved he has looked more and more forward to reading books to me, too.
: Now, a year after his initial (dismal) evaluation, my son is an eager reader and his second grade teacher tells me he loves reading! Needless to say, I am quite pleased that my husband won the bet with the school psych, but despite that, I fully intend to continue reading to my son and with my son every night.
: I truly believe, with all my heart, that reading to children is the one thing we can do that can make a world of difference for our children in an area so many of them struggle with – reading comprehension. Twenty minutes a day doesn’t seem like too much time of my own to give up and I think it will give my child memories that will last him a lifetime. 🙂 M.E.