When your high school student struggles with reading comprehension, you may feel like throwing up your hands in despair and believing that you have no control over the situation. But while we all know that learning to read at an early age is important, most of us don’t realize that it’s also crucial to help our children retain their reading skills as they continue on to high school and beyond. Here are some tips on how to help your high schooler who's struggling with reading comprehension.
Encourage Active Reading
The best way to help your child with reading comprehension is by making sure they are always reading. It doesn't matter what they read, as long as they're reading. But, it's not just about reading the words. Comprehension is all about making connections between what you read and other factors such as previous elements in the story, your own life, or the world around you. So encourage your kids to ask questions about the text, make connections between what they're reading and their own life, and summarize the text when they're done.
Questions to Focus On
It can be a little tricky to find the best way to help someone with reading comprehension. But, one of the best things you can do is to help your child understand how to connect what they read to something relevant. To do this, ask them guided questions as they read.
Ask them what they think the author is saying in general.
Talk about the important points and summarize them together.
Take time to process what was just read before trying to answer questions.
Read in short intervals so the information stays fresh in their mind.
Model the process with a challenging text first, then give them an easier one to demonstrate their understanding. This boosts their confidence and helps them show where they may still be struggling.