Reading comprehension with free reader surely it get better with age

[lexcat]

DD loved books but then started to go off reading. Found most of the school books boring. Started to get different books from the library and slow the interest is coming back.
Finds books written for her age boring and enjoys more complex book. I find her comprehension pretty good when it comes to these books but rubbish with the school books. So the school is telling me she really need to work on her comprehension and to get her to read shorter book with simple story lines.
Don't want her to lose the enjoyment of books by getting her to read books she has no interest in, but at the same time is the comprehension really that important to the overall skill of reading.

[controlfreakinfreaky]

yes.

[cascade]

yes really important. What they are saying is that she doesnt understand some of what she is reading. scenario, Imagine at GCSE level shes taking her exam, she can read the question but she doesnt understand the text. So she cant answer the question. Skill of reading is uninportant in the grand scheme of things its understanding thats the important bit.

[mrz]

Comprehension is the MOST important skill after all what is the point in being able to read if you don't understand?

[Olihan]

Comprehension is hugely important. What's the point of being able to read if you can't understand what you are reading?

What sort of comprehension questions do you ask about the books she is reading from the library? I'm a bit confused about why you feel she can understand the more complex books but school feel she is struggling with simple books.

[neolara]

Yes it is important, but it sounds like your DD is just bored by the school books and may just be tuning out when she reads them. If she is able to understand more complex books then I wouldn't worry.

If you wanted to, you could try to encourage her to show more understanding of school books by getting her to predict what she thinks will happen in her school book, asking her to say if her prediction was right and asking her to summarise what has happened so far.

[lexcat]

thanks neolara that what I was thinking and it ties in with her going off reading, she was bored. It's ok at the moment just gone to Y3 and has a different range of books, but didn't want she going backward like she did at the end of last term.

[Playdough]

We're having this issue too. My daughter loves reading chapter books and is bored by her school reading scheme books. The teacher says she needs to work through all stages of the latter, because she 'probably' isn't understanding all the words she comes across in the chapter books, and that comprehension is the most important thing.

My line is that, in the long run, comprehension is vital. But we are a way off needing to worry about absolute comprehension (she's year 1). And besides, in two or three years' time her vocab will be far, far better than it would be if she stuck with the stuff she can already understand. (I had a reading age of 18 at age 9, whatever that means.) In the meantime, she is happy to ask about words she doesn't know if they interrupt her enjoyment of the story.

And surely that is real learning: voluntarily trying things that are just beyond our capabilities (as long as this isn't forced and doesn't cause stress or worry)? I can see that some children would be put off reading by being given texts that are too hard. But I really don't think it should be too difficult for a teacher to work out the best approach for each child in a class and to vary the approach.

This seems to be another example of schools forgetting what their real purpose is. They should be educating in the purest sense, and encouraging children to be what's that buzz phrase independent learners. Instead they are fitting children into patterns, ticking boxes and following formulae. As usual. Makes me cross.

Of course, the last thing I want is for my child to start thinking that her school is irrelevant and she doesn't need to do what the teacher says so ... I hide what I think, we dutifully read the scheme books together, quickly and then we get on to the good stuff (which I also report in her reading diary so the teacher can see what we're doing at home)!