Struggling with reading comprehension

[Pear21]

My 9 year old is (mostly) a fluent reader, though doesn’t enjoy it. Effort levels have improved a lot in the past few months. However, they are really struggling with reading comprehension. For example if I say, why does the character do this? Or can you remind me what the story was about? I just get a shrug. This also applies to stories they appear to be enjoying.

The teacher says they have scored very poorly on all reading comprehension tests this year (though fine in writing and everything else). With virtually zero marks on some tests.

Teacher says we could ask more questions eg. What do you predict will happen next? But my child cannot (or will not) answer these types of questions. They only like factual questions. Eg. What colour is the hat? What does X word mean?

What else can we do at home if anything please? To give context my child is a very logical black and white thinker and struggles with creative thinking. My other children are fantastic readers with great comprehension, not sure where we are going wrong?

Should the school be suggesting extra work or programmes we can follow at home to help? I think if we don’t tackle this now it could be a really big issue by the time we get to secondary. Is just simply asking more questions enough??? Thanks

My child also struggles with spelling but has a really good vocabulary and is able to explain the meaning of most age appropriate words. Any advice would be really appreciated

Is it comprehension that’s lacking or imagination and or engagement? I think there’s a difference. You could check comprehension by tweaking the tasks and the text.

Write instructions to be followed.

Use puzzle books (steve jackson fighting fantasy Sorcery books are great).
Read books about history/science, check understanding

If he can do all that the difficulty is not comprehension

I think you've hit the nail on the head when you say your child is a very black and white thinker. It does make a difference. My ds is 15 now but he also struggled with inference (reading between the lines). He just about passed his reading sat following intensive exam practise over a few months. He was fluent at reading but found it tricky to answer why questions and explain how characters feel. Even now doing his GCSEs, this is an area he still finds tricky. But in maths he scores extremely high, so this is obviously where his talents lie.

In terms of help, we bought comprehension books from WHSmiths where there one page with a text (poem, article, story) then opposite there are questions about it. Starting easy then progressing to more inference. They would take about 10 minutes to do verbally, which was just right for my son's concentration/ tolerance!

Is your child into minecraft or pokemon or something? Maybe read books based on their favourite show, they may be more inclined to have a go at answering questions if it's something they really enjoy. Maybe ask inference questions while watching a tv show, based on what's happening in the programme, it might help them transfer these skills into reading.

But don't stress,there's plenty of time for them to improve.

Thanks that’s helpful. It’s a bit of both I think. Reluctance to read, or skimming through something they do want to read eg looking at the pictures and guessing what’s happened. Also the black and white thinking - not understanding there could be more than one answer, only thinking factually. My child can do things like following a recipe etc.

My dd was (and still is) like this.

Turns out that she had ADHD and is almost certainly autistic too.

You're not going wrong - people are all different!

If it helps this can change over time, one of mine was really angry if you asked an interpretive question about reading when younger, they got a good grade at GCSE. Sometimes it is emotional maturity.

I would discuss with the teacher backing off a bit, for fear of putting her off reading and the subject altogether.

When I see a gap I want to bridge with mine I always try to find a different route - so take her to the theatre more, watch more dramas with you, make sure you talk a lot about the skill you are trying to encourage/model it. You could play silly games like consequences just to loosen up the mind and demonstrate the range of possible options.

But don't stress her out. Black and white thinkers are valuable.

Are there any other areas your child struggles with eg behaviour, verbal communication, anxiety or sensory?

Get a book, and teach him how comprehension works. It’s a learnt technique.

Example - read say Street child - aim to read on chapter at a time/maybe two

Point out worlds, what does it mean, can we look it up? Emphasis the outfit the child is wearing, why is he ragged? Why is the house cold, why does he hide his pie and run home?

Think about what might happen, for example you could suggest he gets robbed, DS could suggest he makes it home - talk about both being possible - and that it’s ok to have differing opinions, opinions can’t be wrong!

There are references to the sisters, what do you think us happened to them, why do you think that - example the boy is told they’ve gone to live in a fancy house - why would she tell him that? (Because she doesn’t want him to worry they’re homeless or in the workhouse) what makes us think she’s lying? - unlikely street kids get taken to rich houses

This is actually black and white and rule following once you teach him how to read!

Hint - read ahead - use an iPad - highlight parts that you find interesting or suggests something - there’s an old woman in the book at references are always bird like - claws, beak etc - pick up on that -

I will add - sorry forgot to mention

It you can back an argument and prove your point however loosely / then it can’t be wrong it can only be opinion based on facts and everyone has different experiences.

Thanks everyone

Ds1 was very much like this. We bought him comprehension books for below his age to start off with.
Got him through those then progressed with them.
At gcse, we got him an English tutor as he struggled with the inference side of things. His creative writing was really good so teachers were always puzzled why he couldn’t infer. He wasn’t very good at History either.
I don’t think it’s because he couldn’t infer, he just couldn’t understand what he needed to get on paper.
He’s very much a science person and still reads for pleasure.
Don’t worry too much. Keep doing what you can and encourage his strengths and I’m sure he’ll be fine.