Helping DD aged 7 with reading comprehension?

[BandOMothers]

Ok...I have a thread in SN and another one here but I need some more advice. DDs teacher has said she wants DD asessed due to her problems with comprehension.

I have agreed of course...and want to get to the bottom of it. DD reads avidly at home though...I don't question her on the books she reads...she let me read a little to her the other night but she prefers to get on with it herself. Her teacher says she has a hard time getting dd to answer questions which require her to imagine or guess.

But when I discuss other things with DD she WILL imagine or guess...like just in ordinary conversation...she will speculate, imagine, embroider the facts... I am worried that DD is simply holding back..or even worse, being defiant or lazy and I know those are labels which kids with AS often get...but I can't understand why DD can imagine things and guess things which come up in conversation but wont do it for her teacher.

My neice is 8 and my sister says her teacher has also pointed out she has trouble with comprehension nd has been told it's usually a maturity thing? Or am I kidding myself and DD has a real problem here. How can I help her until she's assessed. She loves to read and reads well....a couple of books a week. She draws and writes well...she's sociable.

Play spy games from magazines. Comprehension is basically the ability to get information from a message. So, forget school. Forget what's gone on in the past. If you think you've got a comprehension problem, write simple codes with a reward attached, like a toffee apple

and say, "if you can correctly decode this message, then you'll get the toffee apple."

Make sure the game is fair.

Thanks Learn what sort of codes? Do you mean like "Find the next clue where a picture of Mummy hangs" ?Or is that too much?

I don't see that your DD actually has a problem. She might just prefer to read what is actually there and get on with the story, rather than speculate about all sorts of other things. From the teachers point of view, it may be perceived as a problem, as it means that a pupil who is a good reader may not do as well as might be expected in national tests.

The codes I meant were written ones. But comprehension literally refers to any code of any sort. Initially I'd start with little surprises like a card in an envelope saying "There's a golden surprise in the little green man."

And there would be a pound coin in the hand of the little green gnome on the kitchen shelf, (or whatever.) And then progressively the riddles would get longer and longer until they were little stories I'd written, and if you could tell me correctly when Little Billy's mother's birthday was then I'd take you for a day out at Warwick castle...

(writing is a code but most of us don't think of it as one because we've been reading and writing for most of our lives.)

That sounds like something DD would love to do learn and Cecily that's what I think...she likes reading alone and gets irritated at taking things apart.

I wll try that idea learn it's really great thank you!

I would really appreciate some more thoughts f anyone can help....

I tried the game with her learn and she got it immediately and really liked it too. I have spoken to her teacher today and she retracted what she said about the spectrum...she said that considering DD ony recently began at this school she's done very well and that the difficulties could be down to her temprament and her feeling very tired!

DD is tired a lot...she finds winding down at night very hard...I think I will look at her diet and reduce sugar. The teacher says she did a small assessment today nd DD got a low 2 whatever that is and that she wants to get her properly assessed whenever they fit her in...she also said that if when that time comes, Dd has improved, then she' wont bother.

I cant understand why DD will do stuff at home and not for her teacher. Today, the assessor showed DD a picture of a boy pulling a girl away from railtracks and asked DD what was going on and DD said "I don't know" Now I KNOW my DD and I KNOW she would have known what was going on.

WHY is she not complying? Her homework was to write some sentences with connectives all about a Greek Myth and she came up with 4 very nice sentences with no help at all from me...all descring the character and his traits...eg. "X is brave because he fought the monster and also because he knew that the monster had eaten many people."

Am I being naive? In thinking this shows that she comprehends just fine?

She likes looking at pictures and drawing...but the assesment they did had her at a "Low 2"....I have told the teacher that I do appreciate the attention and care...they are obviously very good at spotting weakness and I am glad DD is in their care....but I dont' want to worry about things too much and I AM a worrier.

Sorry but I'm not sure how breaking codes has anything to do with the type of comprehension expected of 7 year olds in school.

www.mumsnet.com/pearson/ebooks/very_smelly_dragon/player_student_UK.html have a look at the type of questions you find behind the bugs

BOM - I have no idea if she is or isn't on the spectrum. But being far better at home than at school can be indicative of things like ASD.

If the 'low 2' is NC levels, then she's doing fine academically.

Can it Indigo? She is quite sensitive...doesn't like people too close physcally but thats only sometimes. The teacher just said that compared to her peers, her comprehension is poor. But I can't see how iyswim as she understands so much generally.

Great link Mrz thanks so much.

Mrz can you expand on what you said about not understanding what breaking codes has to do with whats expected in comprehension.

It's very much about being able to read between the lines (inference) Why did they do that? Why was she sad? How do you know they liked xxxxx? Why do you think the author used the words xxxxx & xxxxxx?

Well then isn't that basically what comprehension means?

BOM - I'm more thinking about the stuff you wrote on the other thread, rather than what you wrote here. But I think there are lots of warning flags, and both you and the teacher have concerns, and so you should follow it up.

Being able to understand stuff you say to her, but not being able to understand the same stuff in a book sounds like a problem.

It can be really easy to not notice how much a child struggles with receptive language if their expressive language is good. ie they can say more than they can understand.

There are just so many weird things that could be going on. I have no idea if any of them are though.

Very, very often non-compliance is because they can't do it, rather than they won't do it. They may dress it up as naughty behaviour or clowning around so as to not to admit that they really can't do it.

I could be totally wrong though. I frequently am :)

At a lower level (breaking codes) it is literal understanding and the ability to retell and retrieve information that is explicit in what they have read.
What did the boy do?
Where did the dog run?
Who ate the last cake?

I'm so upset for her...she's been off all week which coincides with her teacher doing all these checks etc. Her Dad has worked away for three nghts and I wonder if she's upset about that as he went away with work for ten months once...I have told her he's back tomorrow but you never know.

She keeps getting angry with me and with her sister...just the last two or three days...grumpy and short tempered. She can't sleep well either and told her teacher she doesn't "Know how" but they say she seems tired.

I feel like it's all my fault and that these things have been hding but I should have noticed....her last school had no worries though.

I do think she has too much sugar and will knock that on the head. I don't know how to help her fall asleep.