Reading comprehension is complex. It is not an inherent byproduct of other skills—rather,
it's an active and ongoing process influenced by many factors including prior knowledge, vocabulary, working memory, reading stamina, engagement with the text, a reader's purpose for reading, and more! A child can read every word on the page correctly and still come away with very little if they aren't thinking about what those words mean.
Although comprehension is complex, there are a few simple ways you can support your child in being able to better understand what they read.
- Explain the purpose of reading.
It may sound obvious, but to some developing readers, the purpose of reading isn’t clear. Especially in cases where so much emphasis has been placed on decoding words accurately and automatically, they may need to be told or reminded about why they're reading in the first place: for meaning. Let your child know that finishing quickly isn't the goal—understanding what they read is.
- Help your child find texts that interest them.
Comprehension improves when a child is intrinsically motivated to know what's on the page. Lean into the topics your child loves and help them find books and articles on those subjects—birds, space, soccer, volcanoes, or dinosaurs. Consider trying different formats, too (e.g., picture books, chapter books, comic books, articles, magazines).
- Teach specific reading comprehension strategies.
If your child is struggling to understand what they read, there are specific strategies you can teach them to use to stay engaged with the text and make sense of it as they go. This doesn't have to be formal or take a lot of time—just pick one at a time. After they start incorporating a strategy, follow up to make sure they're practicing over time with new texts. Here are some strategies you can work on:
- Before-reading strategies: activating prior knowledge, learning key words, making a prediction
- During-reading strategies: questioning/wondering, visualizing, making inferences, monitoring, clarifying, and fix-up
- After-reading strategies: answering questions, retelling and summarizing
- Incorporate accountability measures.
Encourage understanding by expecting it. After your child reads something, ask them to tell you about it. Start with more specific questions if giving a summary is overwhelming to them at first (e.g., "What was the best part?" "What happened first?" "Were you surprised by anything?"). Having them talk about the story, or even jot down a sentence or two about it, gives them an additional reason to read for meaning in the first place.
If reading through that list left you wondering how you'll fit it all in, that's fair—simple doesn't always mean easy, and most parents have much more on their to-do list than hours to get things done!
One Minute Reader was created to help parents of developing readers make a meaningful impact on their literacy skills, even when they're short on time.
Children work mostly independently on a digital platform with built-in support, and you can review data and provide additional support as needed. The student steps are based around high-interest, nonfiction stories where they first read the story on their own to establish a starting point (a cold read), then read along with a recording, practice reading independently, and answer quiz questions.
Those story steps support several of the suggestions above from improving comprehension. Your child chooses their own stories, so motivation is part of the design. Reading along with a recording models fluent reading at a natural pace, reinforcing that reading is about meaning—not speed. And the quiz questions create accountability: your child knows they'll be asked about what they read, and you can review their scores to see how much they're taking in—which also gives you a natural opening to practice a comprehension strategy together when something doesn't click.
So, whether your child needs to work on fluency, comprehension, or both, One Minute Reader delivers results with minimal time and effort.
Start your free trial today!
