Education Corner: Understanding reading comprehension

Comprehension begins at birth when children receive pleasing responses from caregivers. As they become aware of sounds, they develop language comprehension and can understand words before speaking. Many parents use sign language to communicate with their children before they talk helping to create pathways in the brain for expression and understanding.

As children grow, they build their vocabulary, which is essential for comprehension. Vocabulary skills develop through exposure to language and connecting words to objects or events. When encountering unfamiliar words, children use context clues and their existing knowledge to determine meanings. This process starts at birth and is crucial for future reading comprehension.

When beginning to read, some children easily transfer their language skills to texts, while others struggle. Listening and speaking are natural skills, but reading and writing require more effort to master. If a child has difficulty with reading, it’s important to assess their language development and vocabulary, as strengthening these areas can enhance reading and comprehension skills.

Students who struggle with reading often need to focus on decoding and understanding how language is represented in print. The struggle can lead to difficulties in writing as well, especially if they lack a grasp of word structure (phonics). Some may have strong oral language skills but struggle with reading and writing.

Other students can decode text and therefore read quite well but lack comprehension. It’s important to assess their language comprehension through tasks like retelling events or explaining activities. If they can do these, they likely only need help transferring their language skills to reading. If not, focus on improving their language comprehension first by having them retell events or recall information they have been exposed to recently. Have them tell you about their day. Reading comprehension builds on language comprehension.

Use time at the dinner table or riding in the car to have your children tell you about their day. In the beginning they may struggle, saying things like, “I don’t remember.” Just ask a few questions to get them started. The skill will develop and once they can recall and retell experiences, it will be easier to recall and retell what they read.

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Scott Smith has been in education for the past 43 years. Smith currently lives with his wife in Mosier and serves on the Board of Decoding Dyslexia of Oregon.