Beyond the Words: A Parent's Guide to Reading Comprehension Skills
Your child has mastered phonics. They can confidently read a page of their school book aloud, decoding each word with growing fluency. It’s a huge milestone, and you feel a surge of pride. But when you ask them, “So, what was that story about?” you’re met with a blank stare or a simple “I don’t know.”
This is a surprisingly common and often confusing situation for parents. Your child can read, but do they understand?
This is the crucial difference between decoding (sounding out the words) and comprehension (understanding the meaning). Decoding is a technical skill; comprehension is a thinking skill. For children in Key Stage 2 (Years 2-6), the entire focus of their education shifts from the former to the latter.
If your child is a fluent word-caller but struggles to grasp the meaning, this guide is for you. We will break down the three most important comprehension skills and give you a toolkit of simple, powerful questions you can use during your reading time together to turn your child into an active, thoughtful, and confident reader.
The Golden Rule: Turn Reading into a Conversation
The single most effective way to build comprehension is to make reading an interactive experience. The goal is to move from a monologue (your child reading to you) to a dialogue (you and your child talking about the story). You don’t need to do this on every page, but pausing once or twice a chapter to ask a thoughtful question can work wonders.
1. Reading Between the Lines: The Power of Inference
nference is the magic of reading. It’s the ability to use clues from the text and your own background knowledge to figure out things that the author hasn’t stated directly. It’s the “how do you know?” skill.
What it looks like in a story: The author might write, “Layla squinted as she stepped outside and pulled her jacket tighter.” The author doesn’t say it’s sunny and windy, but we can infer it from the clues.
Simple Questions to Build Inference Skills:
“How do you think the character is feeling right now? What words in the story make you think that?”
“Why do you think the character did that? What do you know about them that makes you say that?”
“The author didn’t tell us where they are, but can we be detectives and find some clues in the picture or the words?”
2. Becoming a Story Detective: The Skill of Prediction
Good readers are constantly thinking ahead, making educated guesses about what might happen next. This keeps them engaged and actively involved in the story.
What it looks like in a story: When a character finds a mysterious, locked door, a predicting reader will immediately start wondering what’s behind it and what will happen when it’s opened.
Simple Questions to Build Prediction Skills:
(After reading a chapter title or looking at the cover) “What do you think this book/chapter might be about?”
“Wow, that’s a tricky situation for the character. What do you predict they will do next?”
(After a big event) “Now that that has happened, what do you think will happen as a result?”
The key follow-up question is always: “What makes you think that?” This encourages them to justify their predictions based on evidence from the text.
Struggling with inference and prediction is common, as these are the first truly abstract thinking skills a child develops. If your child consistently finds it difficult to see beyond the literal words on the page, it may be a sign they need more targeted support. The personalized dialogue with a primary English tutor can be especially effective at modeling this kind of critical thinking in a one-on-one setting.
3. Finding the Main Idea: The Art of Summarizing
Can your child retell the main points of a chapter in their own words? The ability to summarize shows that they can distinguish between the most important information and the minor details.
What it looks like in a story: After reading a chapter about a character getting lost in the woods and finding their way home, they should be able to say, “This part was about the boy getting lost and then using the stars to find his way back,” rather than just listing every single thing that happened.
Simple Questions to Build Summarizing Skills:
“If you had to tell your friend what happened in this chapter in just one or two sentences, what would you say?”
“What was the most important thing that happened on this page?”
“Let’s try to retell the story in order: First… Then… Next… Finally…”
What to Do When Comprehension Doesn't 'Click'
You’ve been asking all the right questions, but your child still seems to be struggling to connect with the text on a deeper level. Sometimes, persistent comprehension difficulties can be a sign of an underlying challenge. This could be a gap in their vocabulary, difficulty with working memory, or other issues that make it hard to hold onto and process the information they are reading.
If you have ongoing concerns, the first and most important step is to speak with your child’s teacher. They can provide valuable insights. If you decide that extra, personalized support is needed, the one-on-one attention of an expert primary school tutor in Dubai can be transformative. A skilled tutor can use specific strategies and high-interest texts to build these crucial thinking skills and restore your child’s confidence.
Conclusion: Nurturing a Thoughtful Reader
By turning reading time into a conversation, you are doing more than just helping with a school skill. You are teaching your child to think critically, to look for clues, and to engage with the world in a more thoughtful way. You are giving them the tools to not just decode the words, but to understand the world.
Be patient, be curious alongside them, and celebrate their thoughtful answers. You are nurturing a reader who will not just succeed in school, but will carry a love of understanding with them for life.
If you’re ready to provide your child with the personalized support they need to become a confident and thoughtful reader, learn more about our primary tutoring programs.