Reading Comprehension Activities - An Integral Part of Learning

Probably the single most important aspect of your child's early academic development is learning to read and acquiring and sustaining a love of reading. Of course any child's interest needs to be perked in order for them to want to read and read and read and slowly progress from simple books with large illustrations and words to longer books with fewer illustrations and smaller words. The journey to a love of reading is rarely accomplished overnight, but once you have reached that destination, a whole new world will open up for your child where he or she can visit places only dreamed about, live in that beautiful castle, become friends with the fairies and take a safari trip to Africa, perhaps even journey to the centre of the earth!

At the end of each story I research and reconstruct from the public domain (if I don't write it myself) there are notes for discussion and comprehension questions. I feel it important to place the learners in various groups depending on their reading abilities and exposure to phonics and phonic awareness. I have no doubt that most children will require some assistance in understanding the questions. This is where I encourage fun interaction between educator and learner.

It may be so that answers will have be recorded by the educator manually and suggestions made by the educator. These subtle reading comprehension exercises will go far to show an educator in a year or less how far a child has progressed and where his or her interests lie and to enhance and encourage a love of reading.

Positive interaction between educator and child is imperative and will make this a fun learning experience as he or she watches you do your "homework". Who said homeschooling isn't hands on?

You will be able to decide which questions and discussion points are appropriate for your child. The purpose of these exercises is to establish the understanding of the story and the concept and to enhance concentration, listening and reading skills.

I cannot stress enough the importance of allowing a child to develop at his or her own pace. There is no need to progress to a more advanced book, no matter how short, until educator and the child are quite confident that he or she has grasped the first story and that he or she is quite comfortable with the discussion and questions that are an integral part of reading comprehension activities.

As always I wish you and your child a most blessed, fun and informative educational journey.