How to help your child with reading comprehension at home
Reading comprehension is understanding what you read, not just saying the words. It grows with short, regular practice and good questions. Here is a simple routine that works for most children aged 7 to 12.
Start with a short text
Pick something about half a page long that your child finds at least a little interesting: a story, a news item for children, a page from a non-fiction book. A short text lets you finish in ten minutes, which makes it easy to do again tomorrow.
Read it twice
Let your child read it aloud or silently once. Then ask them to read it again with a pencil, underlining any word they are unsure of. The second read is where most of the understanding happens.
Ask four kinds of question
- Find it: "What colour was the door?" The answer is written in the text.
- Word meaning: "What does reluctant mean here?" Show them how to use the sentence around the word to work it out.
- Read between the lines (inference): "Why do you think Sam kept checking the window?" The text does not say, so they need a clue and a reason.
- Sum it up: "Tell me what this was about in one sentence."
Always ask "how do you know?"
This one question builds the habit that school tests reward: pointing to the line that proves your answer. If they say "Sam was nervous", ask which words showed it. A child who can answer that is reading closely.
Keep it kind and short
Ten to fifteen minutes, a few times a week, beats one long session. If your child gets something wrong, read the sentence together and look for the clue instead of giving the answer. Praise the specific thing they did well, such as finding the right line.
Where to find texts
Library books, children's news sites and our own free printable worksheets all work. Each of our worksheets has an original passage, questions of the four kinds above and an answer key, so you can mark it yourself.
Common questions
How long should a session be?
Ten to fifteen minutes is plenty. Little and often works better than one long sitting.
What if my child can read fluently but still misses questions?
That is common. Fluent reading and understanding are different skills. Slow down, reread, and practise asking how they know each answer.
Get feedback on your child's writing
LiteracyLab AI reads a child's own writing and gives specific feedback: what worked, one thing to try next, and a corrected version, matched to their year and curriculum. The Free plan includes 3 pieces a month and needs no card.