reading comprehension difficulty

[Annette]

Hi! I have a 6 & a half year old son who is slightly cognitively delayed. He tested in the low average range for most things in a battery of educational tests administered by the school district last Oct. His delays aren't severe enough to qualify for special ed services. I have him doing basically the k version of LHFHG with a few tweaks here & there. He's having a hard time answering the questions that come after the stories in Bible time, whether it's History for Little Pilgrim's, Family Time Bible, or History Stories for Children. I read the story aloud, but when I ask him the questions afterward, it's pretty hit or miss (more misses than hits). What I've been doing is re reading the entire story & than asking him again, but sometimes we end up doing this many many times, & it's getting frustrating for both of us. He does end up getting the answers right in most cases, but it often ends up taking a LOOOONG time & he's not enjoying the process. I need a new strategy. Any ideas?

[mom23]

Is he not able to answer the questions because he's not getting it or because he's not listening? I think that if he's trying and really not getting it, it's okay to take things slower-maybe read a small chunk and then ask him a question about that paragraph-so that he's not having to listen to the whole thing and then remember it all for the questions if he's just not there yet. Or give him small prompts or hints to trigger his memory.

That said, I have one that occasionally doesn't know answers because he was not listening to anything I just said-often pouting because he's having to sit for school, rather than playing . I have made him sit and listen to a complete re-read in that situation! Letting him know that things aren't going to be easy when he's not putting forth the effort. That doesn't really sound like your situation...

I think re-reading it could feel like punishment, and you'd want to try to avoid that if he's really trying. Are the questions you're asking from the guide, or from the books? Lots of times I don't ask the questions from the books themselves, just follow the plans from the guide-reading a quick recap of the main point, or the questions in there. I think we're supposed to be mainly trying to give them an exposure to these concepts. I was reading a thread recently where Carrie and Julie talked about just trying to give them mental "hooks" on which to hang more facts when they come across them again in future years. It's okay if they don't remember it perfectly right now.

[water2wine]

Is he not able to answer the questions because he's not getting it or because he's not listening? I think that if he's trying and really not getting it, it's okay to take things slower-maybe read a small chunk and then ask him a question about that paragraph-so that he's not having to listen to the whole thing and then remember it all for the questions if he's just not there yet. Or give him small prompts or hints to trigger his memory.

This is what I did when I was first teaching my kids to narrate especially with my wiggler. I also really just tried to make it fun. I would do a guess what happens next. Sometimes I would throw ridiculous things in there and ask what was not really part of the story or just to get them laughing so they could regroup and listen again. I got to the point where I had to hide the Burgess books just to keep them from trying to peek and look ahead.

I would definitely avoid reading it over and over. I think that would really work against you. Maybe try a small reward system for listening. And by small I mean really small just something to get them excited about listening while they are learning this skill. If you think it is not the narration but more the question answering issues, I might read where the answer is and then the question and actually show them how to answer the question just for a short period of time to let them see how it is done. You know it is asking who was the goat's uncle and so you read and have them listen for the answer and they get to do something when they find the answer or you do a little happy dance when they get the answer.

It sounds like you are just learning skills. Narrating and answering comprehension questions are hard skills. They take practice especially if you have one that struggles in this area. But it is so worth it. I have one with cerebral palsy and brain damage in the l;language center of the brain. She had a horrible time learning to narrate. But let me tell you she can now narrate the pants off any of my kids. This skill carries over in other places in life. She is able to hear and follow directions because she is an excellent narrator. She can answer some of the harder questions in church even though she is behind the other kids academically quite a bit she can out narrate them and that helps level the field for her quite a bit. So don't give up. Just get a little creative and be patient. It is so worth it!

[mrsrandolph]

Another thing you might try is going back to the passage and reading the sentence that answers the question you asked. Maybe go ahead and do that BEFORE you have him answer. My son has slight delays too, and I would put what you're describing under auditory comprehension.

How does he comprehend things like TV shows he watches?

Is he a very visual learner? My son is SO visual, that we needed visual aids to accompany everything in the beginning. I weaned him off of these after Beyond.

Little Pilgrims has an accompanying coloring book.

Often my son comprehends better if he is "doing" something with his hands while I read to him. He can color something, squeeze an egg shaped "eggsercizer" I purchased, or squeeze playdough. I also firmly believe in burning a peppermint candle during lessons.

[my3sons]

One thing that helps me with teaching LHFHG is to remind myself that learning to listen to books with fewer pictures is one of the skills in LHFHG that is new, that is really just beginning to be introduced, and that takes real time - as in possibly the whole year - to make real improvement upon. All of the boxes of plans on the left side of LHFHG are intended to be ways for dc to respond to what you've read together. So the art project, the dramatic play, the thinking games, the science, the rhymes, the Bible study - all work together to give dc the chance to respond to the history reading in a variety of ways. Some dc will do better with one way of responding, some will do better with another, but a balance is the goal. The questions that happen to be in the history resources are not formally assigned, though it certainly is fine to discuss them. We actually look at those as a time to partner together to answer the questions. Dc are not supposed to retain everything at this age. Exposure is the purpose, as history comes around again and again. Next time these names/events in history come around again, ds may remember this or that, and then will add more to that repertoire each go around. As far as helping with listening skills in general, here are a few things that have helped my dc...

1) You can give a short recap of what you read last time, as in just 2-3 short sentences.
2) You can look at any titles and/or pictures, point to some pertinent things, and give some leading information, as in just a few sentences.
3) Try to read straight through without stopping as much as possible. As CM said, stopping to explain things gets between the reading and the dc. (If you do feel it is important to stop and explain something, do so at natural stopping points, i.e. read 1 section. At the end of it, recap. Read the next section. Recap, etc. However, the end goal would be to move away from this eventually as able.)
4) Look at any questions as a time to model thinking about the answers and partner with dc in answering them (i.e. If he says, 'I don't know' or gives a totally wrong answer, say, "Hmmmm, wasn't it George Washington who was the President? And let's see, what did he do in the war again?")
5) Finally, I have learned not to draw out discussions, add more of my own questions, or try to quiz my dc to see if they 'got it'. This is counter-productive. No one likes it, including me. Just thought I'd share as I've BTDT.

HTH! I think your ds sounds very normal for his age, and I think he will continue to grow throughout the year in LHFHG!
In Christ,
Julie