Did you know that even the best word readers may still struggle with reading? That’s because there are two different areas that are needed for good reading . . .word reading and comprehension. Comprehension is the ability to understand what we see, hear, and read. It involves lots of independent skills and works hand in hand with critical thinking. Critical thinking is what allows us to monitor what we are reading to see if it makes sense.
Parents can help their kids build critical thinking skills in many ways. One way is to sort objects into groups based on meaning. We often see this skill in science, but children can develop this skill as early as Kindergarten. It will help build comprehension used for later reading.
Try this fun, family-friendly activity at home to help grow your child’s comprehension skills:
There are so many variations of this activity that you can do. The pictures below are examples using animal and food drawings.
Figure 1 – Lay out a group of cards
Figure 2 – After the child has separated the groups
Interested in learning more about ways you can support your child’s language comprehension journey?
Our new program, EarlyBird at Home, focuses on this and the other building blocks of literacy. The program combines a fun game-based skill development app with our award-winning EarlyBird Assessment, dedicated support from a Literacy Specialist, and additional resources to help parents support their children.
