Help and advice for teaching comprehension

spend the summer enjoying your child, do things, find a hobby, talk and talk and tell stories etc

why do parents think everything has to be paper and pencil,

play board games, teach her chess, build model rockets, learn to knit or sew or cook,

read cook books and plan new meals, buy the supplies, let her make the meal, read the recipe etc

teach her how to play Jacks, jump rope, rent movies and watch them together,

get a puzzle and build it, and all the time, just talking and increasing her vocabulary by talking and listening

put on your thinking cap, make summer fun, that is what it is for, education is always equated with paper and books,

most of the stuff we learn, we learn from other means,
go to amusement parks, and you ride the rides with her,

do not take friends of her’s with you, just you and her so you can talk,

when riding in the car, turn off the radio, and talk, find as much time as you can to sit and talk and do nothing

barb

Pat,
The advice that you received about your daughter’s summer was right on. Be sure to include books that are of interest to your daughter. The more she reads and enjoys her reading the better she will comprehend. Start her off with books on her level and ask her to retell you what she has read. (You may have to read ahead of her or with her) Be sure to include some questions that require her to tell you some things that are not directly stated in the book, but make her back her answers up with clues and evidence from the story. Have fun, relax, and read, read, read!

Brenda—6th grade reading teacher

Barb has a lot of good points.

I would suggest doing some socratic questioning as you talk over anything. For example, to the zoo and talk about the animals and ask her what she thinks about what she sees and about the informational signs. Don’t stop at one-word basic factual answers, but probe a little about why and how. Get her talking at some length and justifying her answers. This kind of thinking is what’s necessary *before* you get to paper and pencil.

i was at my Y this morning, in the pool, i watched a mother and father bring in their 3 girls for rec swim,

the parents proceeded to sit down next to the pool with coffee mugs and newspapers and read,

girls played by themselves,

now i am a parent and i know you need a break, but not in this case, make use of this time, get into the pool, make up games, get them thinking,

constantly talking and creating, you have got to do double time with your daughter,

take advantage of every opportunity, once i had my son and another boy with me when i had to food shop, 2 - 10 yr old boys is near disaster for food shopping

at the time i had coupons with me, i divided them up, gave each boy 10 coupons and they had to race to see who got all their items to me, had to be the exact thing the coupon had„ size, ounces etc,

kept them occupied and provided some reading and math at the same time

but jump on every chance you got this summer, put in a garden, get gardening books and let her pick the crops, make it small, some tomatoes, beans, and peas

whatever, barb

Thanks for all of your advice. It makes so much sense and will be so easy to do - maybe :) Remember this is a 13 year old with all of the baggage that comes at that age. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

I wasn’t even thinking of doing anything like this. It never even crossed my mind, but all of you are right on! It really helps to get input from other people. They usually see something you can’t because you’re too close to the problem.

Thanks!!

pat,

yeah, 13 yo daughter will be a challenge, if it was me, i would do something fun with makeup, go to a Mary kay party, read up on famous makeup artists,

anything that might grab her and not look like school, i do not know you or your child’s interests, but try and do something that will not make be a tug of war, learn how to do hair coloring, just enjoy her, a few more months and she will be off into boys and growing up

i only had sons so i got stuck with kites, skateboarding, roller bladding and boy stuff,

my kids are now in college and i went out and got a female dog, bought her a pink collar and purlpe leash, i love her,

libby

I haven’t read all of the responses but I would read a book together. I mean get two copies of a book she would like to read and have mini book club. Meet everyday or every other day and discuss the book. Talk about questions you have and how you connect to the story. Make it a special time for the two of you. My daughter and I still do this and we are thousands of miles apart. I read a book and send it to her and we talk on the telephone about the book.

book club suggestion, Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli,

very good book for mom and daughter to read, and Spinelli uses a nice quickpace, short sentences, this book is very cool,

Donna Joe Napoli writes a really strange book for middle schoolers, supposedly they are very popular, she writes books about old nursery tales but does it with a twist,

i had to read her for a grad class, one middle school teacher said the kids loved the books,

My Brother Sam is Dead, good for middle school and about the american revolution

i love the book club idea, great,

libby

Yeah, my daughter’s boyfriend is the oldest of three boys (ages 21 and 19 and 11). His mother said she gave up; always wanted a daughter but figured with her luck she’d get twin boys next time. When the two of them got together there was a tug-of-war over which house they would stay in — two very wanted kids, even as teens. I’ve moved, so they are with her. She’s taken Grace as the daughter she always wanted. So, you just wait until one of the boys gets a nice girlfriend and be very welcoming …