Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

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Naga7
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:54 pm

Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by Naga7 »

Hi all

Great forum!

I really need advice regarding my son doing comprehension. Any links to websites or resources please

I have literally left preparation until now for the 11+ having only decided now to have my DS sit the 11+

The problem is he was always one of the top students in his class until last year when he had a terrible teacher for year 4.

Its my fault because I still assumed he was doing ok until now! I realise he finds comprehension difficult. I have been doing some of the bond papers with him and he is scoring quite badly (40-50%).

He will be sitting for Wallington, Sutton, Wilson and Tiffins

Any advice or links to resources would be appreciated.
vasu
Posts: 719
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by vasu »

Don't worry! It happens to the best of the kids. Try Hayden Richard, Collins level 5 english, Bond comprehension age 10-11 and 11-12, Schofield and sims comprehension books, First aid in English. Reading helps more than anything. Good Luck!
Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee.
Manana
Posts: 710
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by Manana »

Naga7 wrote:Hi all

Great forum!

I really need advice regarding my son doing comprehension. Any links to websites or resources please

I have literally left preparation until now for the 11+ having only decided now to have my DS sit the 11+

The problem is he was always one of the top students in his class until last year when he had a terrible teacher for year 4.

Its my fault because I still assumed he was doing ok until now! I realise he finds comprehension difficult. I have been doing some of the bond papers with him and he is scoring quite badly (40-50%).

He will be sitting for Wallington, Sutton, Wilson and Tiffins

Any advice or links to resources would be appreciated.
Hi there.

Which Bond papers is he scoring low in?
Naga7
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:54 pm

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by Naga7 »

Thanks for your replies

He is doing the Bond papers for age 10-11.

thanks
vasu
Posts: 719
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by vasu »

Naga7 wrote:Thanks for your replies

He is doing the Bond papers for age 10-11.

thanks
Maybe you can read the comprehension with him. Make sure he understands it. Let him go through the questions on his own. Then tell him to underline keys; from where the answers are derived.
Try Hayden Richard. Cant recommend it enough. It is a bit easier, will get your child's confidence right back up :) Have a look through it in any of the book stores.
Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee.
no_ball

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by no_ball »

that particular Bond book is soul destroying so far ahead of the exams. Put it away and do others at this stage. Just some helpful advice from bitter experience.
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by yoyo123 »

if you read together or watch the news you can help by asking questions about the content..why do you thik hey said that? how did it make you feel happy/sad/scared? etc.
moved
Posts: 3826
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by moved »

You could also have a go at the easier Bond papers until his confidence improves. 9-10 papers are much easier and he will get a better score.

You can also make your own comprehension papers by copying a passage and asking questions relating to the passage. He could help make some comprehension papers too, which would encourage him to think about the text in detail.
um
Posts: 2378
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 1:06 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by um »

Try Schofield and Sims comprehension Book 3 (or Book 2 if necessary) as this is more manageable than Bond initially.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Terrible at Comprehension: Please help!

Post by mystery »

When you say he is bad at comprehension, what exactly do you mean? Is it that he doesn't understand what he reads but would do if you read it to him, wouldn't understand it if you read it to him either, can't answer the questions accurately, or invents the answers rather than finding the material that backs it up from the comprehension passage? Or is his vocabulary not rich enough for the level of passage you are setting him? I'm sure it's fine if there are a small number of words that are not understood in the passage as they can probably be worked out from the context; the important thing is that it does not panic the child on the first read through.

We did a lot of comprehension passages at my prep school ......... this is the technique I remember and it seemed to work extremely well ...... read all the passage, then read all the questions, then read the all passage again, then read question 1 and answer it referring back to the passage.

My DH said he just read the passage then answered the questions without ever looking back at the passage. He was amazed that any child might look at the passage more than once.

They don't do much comprehension at my daughter's state school - so the SATs reading papers probably come as a shock. And for the first three years of school they seemed to want children to guess at stuff which wasn't actually intended by the author and give answers which may or may not have been right. When a book doesn't have many words or much of a storyline you can't do much more than the "what might happen next" type questions or "why might she be sad?" etc etc. I do not remember "real" comprehension passages being like that, so maybe it comes as a shock in year 4 if you are doing comprehension which is not like this.

Is answering in full sentences also required? Some children don't like having to do that or can't. A good game to play is one where you ask questions and try and trick the other person into not answering in full sentences. e.g. your son asks you questions (any old thing e.g. how old are you?). You have to answer in full sentences e.g. I am one hundred years old. If you do not answer in full sentences you swap around and you start asking the questions. Some questions require very contrived answers to reply to in a full sentence so it's great practice without the slog of writing anything down. You can play it in the car, anywhere, with other siblings etc etc.

Don't be demoralised. It can't truly be his "comprehension" that is poor - otherwise he would not understand anything he read or heard - and that's not the case is it? It's his technique for this kind of exercise that is currently poor, and you are well placed to work out which aspect it is of his technique that needs to improve.
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