How to help your child with their comprehension

One way to help your child find joy in reading is to help them with their comprehension. How can they enjoy a book if they don't understand it? This is where asking the right questions comes in, and this should be a fun and enjoyable experience for both of you. Here are my top tips for asking the right questions:

1. Don't assume they know what a word means - ask them. For example, if the word 'explorer' appears in a sentence, ask them if they know what it is. If they say no, then you have a few options:

• Explain it in your own words and give examples.

• Look the word up in a dictionary.

• Look the word up in an online dictionary on your smartphone or tablet.

• Ask a smart device in the room if you have one.

Try and use a variety of ways to find out what words mean, don't just stick to one. Encourage them to ask you what a word means when they don't know. We have used these techniques with our own children, and they are quite confident at using dictionaries, both in book form and online. And while they are in bed reading by themselves, I often hear them ask their smart device what a word means. Get them into the habit of looking up the meaning of words early.

2. Before they/you start reading, ask them what they remember from the night before. This is a good way to see how much they have remembered/understood what they have previously read. If they haven't understood something, they probably won't remember it. Encourage them to ask you if they haven't understood something or are confused by part of the story.

If something funny happens in the book, see if they laugh, giggle or smile. If they do, they have probably understood it. If they don't, then they probably don't. Explain why the joke is funny. If there is a sad part of the story, ask them why it is sad. If they don't know, then explain it to them.

3. Can they relate to the story in any way? This could be anything that happens in the story. For example, say two of the characters in the story are best friends, but they have an argument and stop talking to each other. Ask your child if that has ever happened to them. You could also talk about a time when it happened to you at school. Maybe the main character is riding a dragon or a unicorn and got really scared because they were going so fast. Can they relate to that? It could be that they rode their bike down a hill and they got scared. This is a great way to get them engaged in the story.

4. Ask them inference questions. These are always the hardest questions to answer on reading tests that they get at school, so it's good to get some practise in. But also they do help the reader to engage with the story. These could include questions like:

• Feelings and emotions, e.g. How do we know Sarah was afraid? To answer this, there would be some clues in the text. Maybe it says that Sarah was 'trembling'. Model the answers if they are unsure. 'We know Sarah was afraid because it says she was trembling.'

• What is likely to happen next, e.g. What do you think the scientist will do next? To answer this type of question, you need to know about the character and what is currently happening in the story. Use evidence from the text to support your answer, e.g. I think the scientist will try and destroy the laboratory because we know he didn't like the dangerous experiments that went on there.

5. Discuss any themes that might pop up in the story. For example, if the story is set in world war II, ask them questions like: What do you think it was like back then? Do you think you would have been scared? What do you think you could have done to help the war effort? Would you like to have been evacuated? What do you think of the rationing? Ask them any questions that you feel comfortable with.

Your child does not have to be the one reading the book when you ask questions. You could be reading the book to them and still ask them questions. So it doesn't have to be a book at their reading level, just one suitable for their age.

To help you with this, I have created a reading guide (ebook) to go along with the very popular book: The 13-Storey Treehouse by Terry Denton and Andy Griffiths. This is a great book for reluctant readers as it's fun and silly, and who wouldn't want to live in a treehouse with lots of amazing gadgets! Go to my shop page and download the ebook - it's full of great questions to ask your child while they (or you) read the book, with examples of answers to give as well. AND IT'S ONLY £6!

You can also purchase The 13-Storey Treehouse book from my shop at bookshop.org. This is an affiliate link, so I will receive a small amount if your purchase the book, and some money goes towards independent bookshops. Please click on the link below to purchase the book.