First of all, it is very normal for kids that age to acquire decoding skills first and then become more fluent and comprehend better. At that age, my DS was decoding very advanced language, but comprehending 2-3 years ahead. Now, at age 6, his fluency, reading comprehension and decoding are in sync.
What polarbear says is correct - reading comprehension and listening comprehension are somehow related. So, if you keep reading books that are way above the child's reading level and also let them listen to audiobooks and radio talks (NPR etc) and then engage them in discussions about them, it helps the comprehension level to shoot up. In our case, I have limited time, so I read literature classics out loud to DS every day and keep him immersed in a language rich environment - we listen to NPR, audiobooks, DH reads non-fiction to him and I sometimes read newspaper editorials to him. In restaurants, we hand DS the menu and have him read the whole thing and then make his choice. Same with the maps, tickets and brochures when we travel. We hand him a map and ask him to figure out directions to picnic areas, restrooms etc. When we buy anything new with an instruction manual, DS loves to read them and look at the diagrams and he tries to understand how it is put together and how to operate it. And when we drive, we ask him to spot for signs and storefronts. Somehow, all these things helped his comprehension quickly catch up to his reading ability.
Last edited by ashley; 01/24/14 10:06 AM.
