I thought I'd check in to see if there are any online tools for assessing and/or building reading comprehension. My son is 6 (in a half day K program) and is reading at a 3rd-4th grade level. He is voracious in his reading but hates to discuss his reading. When he reads something that he absolutely loves (which happens often), he will gush about the book and I can then ascertain that he has comprehended the story, sequence of events, conflicts, etc. On a day-to-day basis, however, he'd rather not discuss most reading and any questions result in a battle on his part. Talking about books is "boring" and a "waste of time", he'd rather be reading. I do think he is understanding most of what he's reading, based on conversations he'll independently have about books and just his general knowledge base, but I care because I want him challenged appropriately in school. Currently, he's pulled out 2x/week with an upper level reading group, and I've been told he's at the top of the group. He hates the reading group. They are working on 2nd grade level text for comprehension but he's reading well above that at home. He loathes the books and tries to skip school on reading group days (pretending to be sick) because he thinks reader's workshop is dreadful ("WHY is it called 'Reader's Workshop'!?!? They don't let us read!!").
On the one hand, I myself always hated book discussions and would much rather read more than talk about the same story over and over, but much of formal schooling IS talking about what you have read, so he's going to run into trouble here.
We are having him tested on the 9th so we'll have more data re: where he is actually reading/comprehending as we plan for 1st grade, but I'm anticipating a battle from the school re: the comprehension issue because of his attitude.
I hope this made sense. DS is doing karaoke Let it Go as I type.
