How to Help Your Child Understand What They Read—Even When They Struggle With Comprehension
The Invisible Struggle: When Reading Isn’t as Simple as It Looks
Reading comprehension can be a quiet challenge. Your child sits down with a schoolbook, their eyes move steadily across the page, they even reach the end of the chapter. But then comes the moment: you ask what it was about, and they look at you blankly. “I don’t know. I forgot.”
If you’re here, it’s likely because your child is somewhere between 6 and 12, smart and curious in their own way, but struggling to hold on to what they read at school. You may have tried reading together, asking questions, or encouraging them to highlight the main points—and still, comprehension feels like sand slipping through their fingers. You’re not alone in this.
Why Understanding Is Harder Than It Seems
Children often learn to decode words before they understand the ideas behind them. By mid-elementary school, reading shifts from learning to read to reading to learn. That’s where some kids stumble. If your child is a visual learner, they might lose engagement with pages of text. An auditory learner might struggle with internalizing what they hear in their mind as they read silently. If there's a working memory challenge, they may forget what they read just minutes earlier.
It’s not just about effort. It's about how their brain is wired to absorb and make sense of information. And the good news is: with the right strategies and tools, this gap can be bridged.
From Frustration to Connection: A New Way to Read Together
I worked with a family whose 9-year-old son, Joshua, would almost shut down at the sight of social studies homework. His mom, Sarah, was exhausted from trying everything—rewriting the notes, acting them out, drawing scene summaries. Nothing stuck. What helped Joshua wasn’t more pressure. It was the shift from "read and repeat" to "read and experience."
One evening, instead of handing him the school packet and holding her breath, Sarah used a learning app to convert his lesson into an audio adventure where he was the hero—his name woven into a pirate-themed story about early explorers. Suddenly, he wanted to listen again, even outside homework time—and more importantly, he remembered details days later. (You can find this story-based function in the Sculi App, by the way, which turns everyday lessons into personalized, child-narrated audio journeys.)
For Joshua, the lesson became more than words. It activated connection, curiosity, and context—all crucial ingredients for real comprehension.
Practical Ways to Build Reading Comprehension at Home
If your own child is struggling to retain or explain what they’ve read, try shifting how you build understanding at home. Here are some thoughtful strategies that don’t feel like drills:
1. Anchor the Text in Their World
If your daughter is reading a nonfiction piece on animal habitats, pause to ask where her favorite animal would live. If your son just read about explorers, ask what they’d pack for their own journey. Bringing in their tangible world helps words take root. You’re not just asking for answers—you’re inviting them to connect.
2. Don’t Just Read—Reread with Purpose
The first read is for flow. The second read is for understanding. Sit together and map out the core ideas using drawings, sticky notes, or even a comic strip version of the text. You’ll be amazed at how their comprehension grows once they see the text visually or narratively laid out before them. Our guide on creative tools for learning dives deeper into this technique.
3. Change the Format
Try converting written passages into audio, especially if your child struggles with eye fatigue or attention. Listen to lessons on car rides, during breakfast—wherever routine allows. Children often absorb better when they don’t know they’re “studying.” You can even ask them to retell what they’ve heard in their own words. We explore this more in this article about making review time enjoyable.
4. Ask Questions That Don’t Have Right Answers
Too often, we ask, “What did the main character do?” Instead, try, “Why do you think she made that choice?” or “What would you have done in that situation?” This opens the door for personal engagement, which strengthens memory and insight. When a child feels something about a text, they’re more likely to recall it later.
5. Let Them Teach You
One of the simplest—yet most powerful—strategies is encouraging your child to teach you what they’ve just read. When children take on the teacher role, they must organize ideas and make meaning. It’s one of the best ways to assess and build deep understanding. For more on cultivating this dynamic, check out this reflection on how kids feel about asking for help.
When It’s Still Not Clicking: What to Remember
If you’ve tried shifting formats, being patient, and showing up creatively—and it still feels hard—it’s okay. You are modeling resilience. You are showing your child that learning is not about perfection, but progress. And sometimes, the tiniest shift—like adding a story, changing the pace, or turning the dry facts into a fun game—makes all the difference over time.
When children consistently struggle with comprehension, it may point to underlying differences in working memory, focus, or language processing. Rather than panic, let it be an invitation to tailor learning more intentionally—your child’s journey is unique, not broken.
If this sounds familiar, our piece on helping kids remember what they learn might speak directly to your situation.
You're Not Alone in This
Helping your child make sense of what they read is not a sprint. And it certainly isn’t about forcing them to read more quickly or perfectly. It’s about slowing down to connect the dots—text to life, page to heart, idea to voice. You have the biggest tool of all: your presence. Pair that with the right strategy or story, and you just might start hearing your child say, “I remember what it was about!”