Comprehension is the essence of reading and if one’s skills are poor, one is not reading but is simply barking at words. To develop comprehension one must start with its forerunner skills as they promote fluency – a factor which is essential for comprehension. Once the forerunner skills are established, the student is then prepared to focus on the other components of comprehension. These are fact gathering and critical thinking.
The following anecdote substantiates the significance of the forerunner skills.
A grateful parent of an 11 year old related how her daughter’s reading progress significantly enhanced her self-esteem and confidence and consequently her social life. This development occurred within the three weeks as her problem was easy to remediate – it simply involved teaching her the forerunner skills to comprehension.
The next posting presents techniques that promote comprehension.
