Many parents tell us the same story–their child can “read” a text, but when asked what it was about, they shrug or guess. They struggle to remember details, answer questions, or use the material in any meaningful way.
The school may say, “Your child can read but lacks comprehension.” But parents wonder: is reading without comprehension really reading?
What Does It Mean to Read?
Think about the last thing you read–a newspaper article, a novel, or even a job posting. You didn’t just see words; you processed their meaning. You recalled details, made connections, and used the information to form conclusions and take action.
Now, imagine reading but not understanding. You could pronounce the words but they wouldn’t stick. You couldn’t discuss the article, analyze the storyline and characters in the novel, or decide if the job was right for you. That’s what many children experience–they sound out words but don’t grasp the meaning.
Beyond Decoding: The Hidden Mental Processes Behind Reading
Educators and the science of reading break reading into four components: decoding, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
- Decoding means recognizing letters and sounding words out (or recognizing “sight words.”
- Fluency is reading smoothly at an appropriate pace.
- Vocabulary is understanding the meaning of words.
- Comprehension is understanding and apply what is read.
But what if a child decodes words correctly, and reads at an adequate pace, and even knows the vocabulary in a text, and still struggles with comprehension: The answer lies deeper–at the level of cognitive skills. These mental processes form the foundation of reading.
Schedule a free discovery call with a learning advisor today to explore how cognitive training could help your child become a capable, confident learner and reader.
The Cognitive Skills that Support Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension depends on several key cognitive skills. If any of these are weak, understand what’s read becomes much harder.
Working Memory: Holding and Processing Information
When we read, we hold words and sentences in our mind while connecting them to prior knowledge. This mental juggling act is called working memory. If a child has weak working memory, they may forget the beginning of a sentence before reading the end or lose track of the storyline.
Visualization: Creating Mental Images
For strong readers, reading is like watching a movie in their mind. They create mental pictures of scenes, characters and events, or see a chart or diagram. If a child struggles with visualization, they may have difficulty following descriptions, remembering details or engaging with the text.
Try this:
“If you want to find Cherry-Tree Lane, all you have to do is ask the policeman at the cross-roads. He will push his helmet slightly to one side, scratch his head thoughtfully, and then he will point his huge white-gloved finger and say: First to your right, second to your left, sharp right again, and you’re there. Good morning.” (from Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers)
Can you create a mental picture of the policeman? His uniform? HIs gloved hand? The process of visualization helps with reading comprehension and the ability to recall what we’ve read, like replaying a movie in our mind.
Difficulty visualizing or creating that mental image of what we read can be another barrier to comprehension.
Verbal Reasoning: Understanding Beyond Literal Meaning
Language isn’t just literal–it is full of idioms and implied meanings. Verbal reasoning helps us interpret phrases like “a piece of cake” (meaning something easy) or understand that “peace of mind” and “piece of mind” mean very different things. Difficulty with verbal reasoning means that drawing inferences and making sense of even a simple story challenging.
Abstract Reasoning
Abstract reasoning involves seeing patterns, thinking conceptually, and understanding relationships such as cause and effect or parts and wholes. Consider this sentence.
“As soon as the mailman left, Jenny flipped through the pile of envelopes, then threw them on the table and ran up to her room, sobbing as she ran.”
What inference do you draw from that sentence? Even though the text doesn’t say so explicitly, you likely inferred that Jenny was expecting something important in the mail and it didn’t arrive. Abstract reasoning helps us explain the relationship between the mail and Jenny’s tears. Weaker abstract reasoning may leave the reader puzzled by Jenny’s behavior even if they precisely understand every word in the sentence.
Flexible Thinking
Flexible thinking allows us to see things from multiple perspectives and to adapt to new information. Without it, children may struggle with ambiguous wording, miss deeper meanings or fail to adjust when a story takes an unexpected turn.
For example:
A father and son have a car accident and both are seriously injured. They are taken to separate hospitals for treatment. When the boy is taken into the operating room, the surgeon says, “I can’t do this surgery. This boy is my son!” How is this possible?
If you though of the surgeon as the boy’s mother, you may have had to use flexible thinking to get past the stereotype of surgeons being men. In reading, flexible thinking is essential for navigating new ideas, different perspectives, and unexpected plot twists.
Schedule a free discovery call with a learning advisor today to explore how cognitive training could help your child become a capable, confident learner and reader.
Cognitive Skills Can Be Strengthened
The good news? Cognitive skills can be developed, Research shows that with the right kind of cognitive training, students can significantly improve their cognitive skills and their reading comprehension, sometimes usually within just 12 weeks.
Students who have participated in cognitive training with BrainWare SAFARI have increased their reading levels, performed better on reading comprehension tests, and–most importantly–started to enjoy reading.
Cognitive training isn’t a substitute for reading instruction. Reading isn’t an ability that develops naturally–it must be taught. But when a child’s cognitive skills aren’t strong enough, reading instruction alone can lead to frustration. And if comprehension isn’t there, it isn’t really reading.
If your child struggles with reading comprehension, don’t wait. The first step to helping them read with confidence and understanding is to make sure they have the cognitive foundation for it.
Schedule a free discovery call with a learning advisor today to explore how cognitive training could help your child become a capable, confident learner and reader.
