Reading Comprehension for Kids: Why It Matters and Simple Ways to Build It

In my last two posts, I’ve explored the power of stories and storytelling as a foundation for literacy. This post looks at another important skill that sits underneath it all - comprehension.

'Reading comprehension' doesn’t sound very exciting. It might make you think of school worksheets filled with questions about a short story or report you've only seen once before. Hardly inspiring.

But at the same time, the skill of comprehension - actively engaging with what you’re reading or hearing and really understanding it - is important. It links to a whole range of other skills and areas of learning.

In this post I want to highlight why it’s such a valuable skill to incorporate into your days, and how to support it in ways that feel natural and enjoyable without the dry worksheets (unless you happen to have a child who loves them - it does happen!).

Why is comprehension so important?

The way children learn to read varies so much. Not just the age at which they learn to read, but in the different skills they pick up along the way.

For example, some children learn to decode words very early on, but not understand or be able to retell what they’ve read. Whereas others might understand every part of a story and all of its nuances, without being able to read a single word.

Both of these skills matter for reading.

I have one of each child. One child who, at five, could remember every single character and event in quite complex stories with absolute precision, but couldn’t read a single word. And another who could read fluently at four, devouring books, but was much vaguer on the details of the story.

Over time those skills have levelled out. But it's interesting for me that the child who reads early, often gets the 'intelligent' label, even though deep understanding of a story is just as, if not slightly more, complex.

What Children Gain from Strong Comprehension

• Thinking and reasoning
  When children actively engage with stories, they start to make predictions about what might happen, notice clues, make connections and question ideas. These are higher-level thinking skills and arguably more important than ever in an age of AI, information overload and misinformation.
• Empathy and emotional understanding
  Stories give the children the chance to step into other people’s experiences. Understanding characters’ motivations and feelings helps them see different perspectives and develop empathy - another crucial skill.
• Knowledge of the world
  When children understand what they read, books become a powerful way to learn. They can absorb information, connect ideas and build knowledge across subjects and all kinds of reading, which becomes the foundation later on when connecting ideas, solving problems and forming their own views.
• Confidence and enjoyment in reading
  The more children understand what they read, the more enjoyable and meaningful reading becomes.

My Favourite Way to Build Comprehension

A good old chat with your kids over a book (with tea and biscuits preferably!).

Chatting about books they’ve read or you're reading together, or even an interesting article or review online, is such a great place to start.

Why? Because it's relevant. It's probably the most natural and effective way to build comprehension skills.

You're not answering questions about a random text for the sake of it, you're talking about something they're really interested in. It's meaningful and purposeful, two things I've found to be vital for learning.

At home, whenever we get into a really good book together, the comprehension skills are forming through the conversations we're having around it. It involves forming opinions, explaining thinking, remembering details and making connections. All core comprehension skills.

A casual chat (whilst reading but also in the car, over dinner, on a walk) can delve deeply into so many different aspects of a story and take it out into wider areas and topics. It makes it meaningful in a way that questions with expected answers never quite manage.

Your enthusiasm can make a big difference here so choose some books now and again that you love too!

And just because it isn’t written down, don’t underestimate how valuable these conversations are. You might need to record it or provide evidence, but noting down some of the amazing things they're saying is just as valid. Some kids will be turned off as soon as you ask them to write down their thoughts or answers to a question - tread carefully here. The skill here is the understanding, not the writing.

Other Ideas for Practising Comprehension at Home

As with most things in home education, a lot depends on the day, the mood and the book you’re reading. But here are a few ideas that can work really well to help build deeper comprehension skills.

🗣️ Hotseating

This is something I’ve always loved doing with children.

Your child becomes a character from the story and you're the interviewer. They answer questions in character, explaining:

• their choices
• their motivations
• their backstory

This requires real understanding of the character and using that knowledge to create new ideas. It's always amazing to hear how a child has interpreted a character or situation.

Don’t always go for the main character either, especially for kids who have strong comprehension skills. Side characters can be fascinating.

Swap it round and have them ask you questions too - it's not an easy skill to ask open-ended questions so it's another great skill to learn along the way.

🎩 Tell the story from another character’s perspective

This encourages children to see events through different viewpoints, which is also a wonderful empathy exercise.

For example, telling The Three Little Pigs from the wolf’s perspective.

You can expand this idea in lots of ways:

• hold a trial for the villain in a story
• debate whether a character made the right choice
• be a character who has to persuade someone in the story to do or not do something
• write a secret diary entry or letters between characters

Retelling the story

Retelling is one of the best ways to show real understanding.

Here are a few ideas:

🎭 Acting out the story
No script needed. Create sound effects, repeat lines in different voices, swap roles, even make some props.

🗯️ Graphic novel or comic strip style
Turn the story into a graphic novel or comic strip. This is actually really powerful at helping children work out which are the most important parts and which details can be left out.

🎬 Stop-motion storytelling
Make a stop-motion version of the story with toys or figures, getting creative with the storyline in the process.

✉️ Book recommendations or reviews - with a purpose

Book reviews can feel a bit dry if there's no real purpose behind them, but recommending books to someone else gives it meaning and gets them thinking about 'why' someone might enjoy the book. Here are some examples of when they can work well:

• exchanging letters with a friend with book recommendations
• entering competitions that require book reviews such as library reading challenges
• working towards badges (Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Blue Peter etc.)

It’s also worth saying that comprehension doesn’t look the same for every child or every family. Some children experience dyslexia and may need extra support with reading itself, while still developing strong understanding through listening and discussion.

Comprehension is about meaning, and this can be built in many different ways, not just through printed words. Conversation, shared experiences, audiobooks and visual storytelling can all support rich understanding.

In the end, comprehension grows best through curiosity and conversation. Talking about stories, wondering about characters and playing with ideas help children engage more deeply with what they read. When understanding feels meaningful and enjoyable, the skills develop naturally alongside a love of stories.

For more on skills learned through stories, take a look at these posts:

📚How Storytelling Builds Writing Skills: The Bridge to Literacy

📕 More than Just Bedtime Tales: How Stories Help Children Learn and Grow