Building "Mental Velcro" to Support Your Child's Reading Comprehension 
Did you know that you can help your child to build their reading comprehension at any age? It is easier than you may think. In order for your child to remember and understand what they read, they need to have something in their brain "to stick" their new learning to. This is what we call "mental velcro". You can build this "mental velcro" in your child's brain by building your child's knowledge. Get started by sharing what you know about a topic. Do you know a lot about dogs? Share that knowledge as you are taking care of your dog. Do you know a lot about driving a truck? Talk about what you are doing as you drive your truck. Maybe you are really into exercise. Share what you know the exercise is doing for your body. Remember that a child knows very little about most subjects. As a child learns more and more about a particular subject, they learn to make connections to previously learned information. These connections teach the child's brain "how to think about" something new and how to make connections between new and old learning. This is the "velcro" your child needs to connect what they are learning from their reading to what they already know. The more your child knows, the more "velcro" your child has in their brain. Even when your child reads a topic in school much different than dogs or trucks, building their background knowledge still develops that "velcro" to help the new learning "stick"!
If you have questions or need more information, feel free to email me at bowerm@muschools.com
Mary Bower
Milton-Union Literacy Coach