The authors of this book answer with a resounding yes. Carmen and Geoffrey McGuinness, creators of the acclaimed and widely used Phono-Graphix method of reading instruction, explain why it is important to teach children comprehension skills and how to do it. Parents and teachers seeking sound, research-supported advice on ways to improve their children's reading comprehension will find this book an essential resource. Each of the dozens of exercises and activities in the book is aimed at improving the comprehension -- and the writing skills -- of children from 6 to 18 years of age.

We can teach our children the skills they need to understand and use the information they read, the authors assure us. McGuinness and McGuinness show how comprehension can be broken down into small components of understanding. They provide a variety of fun-to-do lessons to help readers progress beyond decoding to real comprehension. The lessons include:
-- how to use synonyms
-- how to read passive voice
-- how to anticipate what will happen in a story
-- how to define a word by its context in a story
-- how to remember key elements in a written passage
-- and many more

This book is an essential primer for parents wishing to understand how children learn, process, and use language.