Anna1111 wrote:
It seems to me that nearly ALL little kids cannot summarize what they read - at least not well. The multiple choice questions sound like a great idea : )
Last year, I had DD read a book and at one point the plot got a little tricky and she said, "I don't understand this!" So, I went back and read the chapter to myself, while she waited and asked questions like, "Okay, where are they when the chapter starts?" And "What trouble did they encounter" and "How did they deal with that?" etc - it turned out that she had gotten nearly every little detail - she just found the wording & structure a little complex.
I am always amazed how much dd DOES get & retain - she'll mention something weeks later, and I'll say, "How did you know that" "Oh, I read it in my science book" or whatever. I think most little kids are like that - even if you don't test them - they just absorb stuff : )
Yes, I have to do that with the short stories she reads for Barton. If I say "Tell me what happened", she might just start with what happened in the middle of the story and she has trouble with sequence, so I can't usually say "What happened first, last, etc." But I get a better response when I ask questions like your examples. One thing that makes it difficult is that she thinks differently and sometimes it's hard to understand the things going on in her head. Sometimes we're not on the same page and she misunderstands what I'm asking. I'm working on getting better with how I word questions, to avoid misunderstandings and frustration.