You might try breaking down reading into steps. First, before reading, review vocabulary and teach her the meanings of new words. Next, try having her read one paragraph at a time. After wards have her tell you in her own words, what she just read - what happened?,setting, characters, etc. Next have her write a sentence or two summarizing her thoughts.
Practice this. At the end of the story, have her combine her sentences into a paragraph describing what happened. Another activity could be sequencing. Take several events from the story, mix them, and her have put them in order. After wards, try asking her basic questions about the reading. Have some which are very specific. Introduce a question which does not have a stated answer in the text. For instance, if the setting is described as cold, no leaves on the trees, children ice skating - what season do you think it is?
Using this process you can tell how much of the story she is picking up.
Just a suggestion. I am sure her teacher might be able to offer some more.
Also - if you can let her highlight answers - If she is having trouble writing out a answer to a question - allow her to highlight it . Sometimes. if you give multiple choice questions - you might find that she is able to recognize the answer, but not generate it on her own.
Let me know how things are going!
Good luck!

Does she sound out the words using syllables? Yes she does. Does she have problems storing and processing what she has read?
That might be an issue. I asked her teacher about this specifically, because her homework assignments are based on reading, then answering questions that pertain to what she had read. She struggles with this. When I asked the teacher why she felt she wasn't able to answer the questions, she said she didn't know. I will read with her tonight and pay closer attention to how she handles unfamilar words.
Her vocab is good, but bigger, unfamilar words are not that easy. Would it help to go over her vocab with her, or would that confuse things?
I'm not sure how to help in this area.

Thanks so much!
Emily

Thanks for your help!!
Emily

It would be helpful to your daughter's progress to ascertain what might be the core of the problem. Here is what struck me in your last response: "She gets caught up in the story and, if there are words that she is unfamiliar with, she slows down and has to take time to sound them out. By that time, the "idea" is being lost."

Can you give some more details on these three areas?

1. Decoding or ability to sound out words - is she able break words into syllables and to sound out the words; and, if so how much of a struggle is it?
2. Memory - does she have difficulty processing, storing and or retrieving items from short term to long term memory?
3. Vocabulary - if she hears the word does she know what it means? If you go over unfamiliar words that are new to her before she reads the paragraph and define these words -- how does she do? Is it a problem with background knowledge or a definition of particular word(s) or more related to decoding issue (see above)?

Reading is made up of five major components:

Phonemic awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension

If there is a breakdown in any one of these areas, it can ultimately impact her comprehension abilities, but is her comprehension difficulties merely a symptom of
a problem in another area such as decoding? It is like the rungs of a ladder -- sometimes you can't get to the top step because you are having difficulty at one or more of the lower rungs. If you can isolate actually where the breakdown is occurring, it can be addressed and would ultimately improve her reading comprehension.

I would also like invite you to join and post in the "Learning and Attention Difficulties" group located right here at Great Schools:

community.greatschools.net/groups/11554

In the interim, here is some supplementary information on "child find":

www.wrightslaw.com/idea/osep/private.school.pdf

www.wrightslaw.com/info/child.find.mandate.htm

Best wishes.

I certainly appreciate your input. Does she have difficulty understanding figurative language? No, not that I have observed. She understands where the author is going, but I'm not sure she knows enough to answer those questions in her head, as she is reading. Does that make sense?
She gets caught up in the story and, if there are words that she is unfamiliar with, she slows down and has to take time to sound them out. By that time, the "idea" is being lost. I will ask her teacher about her concerns and observations that lead to Child Find.

Thanks for your help!
Emily

Dear Emily,
Sometimes children do have difficulty with vocabulary because they are unfamiliar with the words. Sometimes children have difficulty in understanding a theme (inferential) which is not directly stated in the text. While some children can decode a contextual clue, others struggle with metaphor and innuendo. Does your daughter having difficulty understanding you when you use figurative language? A tutor might be able to help - but if you daughter is really having difficulty "reading in between the lines" it might be a sign of a processing disorder. It would not hurt to rule out this possibility.
It might be something to think about. I hope this helps.
Trooper

Thanks for responding. My daughter is in third grade. She loves to read, always has. When this meeting took place, the teacher handed me a contact name and phone number to Child Find. I asked her about it, and she told me what Child Find was, but really nothing more. When I questioned her about why my daughter was in need of this type of an assessment, she told me that she felt that my daughter is smart, but that she is having issues with reading concepts (main idea, answering questions about what is happening in the beginning, middle and end of the story). Personally, I believe it has more to do with her vocabulary, and that she is getting stuck on the words, and therefore the story is getting lost in translation. I'm just wondering why a tutor was not mentioned.

Thanks!
Emily

I am curious about your daughter's age. Child Find is part of an early identification program (part C IDEA) for children who might have a physical or learning disability . The target population is 0-3yrs. If you child is still in pre-school, it might be very beneficial to allow them to conduct an evaluation to assess if she might benefit from some of their services. They have marvelous resources. The earlier a child receives intervention for a learning issue greatly increases the beneficial impact of remediation. Older children in private schools can still receive some services,
I know it is a lot to think about. Many, many, smart kids have learning issues - and benefit from support services.

I also would ask the teacher about her specific concerns and observations that indicate to her your daughter needs an assessment.
Could you share the issues your daughter is having with reading?