How to Help Your Year 6 Child Improve Reading Comprehension

By Year 6, many parents notice a shift: their child can read fluently, but struggles to answer comprehension questions, explain ideas clearly, or perform well in NAPLAN-style tasks. This is extremely common — and it’s because reading in upper primary is no longer just about decoding words.

At this stage, students must think deeply about what they read, analyse meaning, and justify their answers with evidence.

This guide explains exactly what reading comprehension involves in Year 6, why children struggle, and practical, evidence-based strategies parents can use at home to help their child improve.

What Does Reading Comprehension Look Like in Year 6?

In Year 6, reading comprehension expectations increase significantly. Students are required to:

• Identify main ideas vs supporting details
• Make inferences using clues from the text
• Explain character motivations and relationships
• Understand themes and author purpose
• Interpret unfamiliar vocabulary in context
• Compare ideas across paragraphs or texts
• Answer questions using evidence from the text

Importantly, many assessment questions now require full-sentence responses, not just short answers.

Why Many Year 6 Students Struggle With Comprehension

A child can struggle with comprehension even if they read well aloud. Common causes include:

• Reading too quickly without processing meaning
• Weak vocabulary knowledge
• Difficulty making inferences
• Not understanding how to answer comprehension questions
• Limited exposure to non-fiction and persuasive texts

The key issue is usually thinking skills, not intelligence or effort.

Step-by-Step Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension

1. Teach Your Child How to Think While Reading

Strong readers actively monitor understanding.

Encourage your child to pause and ask:

• Does this make sense?
• What just happened?
• Why is this important?

👉 Actionable tip:
After every page, ask your child to give a one-sentence summary. If they can’t, reread together and model how to extract meaning.

2. Focus on Main Ideas First (Not Small Details)

Many children focus on minor details and miss the bigger picture.

Teach them to ask:

• What is this paragraph mostly about?
• What is the author trying to tell me here?

👉 Actionable tip:
Ask your child to highlight or underline one sentence per paragraph that best captures the main idea. This directly improves performance in NAPLAN-style questions.

3. Explicitly Teach Inference (The Biggest Challenge in Year 5)

Inference means using clues from the text plus your own knowledge.

Example:

“Tom slammed the door and threw his bag on the floor.”
Inference: Tom is angry — even though it’s not stated.

👉 Actionable tip:
Ask questions like:

• How do you know?
• What words gave you that clue?

Always require your child to justify answers with evidence.

4. Strengthen Vocabulary Through Context (Not Memorisation)

Vocabulary gaps are one of the biggest barriers to comprehension.

Instead of immediately giving definitions:

1. Ask your child to guess the meaning using the sentence
2. Check the meaning together
3. Ask them to use the word in a new sentence

👉 Actionable tip:
Create a weekly vocabulary list of 5 new words from reading — not from a dictionary.

5. Read a Wide Range of Text Types

Year 5 comprehension tasks include far more than stories.

Ensure regular exposure to:

• Information texts
• News articles
• Biographies
• Persuasive texts

👉 Actionable tip:
Once per week, read a short non-fiction article and ask:

• What was the author’s purpose?
• What facts support the main idea?

6. Teach Your Child How to Answer Questions Properly

Many children lose marks because they don’t answer questions in the expected format.

Teach them to:

• Answer in full sentences
• Restate part of the question
• Include evidence from the text

👉 Actionable tip:
Use the formula:

Answer + Evidence + Explanation

This mirrors top-scoring responses in Year 5 assessments.

7. Build Writing About Reading (Even Briefly)

Writing reinforces comprehension more than discussion alone.

Effective activities:

• 3–4 sentence summaries
• Short paragraph responses
• “Explain why” questions

👉 Actionable tip:
Limit writing time to 10–15 minutes to avoid fatigue while building consistency.

How to Tell If Your Child Needs Extra Support

Consider additional support if your child:

• Reads fluently but scores poorly on comprehension tasks
• Avoids reading or becomes frustrated
• Struggles with inference questions
• Underperforms in NAPLAN or school assessments

Early intervention in Year 5 is far more effective than waiting until high school.

How KIS Academics Supports Year 6 Reading Comprehension

At KIS Academics, we provide targeted English support that goes beyond “reading more”.

Our tutors:

• Teach explicit comprehension strategies
• Break down inference, vocabulary, and question types
• Align lessons with Australian Curriculum and NAPLAN standards
• Provide structured, confidence-building one-on-one support

We help students learn how to think about texts, not just read them.

Final Thoughts

Improving reading comprehension in Year 6 requires explicit teaching, consistent practice, and the right strategies. With structured guidance and the right support, students can make rapid progress and build skills that last through high school.

👉 If your child needs help improving reading comprehension, KIS Academics offers expert primary English tutoring tailored to Australian students.

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