Reading train - Improve your reading skills

Does anyone know of a reading programme (UK) which can improve the reading and comprehension skills of an 11?

year old. My friendd has just been told by her son's teacher that he is achieving a level 2C when he needs to be at a level 4. She gets him to read for 20 minutes per day anyway but this obviously is not enough. So any suggestions.

Public Comments

1. Marie Clay's reading recovery program. It comes out of New Zealand and is an excellent program to use with kids one-on-one. You can search for information on the program on-line.
2. The best way to help his comprehension is to talk about what he has read at the end of each chapter. At the end of the book, ask him to summarise the story. I am a literacy volunteer in a school and work with nine to eleven year olds.
3. Try www.sparklebox.co.uk for some free literacy resources e.g. you could print him a picture book and help him write the story himself. There's lots of fun stuff on the website, of which some is free to download, and even if you do decide to buy any of the CDs they're really cheap. He might prefer doing interactive games, in which case try these websites ... http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/literacy.shtml Good luck :-)