Customer Reviews

Painless Reading Comprehension (Barron's Painless Series)

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Everyone will benefit from the material found in this text. Middle school and high school students OF ALL READING LEVELS will enjoy the the writing style and the format, which introduces them to various ways to improve their reading skills. Teachers will also find this an invaluable tool when looking for ways to improve reading comprehension in the classroom. The Painless series has been very successful, and this book is the best I have seen.

I am a parent of a reluctant rising 7th grader. I decided that my son and I would read this book together to help him with his reluctance and to help him increase his reading comprehension. However, the 1st sample reading selection was an English/Social Studies selection about a Holocaust survivor. I felt a bit of pain in the 2nd chapter when I had to answer my son's question -- "What is rape ?" after he read the sentence -- "Each and every one returned at midnight screaming with terror and pain because each one had been raped."

I have not given up on the book - because already I think there are some great points for helping with reading comprehension -- but I really wasn't ready for the comprehension to be about really difficult issues. So this is just a warning for other parents to be aware of.

I read this and several other books, including the "guaranteed to pass" books, but I still didn't pass. I ran out of preparation time, I knew I still didn't get it, and painfully I knew I failed. I have been out of school for some twenty-five years, so that's part of the problem right there. In desperation, I hit the bookstore the next day, clueless what to look for. Then it struck me, the basic children's gradeschool books, the thin ones with big letters, might be my ticket. I opened a few books, and Bingo! The material was step-by-step organized. For example: here is an essay, this is what a main idea looks like, here are some more essays, find the main idea and write it in the blank space. This "painless" book in review here does have plenty of tools and practice, including some unique approaches, so it probably makes a better supplementary study than most. For example, to nail your mind down, highlight some words. But it is also probably better suited to a reader who already has the basics down, and who needs a review or wants some extra tips.

I agree with the explanation on how to cope with your new words on from p.80 to p.83, because I believe it is less painful to tackle new words and expressions according to the explanation than to try in vain to just memorize as many words as possible. Just looking up the words isn't good enough to strengthen your vocabulary building. You need to use your imagination; first, of course, read the definitions of the words, second, judge whether the words have positive, negative, or neutral meanings, third, find other synonyms and antonyms mainly in your thesaurus, fourth, set the examples by making sentences including the new words, and finally draw the pictures to make sure you understand the meanings clearly. These 5 steps will deepen your understanding, that's for sure!
I personally feel that you can be an avid reader if you deal with the reading articles you are really into. The main reason is that I bet you won't give them up even if you encounter several new words and phrases. And you could get the gists instead of paying too much attention to each word. So let me get to the point; stop being a perfectionist, or eventually it is going to tire your mind! In other words, perfectionism makes you a reluctant reader.