Tips to Prepare High School Students for College-Level Reading

Think critically while reading. In college, professors expect students to have a variety of reading strategies in their skillset toolbox. Examples include reading for information, reading to form an opinion, reading to recall facts, and reading to summarize or understand the big picture. It’s essential that high school students strengthen their critical thinking skills while reading so that they can analyze that which they read in different ways.

Expand the vocabulary. The more high school students read, the better off they are. Reading a wide variety of materials—from books to essays to newspapers to blogs—helps students acquire new vocabulary, which will help them in college. It’s also important for students to learn to embrace the dictionary and thesaurus, which will help them get into the habit of looking up unfamiliar words and different word choices for common words.

Interpret. There’s no place for passive reading in college. Students should strengthen their analytic reading by breaking down complex passages. They must practice figuring out an author’s purpose and drawing their own conclusions. When reading, students need to think deeply about how they feel about texts and how an author’s approach does or does not influence their feelings and opinions.

Read with depth. In college, students are expected to read with depth so that they have a strong understanding of texts and can talk intelligently about them. Students should read to understand and reread if necessary to ensure they are able to share their opinions on the text, predict what might happen next, summarize the main points, and more.

If you are concerned about your student’s ability to keep up with college-level reading, call Huntington. We can help assess where your student is falling short and help them develop reliable strategies to read complex texts, analyze thoroughly, maximize comprehension and excel in classes. 

Huntington also offers an Advanced Study Skills program for students at the high school and college level. Study skills are key! In order to be successful, students must have the tools necessary to effectively acquire, retrieve, analyze and communicate information. Huntington teaches students higher-level strategies and concepts that are necessary to study efficiently and effectively.  Your child will focus on a range of study skills while learning how to apply these skills to study independently at home.

Call 1-800 CAN LEARN to find out how Huntington prepares high school students for college and career success in reading and all subject areas.