My daughter reads fine, but I was advised that she does not comprehend what she reads. How can I help her on this?

Some children pick up the mechanics of reading quickly and think that’s all they need to do. But being able to read is only the first part of the equation. Comprehension is the second part. This might help. When I have a child who has good reading mechanics, but low comprehension, I slow down. I let them read only one page of a story, then I have them talk to me about it. What is happening on this page? Who is doing what? Why do you think they are doing that? What do you think will happen next? By asking these sort of questions, it helps the child understand that the whole reason we read is to be able to understand what is being said. Have her read a page and then you read a page and have her ask you the questions. Let her see that as you read the words, you also were thinking about what was happening in the story. When her attention from this game strays, stop. Continue this sort of comprehensive reading, increasing the length slowly. Another technique is to have her draw or write a few sentences describing the book when she is finished with it.

Maybe the books are too simple in plot? Most children between 8-10 start to really care about what is going on in the story. What are the characters doing and why? I don’t know what reading level she’s on, but maybe she’s not interested in the story and therefore reads mechanically and doesn’t care to retain the story. Discover her reading level (her teacher should be able to help you here), then pick age-appropriate subjects that she’s interested in. If her reading level can’t keep up with her interest level yet–have her keep reading books that she can read and playing the question game, and then you read to her books that she’s interested in until she can do that on her own.