Hellobee Boards

We talk about them, my son usually points out some obscure detail in the picture on the page and wants more details around it. And I also explain what certain words mean and sometimes, I ask my husband to say a certain word in another language .

LO LOVES to read, so no, I definitely don't just read the texts. We probably read at least 100 books a day (no, seriously, thank you library), and I'd go crazy having to read some of them over and over. So, I do all kinds of things to make them interesting.

I'll sing them, I'll count different things on the pages, talk about concepts, colors, everything and anything and she likes the connections drawn between different things.

At LO's age we aren't there yet but I do explain things. There's a book about bears and the whole text is "I love you this much... I love you high... I love you low..." But the bears are doing all kinds of stuff so she will point to different things and we will talk about the different objects and colors and actions, even though the text doesn't reference any of that. This is just one example. It takes approximately 6 years to read one book.

We stop to talk things through, and usually don't just read from beginning to end - I talk through any questions, explain details, acknowledge details that they point out, etc.

My LO isn't here yet...so I am going to answer as a teacher (though each teacher will have their own answer.)
I think there is merit to both allowing readers to "grapple" with a complex text and offering explanation. When readers constantly have the explanations, they often rely on that and not the text itself. Additionally, they aren't required to use context clues to create meaning for unknown words. If the goal is to have them go beyond comprehension to learn a lesson or analyze the text in some way, then offering explanation can help facilitate that. Just my two cents.

Lately I mostly read. I ask questions, I answer them, we talk about things we see, but I don't usually offer specific explanations without being asked. I think with enough exposure she will pick things up on her own.