Summer is approaching! Sunny days filled with biking, scootering, swimming, and playing outside will soon be here. All of these summer activities are great for kids, but so is summer reading! Have you heard the phrase, “Use it or lose it”? Kids need to use their reading skills so they don’t slip behind over the summer months.
Summer is an important time for students to keep reading and improve their language skills. Think about it, if you played basketball and you didn’t pick up a ball for three months. You would not be as ready as the person who continues to dribble and shoot over those months. The same is true for reading. Work reading into your summer schedule so that your child doesn’t lose the hard-earned skills they have gained this year. Help them to keep from getting rusty!
Here are just a few ways to make reading a fun part of the summer schedule:
1. Make regular trips to the library or the bookstore.
2. Schedule a reading time that you commit to.
*20-30 minutes before bed?
*20-30 minutes after lunch?
3. Read a chapter book with your child.
*be sure to talk about what struck you after each time reading
4. Make it fun! Read in different places once in a while:
*the front steps, a park, make a fort, snuggled up on the couch with you,
in the backyard, in the car
5. Celebrate when goals are met.
*after each month or a certain number of books have been completed
*watch the movie of the book after it has been read
*have a list of treats they can choose from
6. Let them choose what they want to read!
*chapter books, picture books, nonfiction books, graphic novels, cookbooks, magazines, board game rules, pamphlets, etc.
There are so many ways we can build reading into the summer days. Find what works for you as a family and stick to it! Summer days are beautifully long and finding 20 to 30 minutes a day for reading is a goal we can all meet with just a little adult commitment.
Top 10 Summer Reading List in the next post!