SUMMERTIME READING
By Denise O'Dea
Ahh. The sweet smell of summer. Even in this hectic day, I believe that the sweetness that is summer means slower, lazier days. For kids summer means days swimming and nights playing ball or catching fireflies. Summer means vacation time with the family to re-connect with some much needed quality time. And summer means, staying out and up later at night, and (maybe) sleeping later in the mornings. But, summer should not mean that academics should be thrown out the window.
So, what can be done to combat the lost effect of the learning that has taken place over the course of a school year? The easiest, cheapest, and quickest thing for parents to do is READ to or with their kids. Reading is the basic skill required for all future and continued learning. Yet, reading is not just something to be learned, it is something to be enjoyed. Parents’ encouragement and support of reading in the home plays a significant role in developing positive learning models.
Following are suggestions for parents who wish to support or develop independent reading skills for their child:
- Read to and with your child. Don’t stop because your child is old enough to read.
- Make regular visits to the city library. Enroll your child in the summer library reading program. Help your child find books on topics of interest.
- Set aside part of your child’s room or your home as a child’s library.
- Play all types of games that promote reading.
- Buy books for your child’s birthday or special holidays. Ownership encourages interest.
- Praise your child’s efforts and accomplishments in reading. If a child feels good about his reading, it is more likely that reading will be viewed as a positive activity.
- Make reading easy. If the TV is within easy reach, make books just as easy for your child to access.
- If your family rules permit, summer is the perfect time to relax bedtime rules and allow your child to stay up late, in bed, reading. Let him use a flashlight under the covers (if he wants). Remember how hard it was to put a good book down at bedtime? That same excitement awaits your child.
- For the very early reader, make your whole house a reading lesson. Make labels for everything your child sees or uses: door, wall, sofa, bed, etc.
- Following a recipe together is an excellent way to give your child reading practice.
- Be a good role model. Let your child know you think reading is important by demonstrating that reading is a part of your everyday life.
Finally, if all else fails, follow the advice of Robert Frost: When asked how youngsters could best be taught to read, he replied, “Surround them with so many books they stumble over them.”
