Sizzlin’ Summer Reading
“Do you want to prevent your child from experiencing the “summer slide” in their reading skills?”
We all know the importance of continuing educational habits over the summer months, but how do we motivate our children to read outside of the school setting? Summer reading is an essential part of maintaining and strengthening the skills your child has developed throughout this past school year. It boosts academic performance and confidence as they enter the new school year, improves vocabulary and comprehension skills, and increases their focus and concentration. Most importantly, it fosters a love for reading.
This summer, I encourage you to think outside the box when it comes to your child’s reading. Make it an experience they won’t forget by reading in various settings. For example, read in a park, under a tree, in a fort of blankets, at a picnic, by the pool, at the beach, in the dark with a flashlight, or in different modes of transportation when you are traveling (car, airplane, train, cruise ship). Sometimes a change of scenery can make all the difference! It’s like a new adventure each time.
Have your child read to various people (parent, older sibling, younger sibling, grandparents, a neighbor, a friend, a tutor). You could even create your own book club among friends or family members! This is a great way to instill confidence in your child as they read aloud to someone else and get to show off their skills. In turn, it builds relationships with others too!
Set aside time to read together and independently. We all know the importance of reading to your child each day, but it is just as important for them to see you silently reading books of your choice independently, modeling it for them. Carve out time in your day where everyone sits down in a quiet, comfortable place in the house, set a timer (or don’t), and read independently all at the same time.
Spice it up with different genres and authors! The summertime is a great season to try new genres and to see what your child is interested in. Go to your local library or bookstore to borrow or purchase books from different series and authors. Encourage your child to possibly read one book from each genre (realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, nonfiction, biography, graphic novel, humor, adventure, poetry, classics, mystery, folktales, fables, myths, fairy tales…the list is endless!).
Lastly, engage in the reading process with your child before, during, and after. Before reading a book or chapter, have them make predictions about what the book is about or what will happen next. During reading, pause frequently to check for understanding by having them summarize the text in their own words, identify how characters feel (and tell how they know), make inferences about the text, discuss unknown vocabulary they come across, and make connections to other stories and their own real experiences. After reading an entire book, ask your child what their favorite part was, if they would recommend it to a friend or not (and why), what did they learn from the story, what were the story’s overall themes, and what questions would they ask the author if they could.
I hope these ideas are helpful to you this summer as you encourage your child to dive deeper into meaningful texts! Our Lower School Summer Reading Challenge packet, “Let’s Read S’more this Summer!” will further explain the challenge, how to record your child’s reading minutes, and it will give more fun ideas to do with your child while reading. In addition, there will be many series and author suggestions for each grade level included in the packet. You will receive this from me during our Book Fair week, May 12th-16th. The challenge will begin on Monday, May 26th (after our school year together has ended). I look forward to hearing all about your summer reading experiences when we return in the fall!
Your Librarian,
Alesha Hill