By Rebecca Burton, Reading is Fundamental (www.RIF.org)
Summer’s here and you’ve started making your annual checklist: Sunscreen? Check. Sandals? Check. Beach towels? Got “˜em. But while you’re going over the must-haves for the season, don’t forget the single most important thing your kids will need: something really great to read.
While relaxing on the beach with a good book is one of life’s most delicious pleasures, study after study has shown that reading is one of the most essential things that kids can do when school’s out. A 2002 report from National Summer Learning Association states that children lose approximately two months of learning over the summer, meaning that come September, teachers will spend those first few weeks re-teaching kids what they already learned the year before.
“Motivating children to read throughout the summer is essential to building lifelong readers,” says Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s largest children’s literacy nonprofit. “And reading is the doorway to all other learning.” With that in mind, how do you convince your kids to build reading time into their summer plans? Fortunately, RIF has come up with a number of ideas to help you make this summer a season of reading.
- Combine activities with books. Going to a baseball game? Head to the library and check out a biography about your child’s favorite player. Is summer camp on the agenda? See if the camp has a blog you can follow.
- Lead by example. Show kids that you love to read by picking up the newspaper each morning or sharing about something you’ve read, and they’ll understand that reading is important to everyone.
- Relax the rules. Summer is a time when children can read what, when, and how they please. Don’t set any requirements, and don’t force kids to read something they’re not interested in.
- Visit the library. It’s got thousands of books and audiobooks to borrow, computers to use, and magazines to leaf through. Make the library your “go-to” destination for the summer.
- Think outside the book. Recognize that reading can happen in many formats, from eBooks to magazines to online read-along stories. Check out www.rif.org/kids for great read-alongs and other fun games and activities designed to keep kids reading.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to this: read. Read together, read separately, read anywhere, read everywhere. It’s the surest way to make certain that your kids will start the school year off right.
Rebecca Burton is a writer/editor at Reading Is Fundamental and has been working in the children’s literacy field for the past twelve years. She loves to read, travel, and hang out on the back porch with her husband and their two-year-old daughter.
I agree!
Good stuff Rebecca. Reading is sooooo important!
I love RIF. They come t my sons elementary school a few times a year giving out books. We appreciate the organization a lot.
Peace, Love and Chocolate
Tiffany
.-= Tiffany´s last blog ..We Both Can Not Be Wearing The Skinny Jeans =-.
RIF. My daughter has kids she tutors year round and she takes them to the library. Most libraries this time of year have book reading sign up for kids. The book in this post was inspired by Ryan Peete, twin sister of RJ(Rodney Jr.)Peete, Holly Robinson-Peete and RodneyPeets first born children. It’s about a sister named Callie who has a brother named Charlie who she is so proud of but happens to have autism. “My Brother Charlie” should be in your local library or can be purchased at most book stores or on line for $10. Not sure if most of you knew that. Just my FYI. Holly’s dad stared on Sesame Street. Who didn’t know that? LOL. Is it obvious I am “Team Holly”?
I like the “think outside the box” suggestion. I recently (Thursday) took my son & his male cousin both 15 to a book signing in Brooklyn. “Losing My Cool” by Thomas Chatterton Williams. In Losing My Cool, Williams describes how he managed to juggle two disparate lifestyles–“keeping it real” in his friends’ eyes and studying for the SATs. The 1hr ride in rush-hour traffic here in NY was well worth it.
The author and I had communicated through Facebook and he was kind enough to take some time out after the Q&A to talk with the young men. For young black males and females it is very important to let them know that it’s OK to read. Plus this author actually looks like you and know’s what YOUR going through.
It’s good to KNOW something other than some rap lyrics and what Beyonce’s up to this week.
While we can not do this with every author or book, it definitely helps. I mean sitting through a 2hr talk about “World of Warcraft” isn’t how I plan most of my nights. But the look on his face when we purchased the book before the author began there talk was PRICELESS! I got props for that one and he was done with that book in 3days flat.
Opportunity is where you find it.
i am most def hitting the lubrary and book stores this summer. but i can honestly say that you as a parent can love to read and your kids will hate it. my oldest two kids have never liked reading even though they had their own library but my youngest two ages 5y.o and 14mnths have picked up my reading bug and they love for all of us to read to them. so i will purchase books for the younger two and have the older two read outloud to them. thats the only way they will pick up a book.