Summer reading is important for children’s academic success. Parents can encourage reading by enrolling their child in a library’s summer reading program, providing reading opportunities, allowing them to choose their own books, and setting a good example by reading themselves.
Summer is a time when the days are long and kids like to spend their afternoons running outside, watching TV or playing their favorite video games. Despite the flexibility of summer hours, it is important that children devote themselves to summer reading. When children read during the summer, they perform better in school when they return to class in the fall. Beginning readers especially need to read during the summer to reinforce the literacy skills they learned during the school year. You can encourage summer reading by providing more reading opportunities for a child, rewarding reading, and setting a good example.
Parents can help their child become more involved in summer reading by providing her with opportunities to read during the summer months. For example, one of the best ways to help a child read during the summer is to enroll them in the public library’s summer reading program. Summer reading programs encourage children to keep track of everything they read each day by writing in a reading log. Young readers are rewarded for their time reading by receiving small prizes. Children who meet the program’s reading goal can often receive coveted invitations to pizza or ice cream parties at the conclusion of the summer reading program.
Before participating in a library’s summer reading program, a parent should register the child for a library card. Owning a library card allows a child to check out books from the library. Children should be allowed to select their own books according to their hobe interests. Whether they enjoy reading graphic novels, books about celebrities, fiction, or magazines, kids will be more likely to read during the summer if they can choose their own reading material.
During the summer, parents can encourage their child to read in a variety of informal settings. Parents can read books to children while waiting in a doctor’s office, traveling by long-distance car, or standing in line at the supermarket. They can take their children to the library or bookstore to tell stories or read books and newspapers at home. Some parents take their kids to the park and read while sharing a packed lunch.
Regardless of how parents encourage their children to participate in summer reading, they need to make sure that the children witness the reading as well. Children learn by emulating their parents; if they notice that adults read at home, it is more likely that they will also want to read for recreation. Subscribing to magazines, reading newspapers, and taking children to bookstores and libraries will help children realize the importance of reading all year round, not just during the summer.
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