8 Ideas to Keep Your Child Reading this Summer

Summer break is meant for having fun. Families dream of road trips, sandy beaches, summer camps, and pool time. Once that backpack hits the floor on the last day of school the thought of academics is gone for months. Kids need a break, that is true. However, studies show that children need to keep their minds sharp and engaged to avoid losing the academic gains they made over the school, also known as the summer slide.

In Kindergarten Ella was behind in reading and it impacted her confidence as well as her desire to pick up a book. I assumed she was getting all the proactive she needed in preschool and didn't devote enough time to helping her at home before she went off to elementary school. After working very hard she did catch up and every summer we strive to keep her on level. It has been a struggle to spark her love of reading, so we had to get creative. Here are a few out-of-the-box ideas that have worked for us, and we will continue to implement them with our incoming kindergartener.

·   Find a program where your child can be a volunteer reader. We participated in the Paws for Literacy program at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. The girls read books to dogs, cats, and rabbits in the shelter to help socialize them while they waited for their new home.

·   Check your local library for summer reading programs or challenges. Libraries are a great resource and can double as a field trip activity or you can participate online. New age-appropriate books are recommended each week and children can track their progress to earn rewards.

·   Sign up online for a Scholastic Books free summer reading challenge. Kids will receive a list of books for their reading level, and they can earn virtual rewards.

·   If your child prefers the tablet over a paper book there are apps for that. Check out the Readability Smart Reading and Comprehension Learning App. The Smart Reading Program with Advanced speech recognition & A. I reads to your child. The child is prompted to read the same passage. Readability listens and provides feedback and real-time pronunciation correction as your child reads. I also like the Bookshelf ARC app with color-coded reading levels for Elementary School students.

·   Another app to consider is Messenger Kids. Technically this is not a reading app however it is a great way to keep in touch over the summer. Invite friends and family members to send messages on the app that your child will need to read and respond to.

·   Challenge your child to research a new place they are interested in. Tell them to read the about section and two others areas of the website. When they are finished ask a few questions about the venue and if they answer correctly, they have earned a trip there. Ella chose to learn more about the local trampoline park.

·   Go old school with a paper calendar and reward system. Set a goal to read for twenty minutes each night. At the end of the week, your child can earn a treat. Pick the treat together at the start of the week so they know what they are working toward. Keep it simple like a trip to the Target dollar bin on Saturday or a Treasure Box with wrapped goodies at home. Sometimes grandma will sponsor one month and at the end of the thirty days, they have each earned some cash.

·   Make it a game with free printable worksheets you can find on Pinterest from an online search. We like Summer Reading Bingo which challenges kids to find different places and items to read.

 The key is to keep it light and fun by choosing different strategies that resonate with their personality and level of motivation. The goal is to keep them engaged on some level rather than completely disconnecting from learning over the summer months.