Summer 2004
How to Keep Your Kids Reading This Summer!
Some Tips from the Reading Experts

Did you know when school starts in September, children you don't read over the summer will have to play catch-up with their peers who do? Your kids can even experience a "loss of knowledge" if they don't have some kind of summer reading program. Here are some tips from folks at Reading Is Fundamental about how to incorporate books into your family's summer schedule.

Read aloud with kids. Take them to see a local storyteller.
Or be one yourself. The summer months leave extra time for enthusiastic read-alouds with children no matter what their age. Don't forget to improvise different voices or wear a silly hat to make the story that much more interesting!

Check our Scalliwags schedule for our own storytelling times. Combine activities with books.
Summer leaves lots of time for kids to enjoy fun activities such as going to the park, seeing a movie, or going to the beach. Why not also encourage them to read a book about the activity? If you're going to a baseball game, suggest your child read a book about his or her favorite player beforehand. In the car or over a hot dog, you'll have lots of time to talk about the book and the game.

Visit the library.
If your child doesn't have a library card, summer is a great time to sign up. In addition to a wide selection of books to borrow, many libraries have fun, child-friendly summer reading programs.

Talk it up.
Talking with your kids about what you have read also lets them know that reading is an important part of your life. Tell them why you liked a book, what you learned from it, or how it helped you -- soon they might start doing the same.

Help kids find time to read.
Summer camp, music lessons, baseball games, and videos are all fun things kids like to do during the summer. However, by the end of the day, children may be too tired to pick up a book. When planning summer activities with children, remember to leave some time in their schedules for reading. Some convenient times may be before bedtime or over breakfast.

Relax the rules for summer.
During the school year, children have busy schedules and often have required reading for classes. Summer is a time when children can read what, when, and how they please. Don't set daily minute requirements or determine the number of pages they should read. Instead, make sure they pick up books for fun and help find ways for them to choose to read on their own. You may even want to make bedtime a little bit later if you find that your child can't put down a book.

Have plenty of reading material around.
Storybooks aren't the only thing that kids can read for fun. Be sure to have newspapers, magazines, and informational material on hand that might spark the interest of a young reader.

Use books to break the boredom.
Without the regular school regimen, adults and kids need more activities to fill the hours. Books that teach kids how to make or do something are a great way to get kids reading and keep them occupied. Don't forget to take your kids' favorite reading series along on long road trips.

And most important, remember to Lead by example.
Read the newspaper at breakfast, pick up a magazine at the doctor's office, and stuff a paperback in your beach bag. If kids see the adults around them reading often, they will understand that literature can be a fun and important part of their summer days.

Parents' Know Best
We all need less stress in our lives and it drives me absolutely crazy when my kids start to fight about whose turn it is to use something or who should go first. So I asked them to pretend to be a number and if they were a number, would they rather be an even or an odd number. Then when war breaks out over using the computer or what they’re going to watch on TV, I ask them what the date is. If it is an odd day, Ais who chose the odd number gets to go first, and if it is an even day Laura gets to go first. Ais wisely choose odd days as she gets an extra day with months having 31 days. Laura hasn’t figured this out yet!!