I’m a big fan of summer reading programs. Many children lose a lot of ground in reading and math skills over the summer. With a little daily practice you can avoid that loss. Besides, when it’s too hot to play, it’s really fun to read a great book in the shade with a glass of lemonade. Our local library offers marvelous incentives to read every year, like free ice cream, free admission to swimming pools, and free toys. They even offer a celebration party for kids who read so many hours during the summer months. As an added plus, the air conditioned library is nice and cool on hot days.
It’s also fun to either keep track of how many minutes kids read, or how many books they read. At our literacy tutoring program we created a poster board decorated with a huge mountain. We gave each kid a marker with their name and a picture of a bear on skis. The kids got to move up their bears up the mountain as they read more hours.
One of our former teachers had a cardboard cutout of the head of a caterpillar on the wall. Every time a child finished a book, they got to choose a colored circle. They put their name, the book they read, and drew a picture if they wanted. Then they put the circle on the wall behind the caterpillar head. At the end of the school year, the caterpillar wrapped around the classroom wall. Kids loved to see the caterpillar grow as they read books. I’ve also seen teachers use thermometers and race cars to track the progress of their students.
Summer reading isn’t just for the kids. Parents can benefit from taking an afternoon or after dinner break with a book break, right along with the kids. It sets a great example, and it’s good for adults to read, too. Challenge your kids to read as many different things as they can – mysteries, fairy tales, non-fiction, biography, a newspaper article, a recipe, even a cereal box.
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