Kids suffer from "use it or lose it" when they put their brains on hold during the long summer months. This brain drain can affect reading skills, virtually erasing weeks or months of education.
How to Avoid the Brain Drain
Encourage kids to pick up a book to read for pure enjoyment. Summer reading can mean great freedom from teacher approved reading lists, classroom goals and the dreaded Accelerated Reader program that many districts use.
Let kids read anything they find enjoyable: books, magazines or even comics. This is not a time to pull out musty classical literature. Allow kids to read a little below their reading level, read science-fiction and fantasy, read about sports, humor, animals, or other things that they couldn't score reading points with during the school year. Was there was a good series they enjoy, but couldn't finish? Now's the perfect time to polish off that collection of Animorphs, Black Stallion, or even Captain Underpants.
Hidden Benefits of Reading During the Summer
Reading is good for children, but don't let them hear anybody say it. Parents can ask their children take a reading break during the day, which has the added benefit of cutting out mindless "screen time" on the computer or TV.
If parents have a large enough age gap between kids, they can encourage the older ones to read to the little ones. This not only promotes sibling bonding, but it helps with reading aloud skills. Keeping small children occupied like this can also take a load off the parents, who can put that extra time to use doing household tasks.
Establish Family Reading Time
Kids need to see their parents read too. This reinforces the idea that reading is important and enjoyable. Declare an afternoon or evening as "reading time" and have everyone in the family grab a book or magazine to read at the same time.
Family reading time can also be for reading a book out loud together. Parents can use funny or dramatic voices to make books more exciting. This is a great way to tackle books that a child might like to read, but lack the necessary vocabulary.
Focus on Boy Friendly Reading
Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, says that boys start losing interest in reading around 4th grade. He says this is because a lot of boys start to see reading as a "girl thing," and are often forced to read things that don’t relate to them. It doesn't help if mom does all the bedtime reading at home, or if they have female teachers picking out smooshy heartfelt tales to read in class. Boys need action, adventure, and yes, pure grossness.
Use summer as a time for boys to read whatever they want, to reinforce their reading skills while finding books that are actually fun. The same rules can apply to girls, who can use their summer reading time to indulge in romance, fashion, animal tales or arts and crafts books.
Avoid Summer Brain Drain
Avoid summer brain drain by taking children to their local library or book store to select books they find truly interesting. Parents should ask children to read a little each day to keep their reading skills sharp and to cut down on mindless screen time.
 |
