Article – Why Kids Need to Read During the Summer – Kelly Wilson
Kelly Wilson
Teaching Resource Center
Kelly.wilson@trcabc.com
Why Kids Need To Read During the Summer
Kids celebrate the end of the school year with the common refrain, “no more teachers, no more books.” While teachers won’t argue the first part, there are three main reasons why kids should spend time getting lost in books during the summer season.
Practice Important Skills
It’s imperative that kids read over the summer. Reading is a skill that, like any other, needs consistent practice. I explain to my kids that knowing how to read is like practicing a skill in sports – to get better, you have to keep trying. If kids don’t read during the summer weeks, their reading skills atrophy and it takes even more work to get them up to speed in the fall.
Provide Down-Time
Summer days are crammed with fun outdoor activities and events, and all of this fun wears us out. Summer reading provides a sacred time during each day for much-needed rest, especially during sweltering afternoons.
Make a consistent time each day to read with your kids. Read their books along with them – I like to read a page and then have my kids read a page from their current chapter book choice. Set aside time for each child to read alone, then pick up your own book or magazine to enjoy. Start the summer with fifteen minute blocks of down-time for reading, and soon you’ll find that all of you will be enjoying longer amounts of reading time.
An Important Transition
Imagine picking up a book to read, only to discover that the text is written in a language you don’t know. Even if you could pronounce the words correctly, you wouldn’t be able to tell someone about the passage you just read.
This is what reading can feel like to kids during their early childhood years. The focus of classroom teachers and curriculum is on skill-building, the process of decoding, and beginning comprehension. All of this can seem like a job.
Summer is the ideal time to make reading enjoyable. When kids take time to read with a parent, friend, sibling or alone, they become more comfortable with reading. Like the movement from sounding out letters to recognizing words, there is a transition from reading as work to reading as fun.
It only takes one time for kids to experience getting lost in a story, and they’ll be hooked! Setting aside time for summer reading is a great way to make that happen.
Kelly Wilson is an editor at Teaching Resource Center. For over 25 years Teaching Resource Center has provided quality <a href=”http://store.trcabc.com/classroom-tools.html”>reading supplies</a> at discount prices.
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