School may be out for the summer, but if you want your kids to be in teachers' good books come fall, don't forget about summer reading. Children should be reading summer-long in order to maintain their skills and gain a love of reading. Try the following tips from PBS Reading Experts:
1. Pick a program: In order to keep kids motivated and on track, Ernst suggests participating in a summer reading program. Most local libraries have engaging, interactive reading programs with positive reinforcements to keep kids reading!
2. Time it right: Children in lower grades should be reading 20 to 30 minutes a day and part of that time can include a parent or caregiver reading to a child, experts say. Children in the upper grades should be reading 30 minutes to one hour a day.
3. Quiet down: To facilitate reading, give kids a quiet place to relax and read. Keep the space free from TV and other distractions so they can have uninterrupted reading time.
4. Mix things up: Provide children with reading material in a variety of genres. Elementary-aged children should be reading fiction and non-fiction books that cover a range of genres, like science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction.
5. Many materials: Summer reading should include reading material of all lengths, from chapter books to short stories to magazines. There are times when you want to read something short so you pick up a magazine to read. Kids should have the same things available for them.
6. Talk about it: Take time talk to kids about what they're reading and about what you're reading, too. If the parents are talking about books they are reading, then the kids see reading as being worthwhile. Let your children see you reading and enjoying it, and they're more likely to want to read, too.
7. Write it down: There is a strong reciprocity between reading and writing. Children should be given opportunities to write, whether it be email or letters to grandparents or friends, so their writing skills continue to grow along with their reading skills.
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