5 Ways to Encourage Your Child to Read Over the Summer

We know how important it is for kids to be reading on a continual basis, but sometimes reading gets put to the side especially over summer vacation when school is out. However, summer is one of the most important times to read because kids are not in school and the skills they learned during the school year could be lost over the summer, which I first hand have witnessed as a teacher.

Every year when I wrote out my last quarter comments for report cards, I would always write on every single child's report card to keep reading over the summer because I felt it was that important to have those words as my last comment to my classroom children.

Here you will find 5 ways to encourage your child to read over the summer, the most important thing to keep in mind is your child should read for enjoyment over the summer.

Go to the Library

Most public libraries have wonderful summer reading programs for kids, the libraries encourage summer reading by making it fun and sometimes offering incentives such as prizes and parties. The public library is free and the rewards are endless, making at least a weekly trip to the library in the summer can help your child make great strides in reading and help your child to be prepared when school starts again in the Fall, plus going to the library is a lot of fun.

Make Books at Home

When my daughters were young, they used to love making books at home and I really enjoyed doing this activity with them too. A homemade book can be as simple as stapling blank pieces of paper together and writing words and illustrations. If you feel like doing more, blank hard cover books can be purchased at a relatively low cost by simply doing a search on the internet. I placed a basket in our living room and my daughters would put their home made books in the basket, we would read the books when we felt like it and my daughters knew just how important the books that they made were.

Travel with Books

If you are going on vacation, whether it be in an airplane, car or boat, bring a tote bag with books in it for the kids so that they can read whenever they feel like it. Books are perfect to take along on a trip because it can keep the kids busy for an extended period of time and it is an activity that is beneficial to their thinking and learning.

Write Notes

Reading and writing go hand and hand, summer is a great time for your child to send a happy note to a relative. Be sure to ask that relative if they could also write back to the child with a happy note, kids love receiving mail and the excitement of return mail will encourage more writing.

Read by Example

Be sure to sit down every day for a period of time and read, when kids see their parents reading they will want to follow suit, so read and lead by example.

Sources:

Self-experiences