Activities for Preventing Summer Reading Loss

Research has shown that time away from school, such as during the summer break, results in a loss of literacy and mathematical skills for most children. Duke University's Harris Cooper reported that the average loss over summer was about a one month instructional level for both subjects. Other factors affect the level of skill lost, such as family income and age. While the summer vacation is a time for children to have a break from school, it is crucial for parents to encourage learning outside of the classroom so that their children have a leg up when school begins again in the fall. Here are some tips on how to promote and encourage reading skills during those hot summer months.

Your local public library is a great place to start. Take your children to the library once a week to check out a few books that they are interested in and then schedule an amount of time to spend reading daily, even if it's just 20 minutes. Younger children love keeping track of their accomplishments on charts. Scholastic provides printable record sheets in PDF format here. It's important that children choose books that are appropriate for their reading level. Also from Scholastic, there are book lists for ages 3-5, 5-7, 8-10, 10-12, and older students to give you some ideas of age-appropriate books. Give children a goal of a number of books to read by the end of the break and if they meet the goal, reward them with maybe a special day outing or a pizza party. Many libraries also offer free, fun activities for children over the summer to supplement your reading at home.

Make reading time a family affair. By reading aloud to your children or allowing older children to read aloud to younger siblings, you are encouraging family interaction and listening skills. Increase comprehension of what is being read by creating games and art activities that go along with the books. Children can design bookmarks, assemble dioramas, and draw pictures to illustrate what they have read. Create a bingo game using a free template like this one, putting a character's name or another clue from the story on each square, and then asking questions that go with each clue to be covered.

Remember, learning is not limited to time spent in the classroom. By creating your own summer reading program at home, you will help your children love to read as well as help them be academically successful.

Sources:
Bingo Card Printer
Five Free and Easy Tips for Summer Learning: Research Pointers and What You Can Do, Brenda McLaughlin and Jane Voorhees Sharp
Scholastic