According to a popular study by Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.
Wow-oodles of words to help your child succeed! It’s no mystery that children who read well also succeed well in their studies.
However, it’s easy to get distracted in the summer, with so many activities and sunshine fun, reading often falls to the wayside. If you want to encourage your child to continue reading through the summer, try these tips to engage their interest:
1) Enroll your child in a Summer Reading Program.Reading Programs.If you do not have a local program or wish to give your child additional opportunities for summer reading fun, you’ll find a variety of online and retail-sponsored children’s reading programs.Local libraries often plan fun activities, such as pool parties and arts & crafts as part of their reading programs. Often their are prizes for meeting summer reading challenges or simply for participating in the program, too.
2) Participate in Online or Retail
Here are a few to get you started:
- 2010 Barnes & Noble Summer Reading
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading - TD Bank Summer Reading Program
http://www.tdbank.com/summerreading - Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program
http://www.halfpricebooks.com/feed_your_brain.html
3) Join in with I Can Read! It’s the open door to a child’s adventure with the most beloved characters in the history of children’s literature. It a proven series for encouraging young readers from early reading together to advanced reading alone.
On the I Can Read! websitehttp://www.icanread.com/ you will find helpful hints, activities to inspire your children to read, and tips on how to find and select the right books for your child.
4) Look for additional opportunities to read. Look outside the “book box” and encourage your children to read other forms of written media such as magazines, newspapers, and even street and road signs while traveling.
A free magazine my children enjoy is the Lego Magazine. You’ll find subscription sign-up here: http://club1.lego.com/en-US/legomagazine/default.aspx
5) Be enthusiastic! The key to engaging your child in any reading program is to be excited about it and share that excitement with your child. If children sense the promise of fun and see your enthusiasm, they are most likely to follow your lead and make summer reading a rewarding part of their summer.
