It’s that time of the year and school is officially out! While that’s great for commuters, summer break can be quite an injustice to your kids. Not because they don’t deserve a break from the busy curriculum and rigorous academic expectations, but because research shows that after summer break, many children return to school having digressed academically almost 3 months! Sounds scary I know, but your kids can still take a well deserved break, while staying ahead of the game and keeping their minds sharp!
So how do you keep your kids ahead of the curve or at the very least, on track? It’s actually quite simple. You have already heard of the summer reading that is required in almost every school across the country. The reason for this is because reading is exercise for the brain. Reading alone teaches children everything from reading comprehension to life skills such as problem solving. But I know what you’re thinking- how do I get my child engaged? Here are a few tips:
Give Your Kids the Power: I don’t mean letting your kids set their bedtime, but giving them a say in what they choose to read, when and where is giving your child a lot of power- at least in their eyes. This alone gets your child excited and makes them feel empowered, and now you’ve got buy in!
Set a Schedule: As parents, you need to be flexible, but setting some type of guidelines that you and your child agree on together will establish a routine that you can stick with. For example, maybe your child will read for 1 hour on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for one hour after lunch in the hammock outside and then for 30 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday in bed before bedtime.
Incorporate Family Time: Children learn by example and seeing you read alongside them will make them realize that reading is something we do for pleasure and not just because we have to. Plus, it’s an opportunity to make this time special. If your child is very young, perhaps you can read with him/her, taking turns reading each chapter or a page. Maybe your child can read as the narrator and you do the voices!
Provide Incentives: Go to a teacher store, buy a reading chart and stickers (let your child pick these out!) and give him/her a sticker for each chapter (or book) that he/she reads. Then determine incentives for x amount of chapters read. After 5 chapters, maybe they get to pick the movie rental for a movie night with snacks, or get to have a friend over for a sleepover. Perhaps the goal for reading 3 books will be their highly anticipated weekend camping trip or day trip to a water park with a friend.
There was a quote that I always kept up in my classroom: “Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body”. Exercise keeps your heart strong and gets your body in good shape so that you feel better and live longer. Well reading does the same thing for your mind. When your child reads, he is exercising his brain and keeping his mind sharp. There really is a reason for why schools require reading over the summer but parents often times forget why, and therefore, our children think it’s just something that needs to get ‘done’. If you really want to keep your kids ahead of the academic curve, then instill a love of reading within them so that reading becomes a part of their lives and not just a part of their summer to-do list. It will be a gift that keeps on giving and the gift of knowledge is the most important and priceless gift you can give to your child.
And if you’re wondering where to get started, check out the scholastic book lists online by grade level or the Newberry award winning books. That should give you and your child a good start!
