Book-It for the Summer

Encouraging kids to read over summer break keeps their minds sharp and fosters creativity. Here’s how, and why, to light a fire under their literacy

By Anna Sachse
CTW Features

This summer your child can lose a tooth in Africa, go where the wild things are, tour a wonky chocolate factory, investigate every kind of snake on earth or perhaps even play a game of quidditch – all they have to do is open a book. But keeping your kids flush in fact and fiction over the summer months will do more than simply entertain them.

“Not only is reading a great way to occupy summer time,” says Loriene Roy, President of the American Library Association, Chicago, and a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information, Austin, Tex., “It prevents the loss of reading and writing ability.”

A 2001 review by the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, found that in the elementary grades, “a summer loss of three months accumulates to become a gap of 18 months by the end of sixth grade. By middle school, summer reading loss…produces a cumulative lag of two or more years in reading achievement, even when effective instruction during the school year is available.”

“The reading loss that occurs over summer is something to be really concerned about,” says Roy, “and is especially unfortunate when there are remedies.”

The quickest fix is flipping pages. In her definitive study, Summer Learning and the Effects of Schooling (Academic Press, 1978), sociology professor Barbara Heyns found that middle school-age children in every income bracket who read six or more books over the summer gained more in reading achievement than those who did not, and that using the public library led to even higher vocabulary gains than attendance in summer school.

Lucky for young readers and their parents, numerous libraries and organizations are happy to help by offering kid-centric summer reading programs which often include themes, incentives and activities, such as keeping logs, book reports, parties and games. Most states organize a summer reading project, but even the Arizona Diamondbacks and The Arizona Republic are sponsoring “Extra! Extra! Read Your Way to the Ballpark! 2007 Summer Reading Program.” After children complete this incentive-based reading plan, they receive a free ticket to a Diamondbacks game and a chance to attend an Arizona Republic Baseball Kids’ Clinic.

There are numerous ways to ease your young children into this wide world of books. Jane Marino, President of the Association of Library Service to Children, Chicago, and Director of the Bronxville Public Library, Bronxville, N.Y., suggests that parents participate in what librarians call “Dialogic Reading.” While reading to your children, periodically stop and ask them questions such as, “What do you think will happen next?” Questions keep the child actively involved in the book, Marino says, allowing them to take ownership of their experience with the story. Another helpful tool, Marino points out, is children’s audio books, which are now frequently packaged with the hard copies so that a child is able to read along as he or she hears the way the words are pronounced and used.

It is also important to allow children to have a say in their own reading material. “Some six-year-olds are ready for Young Readers, while some eight-year-olds want to stay with picture books,” explains Marino. “Make sure you support your child in selecting books that he or she likes and is comfortable reading so that reading is more of a pleasure rather than a chore.”

It’s never too early to get your children started on the road to reading success. “Even preschool-age children can develop reading readiness habits,” says Roy. And the best way to do that, both Roy and Marino agree, is for a child to see the parents reading. So be sure you take a trip to the library and pick out a few books for yourself!

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