There is a lot of research that highlights the fact that during the summer students quite often regress in reading skills. Our schedules change, kids are more active, stay up later and spend a larger portion of their day outside. At least that is how it happens in this household! I will admit that my kids are reading less, especially my youngest and newest reader. I will be working harder to create more reading opportunities for both of them in the 6 weeks we have left of summer break.
I have mentioned before, and it is worth mentioning again, that reading is all around us. It is not just found in books, although that is what we tend to think of when many of us think of reading. Right now you are reading and you are on a computer or maybe even a cell phone, reading! It is important to think about reading in real life contexts because those will be the demands placed upon our little ones as they grow up.
“A Day in the Salt Marsh” – Sylvan Dell Publishing on BeThereBedtimeStories.com
It takes different skills and thought processes to read a book of fiction than it does to read a recipe, email or social studies text-book. Reading on the computer alone provides a plethora of different contexts, requiring different ways in which you navigate and make meaning with the text in front of you. It is a very important skill that students need to acquire today.
Webtime Stories are just one way to keep kids’ gray matter active over the break. Here are a few of the bazillion resources offering ideas to integrate reading/learning into your family’s summer routine, and ways to contribute to this important cause. Remember, our kid’s college transcripts depend on it!
Unlimited Webtime Stories for Summer Reading http://www.betherebedtimestories.com/summer-reading.aspx Reach Out and Read – Summer of a Million Books http://www.reachoutandread.org/supporters/events/soamb.aspxSummerLearning.org Event Calendar http://www.summerlearning.org/events/eventlist.aspPBS.org Tips for Summer Reading http://www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/articles/sumreading/main.html Reading Rockets http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/summer/ Scholastic Summer Challenge http://www.scholastic.com/summer/
So keeping this in mind I feel less and less guilty about my loss of reading focus at home. My daughters have been reading. It was just in a variety of real life forms such as playing on the computer, reading menus, reading road signs, or reading a thank-you note. Now I am off to help my daughters pick a Be There Bedtime Story to send to my Aunt Hope who is turning 79 tomorrow!! Oh yea, they will be reading that too!