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Monday, June 30, 2014

Reading Is Not on Summer Vacation ~By Suzy Leopold

The Summer Slide!

As the school year comes to an end, some students will experience a summer learning loss or the “summer reading slide.”  Did you know that children can lose two to three months of reading progress if reading comes to an end on the final day of school?  The loss of three months, every summer, accumulates and becomes a cumulative achievement gap of 18 months, by the end of sixth grade.  

“Research shows the most damage to reading skills occurs outside school, during the summer months,” states Jim Trelease, author of The New York Times bestseller, The Read-Aloud Handbook. Even though the school doors are closed, it is important that learning and reading continue during the summer season.  Children who continue to read over the summer actually gain academic skills.
Reading books should not be on a summer slide.

Sustained summer learning that includes reading and new experiences provides many benefits for students when school is not in session.  Summertime reading provides positive effects on a child’s self-esteem, increased self-confidence and closes the achievement gap.  Learning opportunities, during the summer months, equal academic success, for the student once school resumes.  Reading during June, July and August, can make a difference in the likelihood of whether a student is on the path of preparing for college or a decision to drop out of high school.  Kids who read outside of school read the best.
How tall is your stack of books for summer reading?
How can you prevent kids from losing academic ground during the summer months?  How can you encourage family literacy activities while kids are at home for the summer? 

1.  As a parent, make sure you are seen reading by your children.  Model the importance of reading every day.  Reading to your child and reading by your child is great.  Reading at the same time is even better. 

2.  Provide a print-rich home that includes books, newspapers, magazines, and even comic books.  Label items in your home, for an emergent reader to read.  Beginning readers will delight in reading the word “door,” written on an index card that is taped onto the back door. If your family is planning a summer vacation, take books along with you. Keep books in the car.  Pack books in a backpack or a satchel for easy reading while traveling.  Perhaps the plan is for a day trip to the zoo, a museum, or to get out for a favorite summertime ice cream treat.  If so, a book should be tucked in a pocket or a purse, as you get out and about. 

3.  Visit your local library.  Your child should have his own library card to check out a variety of books to read.  Select books together based on topics of interest, or within a particular genre or written by a favorite author that are developmentally appropriate for your child. Select a stack of picture books for toddlers and preschoolers that an adult or older sibling can read aloud to the emergent reader.  Younger children also enjoy reading by themselves, while looking at the pictures.  Allow independent readers to choose their own books.  Encourage your child to select books from both fiction and non-fiction genres.  A simple rule of thumb for helping your child select books at his reading level is to have them choose a page, in the middle of the book, and read it. If they do not know five or more of the words, then the book is too hard for independent, pleasure reading.  Consider keeping a reading log and recording the books that your child read. Reading should be fun and memorable.

4.  Participate in literacy activities at your public library.  Most libraries have summer reading programs and special events that are fun and engaging.  Enjoy story time, guest authors, movies, make and take crafts and many hands on activities. Many libraries offer prizes for meeting a reading goal.

Summer literacy experiences will increase a student’s vocabulary, build background knowledge, and ensure summer learning gain. To help kids sustain reading skills, they must practice reading and read for enjoyment. 
Yes, students are on summer break.  However, reading and learning are not. Provide opportunities for your kids to read and have fun in the summer sun. Reading during the summer makes a difference. Summertime learning and reading will equal student success and create a lifetime reader.
Read more books!
As writers of children's literature, it is so important for us to promote the value of reading throughout the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter.  Reading, writing, learning and growing is not just for the classroom.  Reading together with your child or grandchild is a win-win for the child and for the reader. Smart summer fun that includes books, keeps kids learning and growing all summer long.  What picture books and/or chapter books are you and the kids reading this summer?

16 comments:

  1. Love your slide of books, how creative! Good research and something all parents/caregivers should know. Will share.

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  2. Kathy: The somewhat slower pace of summertime is a time for students to slow down and relax. Children need to engage in educational activities during the summer months to avoid the "summer slide." Unfortunately, our special populations of students, individuals of limited English proficiency, kids from economically disadvantaged families, children of single parents, and students with learning disabilities, are the kids who need books in their hands this summer. As writers, it is necessary for us to promote the value of reading.

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  3. Suzy excellent post! Great pictures! I would also suggest getting children and grandchildren their own magazine subscriptions. Nothing is more fun than getting something in the mail. And don't forget letter writing. :)

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  4. Yes, Janie, I agree with both of your suggestions to improve reading and writing skills. Magazine subscriptions are an excellent gift of reading for kids of all ages. There are so many children's magazines available for a wide range of ages. In a world of constant chatting and twitting and all sorts of electronic messaging are we really saying anything? Letter writing has become a lost art. Writing letters communicates and expresses thoughts that are meaningful. ~Suzy

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  5. I love the visuals and the message in this post!!!

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    1. Kirsti: Your complement is appreciated. May your summer include opportunities to grow, learn and read for yourself and the little ones in your life. Thank you for checking out our GROG blog. ~Suzy

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  6. Great suggestions, Suzy. My kids were lucky to have ready access to two fabulous libraries with annual summer reading programs. We also used the summer to read aloud books in a series, from the Little House books to Avi's Tales from Dimwood Forest to Harry Potter. There was something magical about immersing ourselves for a long stretch in a particular book world.

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    1. Pat: You have created an image in my mind of you and your kids hanging out during the summer while enjoying the magic of reading with each other. Such beautiful memories for you and family. Thank you.

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  7. Great post! We're making our kids read 30 min a day. And Scholastic.com has a summer reading program where u can clock in your minutes.

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    1. Hope the kids are meeting their required thirty minutes of summer reading, Tina. And more importantly are reading for joy, learning and growing. Scholastic does have many great resources. ~Suzy

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  8. This is great. I feel I have failed my older kids... I can still not get my older son to read if it's not 'school time'....ugh.. But thankfully, my youngest likes to read all the time and I'm really doing everything I can to keep it that way.

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    1. Orthodoxmom3: It is OK. I would think you have done your best to share and model the value of reading with your kids. Everyone has their own learning style and so hopefully, in time the importance of reading will be appreciated by your older kids. How wonderful that your younger child is modeling for the older siblings. Thank you for reading our GROG blog. ~Suzy Leopold

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  9. I think no one will slide on their reading goals for the summer after reading this.
    Wonderful post.
    I agree with everyone about the clever images you staged & shared.
    It would be so cool to live close to a library.

    I feel for children who don't have adults/parents/older sibs who can't get them to one in the summer. And without that school library they do fall behind. Too many families of children who lag behind, don't have books or magazines in the house.

    And rural children, may have the folks to take them, but they are so far away from town & the adults & kiddos are busy with crops to put in, take care of & etc.

    This is just a very important post GG. - Thank you.



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    1. Hi Jan: Thank you for your kind words. It is so unfortunate when children do not have access to a library, for whatever reason. I have often wondered about the many books that sit on the shelves of a school library, untouched during the summer. I am not suggesting that a school librarian's contract be extended during summer. Would like to see communities and school districts work together to offer summertime library services to the kids. The kids who do not have access to books, during the summer, are the kids that need literature in their hands. ~Suzy

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  10. Suzy,
    Great photos and powerful words! I think I saw this was also published in your local newspaper right? Thank you for sharing these ideas with parents and children. Summer 'slump' is such a problem. With this article, you've hopefully helped prevent it by some of your readers!

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    1. Todd: Thank you for your encouraging words. You are correct. These words were published, as an article, in the Macoupin County~Carlinville Enquirer~Democrat Newspaper. After I submitted the article, the editor of the newspaper told me, "I want to hire you to read and write with Ethan [her soon to be 3rd grade son] this summer." The slide where I staged the books for the photos, belongs to Grant [4th grade] and Nathan [2nd grade], who live across the way. They, too, come to our house on the prairie, for summer tutoring. They arrive on a four wheeler traveling from their home to ours, through the corn and soy bean fields. So twice a week, one hour at a time, three boys come for Summer School with Mrs. Sue. I am thankful for the opportunity to promote the importance of summer learning in our community. ~Suzy

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