Summer Reading Programs: Recommendations to Increase Participation

Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer which translates into parents looking for all consuming summer activities – my family included.  Both my wife and I set aside time in May to agree on our summer activity plan.  Our summer looks something like this: week-long day camps; swim and track teams; gardening, back-packing and long road trips with the family.  One summer activity that is of particular interest will be our summer reading program.  Admittedly this takes extra effort on our part and happens best when we role model our own reading habits.  If your are interested in what I have read this year, you can find it here. 

As I scanned the educational news this morning, I found this article Allow children “light” reading to maintain learning over summer, in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  What resonated was the comment made by executive director of Dallas-based Half Price Books – Kathy Doyle Thomas “We do it because statistics show kids lose 1.5 months of learning over the summer”.  Reading this comment, had me thinking on an earlier post I made where I touched on concreted cultivation – families putting in a few solid months of learning during the summer.  To impress upon this further, I re-read an earlier chapter in Gladwell’s Outliers on The 10,000 – Hour Rule.  Dr. Daniel Levitin a neurologist wrote “The emerging picture from studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert – in anything”.  We do not have to become experts in reading, however, creating a summer reading plan will increase knowledge during a critical point in a young persons life.  If you think about it, ten thousand hours during our lifetime should be easy given the expected life expectancy.  I just checked mine here and happy to report if all goes well, I could hit 99 years.

I pulled together my thoughts along with the MJS article on recommendations to increase reading.  

Recommendations for increased reading:

• Join summer reading program – Check local library for details
• Reading nights at library – Typically once a week, beneficial to toddlers or early readers
• Magazine subscriptions for kids – Find their interest, there are plenty of easy to read sources
• Compromise: Allow kids to stay up 15 minutes later each night – but only if they’re reading
• Be a role model: If you want your child to read, model the behavior in your own life
• Books on CD’s gains interest – Beneficial to early readers, careful it’s not a crutch
• Keep reading material in high traffic areas – Common areas throughout home or in your car  
• Involve books on road trips – Pick places you plan to visit
• Read to them they read to you – Strike a deal so you both win