I’m going to guess that most normal schools are out now, or nearly so. Having school into late June seems to be simply a lovely Virginia tradition. Bah!
Anyway, this is when we start hearing about the summer slide with regard to reading. I think this feels more critical when you have a child who is already struggling with reading. While I’m not a reading specialist, I’ve had a kid who needed a little more focused attention in this area, and as such will share some thoughts.
1. Make the Time
I am asked often enough how I find time to read. My answer is more like a mission statement: You don’t find time to read, you make time to read. Reading needs to be part of your schedule like eating or bathing, because in its own way it’s as important. Sure, you can go a day without reading, but why would you want to? I prefer bedtime as the ideal reading time. It’s easily remembered, and it’s a great way to wind down. The evening hour can also offer a spouse or older sibling an opportunity to participate. Now in the summer your options open up and it’s a great time to take advantage of that. Look at the morning before the pool opens. Or a quiet time after soccer camp. Evenings on the front porch. In a tent with a flashlight. Summer is the chance to make time for reading every day, but to have more freedom to mix it up.
2. Bring Home the Books
Even if you have tons of titles at home, summer offers a wonderful opportunity to explore the public library. Having something new to read — that you have for a limited time — is more exciting. The library also gives you the chance to try something different. Pick out some folk tales from other countries. Try the new horse series. Investigate life in China or under the sea. Don’t overrule a book your child picks as being too young for him, but also reserve the right make some selections yourself.
It’s often said that boys are more interested in nonfiction than stories, so head over to the 500s of your Dewey Decimal system. It’s rich with science books for kids including topics like space, dinosaurs, insects, snakes, and mammals. And these aren’t the boring books you might remember from your childhood with long pages of text on one side, and one second-rate photo on the other. Today’s children’s nonfiction works with innovative layouts, multi-level text, and amazing photography. Ask your librarian to direct you to other nonfiction sections as well, including poetry, art, history, and biographies. Bring home a variety of books and plenty of them. (If you’re worried about keeping track of them, our library books live in a basket by the couch and that’s where they are read.)
3. Mix It Up
I love reading, and yet there is a stage of learning to read that makes me clench my teeth. It’s exciting when your child is first sounding out words. Later, it’s wonderful when you are reading together and she asks the meaning of a particular word. The part that is hard for me is a particular middle phase, where my daughters would sound out the same word for the third time within five pages. We each made it through this period (successfully) and I held my tongue (mostly), but it led me to my greatest discovery of mixing up our reading time.
As my youngest daughter was in the easy-reader stage for a long time, we learned to keep it interesting and fun. She’d read one book to me, then I’d read a picture book to her. Sometimes we’d take turns with her easy reader book. Sometimes she’d sound out words in the picture book. Other times, I’d read a chapter book to her and we’d discuss what happened in each chapter before moving on. There were even times when she would read to herself, and I’d read my own book alongside her. Occasionally, her older sister would step in to do the easy reader part while I washed the dishes. (A dollar payment most well spent.) We used this time to improve other reading skills besides sounding out and word recognition. Picture books are great for discussing art and illustration cues to the story. With their concise stories, picture books are wonderful to reinforce the concepts of story arcs, prediction, and comprehension. We’d talk about our favorite picture or the funniest part. I might remind her of a similar book or a personal connection, and soon she was doing the same thing. What could have been an exhausting stage for both of us, turned into a wonderful time of exploring, discussing, analyzing, and yes, reading.
(This post was previously published at PBS Booklights.)
Showing posts with label Summer Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Reading. Show all posts
Today my Booklights post is about my three favorite summer books. Can you guess them? Pop over to see and add your own suggestions in the comments. Usually I put a bonus book here, but this time I’ll refer back to an earlier post on Jenny Han’s book The Summer I Turned Pretty:
And while we’re still talking about Booklights, take a look at Susan’s post about which children’s book you wish you could enjoy for the first time all over again. Her writing is lovely and insightful, and has inspired a wave of thoughtful comments. Go add yours.
Belly measures her life by summers when she stays in a beach house with a family friend. While Belly’s mom and her friend Susannah spend time together, Belly tags along behind her brother and Susannah’s boys. She takes on the role of younger sister to Jeremiah and Conrad, and sometimes it chafes her like the sand in her swimsuit. But this summer is different, because Belly has finally come into her own. She’s grown up now and things are changing.Wow. There’s something about quoting your own blog that’s a little unnerving. But perhaps not as much as an ego trip as pointing out your own interview. Terry of The Reading Tub put together a wonderful interview talking about PBS Booklights with the team. Check it out.
And while we’re still talking about Booklights, take a look at Susan’s post about which children’s book you wish you could enjoy for the first time all over again. Her writing is lovely and insightful, and has inspired a wave of thoughtful comments. Go add yours.
Today’s comic Rhymes with Orange strip is titled “Summer Reading,” and features a reading boy addressing a reading adult with this question: “You’re in a book club too? How many before you get a prize?”
Cue the bemused literary laughter.
Thing is, I believe in Summer Reading. I believe in Summer Reading Prizes. I even believe in — the horror — Summer Reading Lists.
Cue the ominous music.
While I was busy not reading blogs so that I could answer patrons’ questions about my shiny new library branch (“Where’s the biography section? Um, I guess I don’t know that either.”), there was a big discussion on Summer Reading Lists that came down pretty firmly Against. Having offered to organize a kidlitosphere list of good books for the summer, I was surprised. First by the initial emails against the concept and later by the posts. And so I did what came naturally to me — I ignored it.
But last night I went back to those posts and what I see here is a failure to communicate. Most people seem to be railing against “required summer reading” and calling them “summer reading lists.” Okay, different things in my mind and in my county. To me, a Summer Reading List is a selection of books that parents and kids might not otherwise know about pulled together in an easy format. So when those kids and parents come to the library and are looking for something to read — and they do ask that vaguely — the parent and librarians can direct them to some vetted books that will hopefully hold their interest. I’ve worked on the list for My Fair County twice, and we made sure the books covered a range of reading levels, genres, and cultures. Extra copies were purchased so that the books would be available. The children’s department staff fanned out over all the county schools and booktalked these books along with the Summer Reading Program to generate interest in reading. And it is all voluntary on the part of the kids and the parents. (The staff is pretty much required to do the booktalking, and some of us enjoy it so much that we want to do it on YouTube later.)
No one has to participate in the Summer Reading Program. If they participate, they don’t have to read those particular books. They’re just suggestions, ideas, new titles to try. And I think the program works. It gets more kids in the library. It puts books in the front of their minds. They think about reading. Because here’s the thing that people don’t seem to talk about when they refer to the children picking out their own books and blissfully sailing through there to-read list: Some kids don’t like to read. In fact, some kids will not read. And even more, some parents don’t really care.
So if these prizes and lists and promotions maybe trigger an interest in some kids, than that’s a fantastic step. If they reward kids who read anyway, well, how great to get recognized for a job well done. These days soccer kids get trophies for just playing the game, why can’t readers get a little pat on the back too? And maybe, just maybe, we’ll pull in some kids who wouldn’t have been reading without the incentive. I can’t see how that’s so wrong.
So I believe in Summer Reading and lists and prizes. And I believe in lazy reading and informal book clubs and finishing the latest Clique book. There’s room for both.
Edited to add: I didn’t have time to link to the original posts about Summer Reading Lists, but some opinions are noted at A Year of Reading, The Reading Zone, Jen Robinson’s Book Page, The Book Whisperer, and Becky’s Book Reviews.
Cue the bemused literary laughter.
Thing is, I believe in Summer Reading. I believe in Summer Reading Prizes. I even believe in — the horror — Summer Reading Lists.
Cue the ominous music.
While I was busy not reading blogs so that I could answer patrons’ questions about my shiny new library branch (“Where’s the biography section? Um, I guess I don’t know that either.”), there was a big discussion on Summer Reading Lists that came down pretty firmly Against. Having offered to organize a kidlitosphere list of good books for the summer, I was surprised. First by the initial emails against the concept and later by the posts. And so I did what came naturally to me — I ignored it.
But last night I went back to those posts and what I see here is a failure to communicate. Most people seem to be railing against “required summer reading” and calling them “summer reading lists.” Okay, different things in my mind and in my county. To me, a Summer Reading List is a selection of books that parents and kids might not otherwise know about pulled together in an easy format. So when those kids and parents come to the library and are looking for something to read — and they do ask that vaguely — the parent and librarians can direct them to some vetted books that will hopefully hold their interest. I’ve worked on the list for My Fair County twice, and we made sure the books covered a range of reading levels, genres, and cultures. Extra copies were purchased so that the books would be available. The children’s department staff fanned out over all the county schools and booktalked these books along with the Summer Reading Program to generate interest in reading. And it is all voluntary on the part of the kids and the parents. (The staff is pretty much required to do the booktalking, and some of us enjoy it so much that we want to do it on YouTube later.)
No one has to participate in the Summer Reading Program. If they participate, they don’t have to read those particular books. They’re just suggestions, ideas, new titles to try. And I think the program works. It gets more kids in the library. It puts books in the front of their minds. They think about reading. Because here’s the thing that people don’t seem to talk about when they refer to the children picking out their own books and blissfully sailing through there to-read list: Some kids don’t like to read. In fact, some kids will not read. And even more, some parents don’t really care.
So if these prizes and lists and promotions maybe trigger an interest in some kids, than that’s a fantastic step. If they reward kids who read anyway, well, how great to get recognized for a job well done. These days soccer kids get trophies for just playing the game, why can’t readers get a little pat on the back too? And maybe, just maybe, we’ll pull in some kids who wouldn’t have been reading without the incentive. I can’t see how that’s so wrong.
So I believe in Summer Reading and lists and prizes. And I believe in lazy reading and informal book clubs and finishing the latest Clique book. There’s room for both.
Edited to add: I didn’t have time to link to the original posts about Summer Reading Lists, but some opinions are noted at A Year of Reading, The Reading Zone, Jen Robinson’s Book Page, The Book Whisperer, and Becky’s Book Reviews.
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