Summer Reading Hacks to Help Your Kids Have More Fun
With the break in school comes the expectation of summer reading. Some people love it, others don’t, but it is an important way to keep your child’s brain active and learning during the summer months. If your child is a more hesitant reader, continuing to read throughout the summer becomes even more important.
Why Do Summer Reading?
Summer reading is a great opportunity to allow your child some more freedom in their reading choices (even if it is from a pre-selected school or library list) and experience some new authors or genres they wouldn’t get at school.
Perhaps the most important aspect of summer reading is that your child learns that reading doesn’t go away when school does. Instead, learning to love reading can open more doors for fun, learning, and growth beyond the classroom!
For kids who struggle with reading, it’s vital that they continue to practice and keep up their momentum through the summer months. Even if what they’re choosing to read isn’t always “on grade level,” the practice and the enjoyment of reading will go a long way to opening the doors to greater success next year.
According to a 3-year study conducted by Dominican University, kids who participate in summer reading programs scored higher on beginning-of-year reading achievement tests. These students also experienced greater reading achievement all year long than kids who did not participate.
Here are Some Summer Reading Hacks
These are ideas or inspiration you can tailor to your family’s needs so your child can enjoy the reading process and have fun this summer!
Set Mini-Goals
Instead of just saying “this is the number of books you need to read this summer,” break it down for your child. For younger kids, this can mean a page count (30 pages per day, for example) or a time count (like 1 hour per day). For older kids, maybe it is a book count, but broken down by week instead of the summer as a whole (i.e., one book per week).
More important than the goals themselves is the way you set this up. Communicate the goal clearly, have a way to track it (stickers, a goal-setting app, or some other creative and motivating method), and CELEBRATE whenever your child reaches their goal!
Celebrating victories isn’t bribery… it’s a way to help your child stay motivated and engaged throughout the summer.
Find Out What Motivates Your Child
Along those same lines, make sure the celebrations and motivation techniques are tailored to your child. Maybe it’s a trip out for ice cream on Friday if they did their reading. Maybe it’s a sleepover on the weekend after they finish a book. Or maybe it’s just a “day off” after X number of pages.
Tap into whatever motivation style your child has so that you can leverage those things to keep them engaged! Top motivation styles for kids include:
- Food or sweets
- Quality time (whether with family or friends)
- Adventures/doing something fun
- Praise (words of affirmation go a long way for some kids)
- Gifts (even little things!)
- Autonomy (giving them the choice on some things as a reward)
Choose Funny Books, or Ones on Topics Your Kids Love
Most summer reading programs have an element of choice, so tap into that! Let your child guide the summer reading list so they can select titles that are about things they’re interested in.
Summer isn’t the time to push heavy literature; instead, choose some lighter, humorous books that will keep your child engaged.
Again, keep the goal in mind: your child is learning to love reading outside of the school context over the summer!
If you’re not sure what age- or level-appropriate books may be, talk to your local librarian. They may have some hidden gems that will engage your child in a new way!
Do It With Them!
Set your own summer reading goals along with your kids so the whole family is invested. When your child sees you reading and trying to meet a goal (and yes, sometimes failing), they will be more motivated to do it themselves, too.
Your child will probably love asking you if you’ve met your goal, and you can tap into some healthy family competition to see who can read the most!
Is Reading Always a Fight?
If your child fights tooth and nail against all reading, it may be because there are some underlying factors that make reading less enjoyable or harder than it needs to be. If your child isn’t reading fluently, struggles with comprehension, or is always feeling frustrated, they are going to be more resistant to reading over the summer (and during the school year).
Some of the biggest root causes of reading struggles include cognitive skill weaknesses in things like auditory processing, processing speed, working memory, and visual processing. If these skills are weak, your child won’t get as much enjoyment out of reading.
Summer is a great time to help them catch up and become successful readers! Our ReadRx program has helped thousands of struggling readers gain ground—and even excel in a short amount of time.
If you’re fighting with your child about their reading, or if no matter what you try they just don’t seem to “get it,” give us a call. We’d love to talk more about how brain training has helped struggling readers experience success!
