Caregivers, school providers, and students all need a break once the final bell of the school year rings. However, it’s no secret that when schools close for summer, many students suffer from a summer learning loss. Research shows this “summer slide” is often caused by a decrease in access to books and reading opportunities during the summer months.
SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER, NOW WHAT?
Research shows it’s critical for students to develop summer reading habits to bridge the gap between the next school year. The summer months can help nurture joy in reading. However, it can be challenging for caregivers to remain diligent during the summer with competing priorities and in some cases access to materials.
Where can caregivers of students look to help develop reading proficiency in these summer months? How can school providers help facilitate a relationship with reading in their absence? This blog aims to share resources available to encourage summer reading.
4 Resources to Help Encourage Summer Reading For Your Students
Your Local Public Library Website
It’s common across the country for public libraries to offer a summer reading program geared toward the needs of children in their communities. Some public libraries partner with the local schools to help promote the program before summer break starts. Go to your local library’s website to see if they have a summer reading program. Many offer challenges, book recommendations by age group, and some even prizes to award daily reading habits.
It also helps bring families and children to their local libraries to pick out books, as well as participate in story time and activities going on at the library. The library staff can also be a resource in helping caregivers and children pick out age-appropriate books to foster reading.
PBS Kids Summer
This website provides a ton of resources for families to help children enjoy reading during the summer. From book recommendations to a book tracking chart, and outdoor activities to try, this website is filled with helpful information to keep kids learning during summer break.
Camp Book It
This reading program was created to bridge the reading gap during summer. At this website, parents with students in PreK-6th grade (ages 4-12) can enroll in Camp BOOK IT!. It includes digital tools to track the number of books read with a reward through a partnership with Pizza Hut.
Reading is Fundamental
Join the summer reading pledge at this website. It also includes other downloadable resources and book recommendations to keep children engaged with learning in the summer. Another cool feature is weekly live read-alouds by authors. This is a great resource if reading to your child or self-guided reading is difficult.
Even though the focus of this article is on reading, one can’t help but mention how important hands-on activities and outdoor play is to a child’s development. Although it’s not directly reading, it does help children learn new skills and boost their vocabulary. These are just a few wonderful resources available for summertime learning.
Feel free to share this article with your clients or families to keep the kids reading this summer.
About Specialized Assessment & Consulting
Founded in 2005, Specialized Assessment & Consulting provides special education assessment, therapy and related services for schools nationwide through professional contract service providers including school psychologists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, diagnosticians, social workers, special education teachers, tele-therapists, and more.
Specialized employs more than 200 team members serving more than 40,000 students in their mission to help every child reach their full potential.
For more information, including services and staff needs, visit www.specializedassessment.com
