Children reading

Just because school is out for the summer doesn’t mean learning should stop. In fact, continuing to read and educate our children on summer break is critical for their success in the following school years. With this in mind, today we’re exploring the exact reason why kids should continue reading all summer long and how you can encourage them to do it.

Why Read?

According to the Madison Public Library, “Children who don’t read over the summer experience summer learning loss.” You know that saying “use it or lose it?” It’s effectively what happens when children stop expanding their knowledge and improving their reading skills. They start to lose it. “And the effect is cumulative. Kids who lose reading skills over the summer will be two years behind their classmates by the end of 6th grade.”

What to Do to Encourage Reading?

First, take them to the library! Libraries in the Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties will give your children a free library card as long as you show proof of residency. This will allow you to borrow books for a week or two at a time. And, if you can’t get back to return them by their due date, many libraries allow you to renew once or twice without penalty online.

If your children don’t want to get physical books because they prefer reading them on a tablet or ereader, fret not. You can now access free eBooks via most public library portals. Ask your library if they have this capability. If they do, you can simply digitally borrow the book you want and then return it after your done (or by the “due date”).

You can also encourage reading by asking your children to read junk mail, magazines, books you have at home, even closed captioning on their favorite television shows. Set your TV to show the captions and then mute the volume pushing them to read the script.

Still need help? Why not play some reading games? A simple web search of “free reading games” yielded hundreds of thousands of results. And, if you don’t have a computer at home, most public libraries allow you to use their computers for one or two hours each day.

So, what are you waiting for? Take your reading to the next level this summer!