Summer Reading
Lost in an Incense Fog
It’s already July, and for many school students across the country, summer has been well under way since the second week of June. With nearly a month out of school, one thing on every teacher’s mind and, hopefully, the minds of some concerned parents as well, is the question: are the children reading enough during summer break? By this time of the summer, unless some daily reading was scheduled from the beginning, the answer is probably “no.” That doesn’t mean there’s no hope for getting back on track, however. This is definitely one of those better late than never scenarios. Here are some facts to help motivate you to keep your kids reading during the rest of summer.
One of the most reliable indicators of whether a child will return to school in the fall ahead of his grade level, or having falling behind, is the frequency of summer reading. Children who own their own books read more during the summer than children who borrow books from the public library, and there is some indication emerging that students who own e-books that can be read on tablets and iPod touches are more likely to read than students who own traditional books.
The summer reading that is most often lost, also referred to as a summer reading setback, is a problem for children in low income families. As much as three months of reading achievement is lost by theses low income students between June and September of each year on average, while students in middle class family environments tend to stay about the same. This could be a factor relative to the ownership of books theory posited above, so purchasing personal books for low income children might help reduce the amount of setback faced by these students.
Reading outside of school is essential to building a successful relationship with books. If children get the idea early in life that reading is an experienced confined to academic environments, they will continue to live that way themselves and will be less likely to read unless they feel it is required. This means less reading for recreation, and less chance of pursuing one’s own interests through reading. Some students may be interested in learning more about various types of herbal incense, for instance, as an introduction to a possible vocation in homeopathic medicine — but because she only reads in a school setting, she might never branch out and discover this on her own.
So keep the kids reading all summer for a more successful fall.
