Reading is fundamental for acquiring knowledge, maintaining mental acuity, and achieving academic success. The phenomenon known as the “summer slide” often leads to frustration and a sense of stress knowing a new school year approaches. Engaging in reading activities throughout the summer lessens this stress, increasing confidence towards the new school year.

According to a three-year study conducted by Dominican University, children participating in summer reading programs exhibited higher scores on beginning-of-year reading assessments. These students also experienced consistent reading progress throughout the academic year compared to their non-participating peers.

Summer Reading Engagement is Key

Ensuring your child remains engaged with books during the summer months is an excellent strategy to keep their minds active and growing, outside the structured environment of a formal classroom.

If you’re seeking inventive methods to keep your child’s brain engaged, we’ve got some ideas to make summer reading more enjoyable for everyone in your family.

(1) Set Easy Goals – Celebrate Wins!

Encourage your child to set achievable reading targets, such as a certain number of pages per day, completing a specified number of books per week, or accumulating a set amount of reading time each day. Depending on your child’s age, you can utilize tools like sticker charts, goal-setting apps, or other creative methods to track progress throughout the summer.

Celebrate with a trip for ice cream or to their special park. Maintaining low-pressure, easy goals alleviates stress often associated with reading in general.

(2) Select Books of Interest or Humor

Engaging with enjoyable, self-selected books helps reading proficiency. Find reading lists tailored to your child’s age and interests, either through online resources like Pinterest or by seeking recommendations. Librarians are skilled at finding books that capture children’s imaginations and may suggest hidden gems your child will adore.

(3) Involve the Whole Family

Parents—it’s time to read! Reading alongside your child not only sets a positive example but also offers numerous cognitive benefits for adults, including staving off cognitive decline. Set summer reading goals for yourself alongside your child. This demonstrates your own commitment to the importance of reading!

Encourage mutual accountability for your reading goals. Your child will relish the opportunity to check on your progress and may even be motivated to outpace you in their reading endeavors!

 

Summer Reading Struggles? It Might be Something Else

Frequent difficulties with reading could indicate underlying cognitive challenges that hinder your child’s enjoyment and proficiency with books. If your child frequently:

• • Struggles with unfamiliar words

• • Experiences difficulty recognizing previously encountered words

• • Reads slowly and cannot maintain comprehension

It may be time to explore their cognitive skills to identify potential barriers. Reading is a multifaceted process that relies on many cognitive functions. In addition, every individual’s reason for struggling with reading may vary.

LearningRx offers a way to build the underlying skills that are at the root of most reading struggles. Rather than simply repeating content and memorizing words, LearningRx’s brain training gives readers the skills they need to become more intuitive, independent, and confident readers. Call LearningRx Fort Collins at 970-672-2020 or click the button below to get started: