By Middle School Book Author Denise Turney

It’s bad enough that kindergarteners and first graders lose about a month of reading comprehension skill during summer. Older kids, as early as the second grade, fall even further behind in reading. Despite how long your child’s summer break is, there could be impact.¹ A sure workaround is to keep kids reading books during summer.

But how do you pull this off?

Reading Books During Summer Benefits

Incorporate reading books during summer into your personal schedule. If this sounds like too much of an ask, settle on stories you love. That or you could read nonfiction books that strengthen your parenting, career or life knowledge and skills.

The more value you associate with reading, the better. For example, the simple act of reading offers a range of benefits², including:

• Enhanced mental focus
• Improved creativity
• Better empathy, which can make your relationships more rewarding
• Deepening knowledge (it’s hard to think of a course that doesn’t rely on a book or some form of written content)
• Strengthens brain network circuits
• Expands vocabulary

Book Reading Advantages

Read books, especially for enjoyment, and you can lower stress. As you continue reading, your children are bound to notice the positive impact that reading for pleasure has on you. That alone could cause them to link reading books to a beneficial activity.

However, your kids probably won’t see the real advantages of reading books during summer if you simply tell them how much they could gain from opening a book. Instead, your kids need to experience the advantages of reading firsthand.

So first you must get your kids to read books outside of school. To do this, make visiting a library or bookstore part of your weekend activities. Set the intention to make choosing books to read fun. Start early, before your kids begin going to school.

Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Read Books

That shared, the below options can work regardless of your child’s age. Get the most out of these actions by partnering with your kids, working with them to bring each step from concept to practice:

• Consider visiting the library or bookstore after you finish weekend chores. That way, your kids and you may feel more carefree when you head out to pick out books to read.
• Let your kids fill out their own library card application.
• Sign up to attend bookstore reading sessions. Your local bookstore might bring children’s book authors in to read from their bestselling novels. Attend these visits with your kids and your children can walk away with an autographed copy of a popular children’s book.
• Attending author reading sessions also makes it possible for your kids to ask their favorite authors questions about an interesting book character, setting or plot.
• Let your children choose several books they want to read. After all, your children’s taste in books might be different from yours. What you think is a great story might actually bore your young readers.
• Join in the fun. In other words, instead of sending your kids to their room to read books during summer, read a book with your kids. Actually sit and take turns reading a book out loud with your kids.

Fun Places for Book Reading

Where your kids engage with books can make reading a lot of fun. Because books are lightweight, the options are plenty.

When it comes to picking fun places to read, let your imagination soar. For instance, you and your kids could read books:

• In a tent while you’re outdoors camping
• While sitting in a hammock
• On the back porch during a late, hazy summer afternoon
• Next to your kids’ toy box
• On the living room sofa on an early Friday morning on a day you’re on vacation from work
• As you’re swinging on a park swing set

On out-of-town vacations, you can enjoy reading books with your kids while sitting around a hotel pool. As a reminder, don’t hold back. Allow yourself to get creative when it comes to picking places to read books with your kids.

Identify Times to Read Summer Books

To keep kids reading books during summer, set aside a time when you’ll encourage your kids to read. To make it easy, you could ask your children to tell you the title of the fun book they want to read a few minutes before you encourage them to start reading.

If they don’t suggest a book they want to read, select a book on your own. When your children finish reading, ask them interesting questions about the book. This helps to make reading interactive.

Stay free from critiquing your child’s responses to your questions. Make reading books during summer stress free. Soon you’ll learn the types of books that your kids like most.

Another factor you might notice is how vibrant your child’s imagination is. Who knows? One of your kids might be a writer. Give them several more years and you could be reading books they wrote.

What Happens When Kids Love Reading Books

Should your children come to love reading books during summer and year-round, you probably won’t have to encourage them to read anymore. Other takeaways that could surface include:

• Kids knowing which parts of schoolbooks the teacher is likely to focus on during in-class work and on exams
• Ease understanding what you and other people communicate, whether you’re talking or writing
• Clarity when identifying nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, etc.
• Better understanding of sentence structure

Just one summer of book reading and your kids might find it easier to understand and complete their school assignments. This single benefit can increase your children’s confidence, particularly as it regards academics.

More than that, if you make it fun to keep kids reading during summer, you could instill a lifelong passion for book reading in your children. Long term effects could be passed down through generations. And it all starts with a single book.

Resources:

1. What We Know About Summer Learning Loss: An Update | Psychology Today
2. Benefits of Reading Books: For Your Physical and Mental Health (healthline.com)