Why Summer Reading is Essential for a Child’s Success!
Summer reading facilitates the practice of skills learned during the school year and improves children’s experience of the world around them while also helping them to discover the joy of reading.
When children turn what was unfamiliar before into ordinary, practical skills and eventually into a habit by practicing reading skills.
By participating in summer reading activities children gain the most reading skills and a better understanding of language, therefore, transforming from Learn to Read into Reading to Learn.
10 reasons why summer reading is essential for your child’s success.
1. Summer Reading Beats Summer Slide:
Summer reading may not be a priority for your child, but you should make it a priority as a parent. This is because kids who read throughout the summer beat the summer slide. Summer reading is critical to your child’s ability to retain information learned earlier and develop critical thinking and knowledge skills for the coming school year. Children must read every day to maintain literacy skills and develop new skills.
2. Improves Emotional Intelligence:
Emotional intelligence is essential for your child because it helps them develop, maintain and enhance close relationships and friendships. In addition, they begin to understand people and things around them better, a skill that is important for academic success. Reading also stimulates children’s ability to understand their emotions safely. This skill makes it possible for them to understand feelings, handle adversity, and express emotions.
Reading further helps children to connect better with human experiences than simple observation. According to research, reading allows people to connect better with each other and accept each other’s emotions and thoughts. They also develop critical thinking skills by reading how different characters handle issues.
3. Reading Exercises the Brain:
While many people read for fun and enjoyment, science states that reading is a powerful workout for the brain. It increases intellectual stimulation and provides numerous mental health benefits. In addition, reading involves a complex network of circuits and brain signals: As a child’s reading skills improve, those networks become sophisticated and more robust. Students should therefore read to keep their brains in shape.
Just like people lose body muscles when they don’t exercise, a lack of reading causes a loss of literacy skills. Lack of reading during the summer causes students to lose up to two months of reading development. This process is referred to as summer learning loss or summer slide. Summer reading is not an activity to keep students busy during the vacation. Instead, it is a critical requirement to keep their brain alert and on their educational career track.
4. Broaden their Perspective:
Just like emotional intelligence, your child can improve their perspective of life and human experiences through reading about people with different characters and backgrounds from theirs. For example, reading books with characters of other races, family structures, interests, abilities, and beliefs can develop your child’s sense of inclusivity and cause them to embrace equality and diversity.
Children need to explore diverse reading materials and engage with text about different cultures and personalities. Doing so will improve their perspective on their surroundings and the world.
5. Summer Reading Builds Vocabulary:
A child who reads 20 minutes daily at home will come across approximately 1.8 million words annually. Besides coming across many new words, it is easier to learn vocabulary when reading a book than trying to memorize words from the dictionary since the words make sense within the context the child is reading. It is also easy to use words from a book later in a different context.
The more your child reads during the summer holiday, the more words they will be exposed to and learn. Consistent exposure to new terms, understanding their meaning and seeing the context they are used increases their mental dictionary. Your child will also have more words available in their writing and conversations. Reading more books will help them communicate effectively, allowing them to express their feelings and articulate their thoughts accurately. Indeed, many people attest that reading makes them better writers.
6. Reading Improves Memory:
Reading improves the concentration and memory of both young and older adults. Even though the brain is not a muscle, it still benefits from the frequent workout of reading. The body requires activity to build muscles; the brain requires exercise to strengthen memory. Reading causes humans to formulate a “mental map” of written text. The mental maps help students process words as they read and aid in memory and recall. A regular reading routine helps the brain in cognitive processes that lead to better memory functioning.
7. Reading Enhances Knowledge:
Reading is one of the most significant ways to acquire knowledge. The knowledge that students gain from reading is cumulative and increases exponentially. When your child develops a solid knowledge base during summer, it becomes easy to receive new knowledge and solve complex problems in the upcoming school year. Please encourage your child to read a wide range of materials during the summer break to expand their knowledge in varying subjects.
8. Develops Analytical Thinking Skills:
Are you still wondering if summer reading is beneficial to your child? Consider this! Summer reading improves humans’ analytical skills. Reading mystery novels can cause them to develop problem-solving skills. Reading stories causes students’ minds to keep guessing what will happen next. Your child’s brain subconsciously trains to think smartly and become more analytical by reading more books. You can expect them to benefit from analytical thinking in their academic and personal lives.
9. Reading Facilitates Better Writing:
Reading more helps students to develop better writing skills. Through reading, one learns more vocabulary and how to write better sentences. Not only will your child learn to write academic material, but they will also learn to express their thoughts in writing.
10. Reading Improves Concentration:
One of the most significant challenges for the brain today is processing too much information. Research shows that ability to pay attention has dropped down to as low as eight seconds due to exposure to a lot of visual communication. So many things today, including web images, social media, advertisements, and phones, demand our attention. Thankfully we can regain our ability to concentrate by reading a book.
Your child can’t learn without focus or concentration. It would be best to encourage them to read since reading trains the brain to work and concentrate better. Reading is an activity that requires undivided attention. It would help if you used it to improve your children’s ability to focus in the classroom and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How can Parents Boost Summer Reading at Home?
Make time for reading: Parents should set aside time for reading and include the session in the summer activities plan.
Summer Reading Programs: The benefits of summer reading programs are well documented. Summer reading programs have been around for more than a century, and they continue because of their great benefits. Research shows us that summer reading programs do improve kids’ reading skills and increase their desire to read.
Summer Reading Tutor: Reading tutoring isn’t just for those who need help building essential reading skills. A good reading tutor will help your student master new sight words, decipher new vocabulary using context, and establish strategies to improve reading comprehension and analysis. Reading tutoring also helps students gain confidence and become more motivated to read.
Different Types of Reading Material: Have different types of reading materials, including books, magazines, newspapers, and brochures.
Beat Boredom through Reading: Children can read to beat boredom and as a source of entertainment during the long holidays. Some of the books they may enjoy include fiction, nonfiction, arts and crafts books, fun fact books, project books, hands-on activities, and cookbooks.
Read Aloud: Parents can beat summer reading resistance by reading aloud to their children. Reading aloud benefits both children and teenagers, especially among struggling readers.
Encourage your child to learn new words: Introduce a new word to your child daily. Talk about the meaning of the words and how they can apply them in their communication.
How can I make reading part of summer fun?
Explore your local library: Visit your local library with your child to check magazines and books that they have never read before. Many libraries have book clubs, reading contests, and summer reading programs even for young readers. In addition, the libraries may offer rewards such as free books for kids who complete their summer reading lists. You can also give your child the privilege of owning a library card and checking their books.
Read when traveling: Ensure that your child has their favorite books when traveling on a car, bus or plane. You can read aloud together if you are not driving. You can also opt for audiobooks to listen to together as a family while traveling.
Please encourage them to create a Book: Pick favorite parts of the summer, such as the time you spent with the family in the pool, with friends, in a camp, or playing soccer. Then, have your child create pictures from magazines or draw them paste them onto paper to make a book, and encourage them to write a short description on each piece.
Write Letters: Your child does not have to travel away from the family to write letters. Instead, you can encourage them to send letters, postcards, emails, and letters to family and relatives. Ask friends and relatives to be your child’s pen pal to keep them writing.
Encourage a Reading Routine: It does not matter how busy your summer is; always set aside time for reading, and make it a routine. Please read daily with your children, whether before bedtime, in a quiet afternoon, or in the park. Importantly, make the reading session fun, and they will look out for the moment!
Why does my child refuse to read?
There are different reasons why your child will refuse to read, including the following:
1. Your child could be finding book formats boring since they are used to more exciting things like video games and online videos. To help, limit your child’s time on screen and slowly introduce them to books.
2. You probably give them books that do not have exciting topics. To help, find engaging books that cover their interests, such as sports stories, fashion magazines, or comics.
3. They don’t see the need for reading or view reading as work. Again, you can help by reading out loud for them while at the same time teaching them the benefits of reading.
4. They choose difficult books that are beyond their comprehension. You can solve the problem by helping them select books within their scope.
5. Importantly, your child could be struggling with reading abilities and comprehension. You can talk to their teachers, among other professionals, to get appropriate help.
Parting Shot:
Reading is the backbone of learning, and summer provides a good time for students to boost their reading.
Summer reading is essential for students to retain skills and knowledge acquired in the previous summer year. Children who do not engage in summer reading are at risk of lagging behind their classmates. Ensure that your child keeps reading throughout the summer to avoid summer learning loss.
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