reading Archives -

We are all told that it is important to read to our children and have them read every day especially in the summer time. But some take it as a side thought like sunscreen application; something that should not be optional. It is important in all areas of your kiddo’s education to keep them reading regularly throughout the summer. Children lose more during the summer than they gain during the school year when they stop ALL learning. Summer reading is a simple and fun way to keep those brains chugging until school starts up again.

Most libraries have summer reading programs of some kind. They even offer rewards for reading so much in a certain amount of time. This is fun for the competitiveness in us all. Check your local library or online to see what they have planned for the summer and make a commitment of going once a week.

Just the short amount of time during the summer can put your child up to two years behind their peers who were reading during the summer months. They will not catch up because they spend the following school year trying to get back to where they were at the end of the previous year. These statistics are terrifying to see how fragile learning is. If we leave it, we lose it.

Reading during the summer is such an effortless activity that can save your kiddo tons of heartache and you in the long run. You are much less busy during the summer (so to speak) that reading can become an activity that replaces something you do during the school year (like band practice or dance lessons). Make the commitment you won’t be sorry.

Books are everywhere. Make finding new books a game. Take trips to the library, thrift shops, garage sales, do book exchange play dates, and keep books in the car during vacation travels. If you have reading times set in place already then just stick with those through the summer as well. You are setting the tone for the love of reading into your children now, then it does not feel like work for them late on in life. It is simply something they enjoy doing just like other activities. Happy Summer reading friends!

-Ms. Brooke
Lead PreKindergarten Teacher
Literacy & Curriculum Coordinator

March is full of exciting reading fun! It’s the month to celebrate Dr. Seuss for one! Another newer reading trend is from a non-profit website called Read Aloud. They promote reading to children at least 15 minutes per day from birth through childhood. They even promote reading to your unborn children as well. This month they are hosting a 21-day reading challenge.

You sign up on the website and post pictures of you reading for 15 minutes with your children. It’s a great way to connect each day, and it is not so much time that it is unreasonable. If you already have a reading routine, then just continue what you do every day already.
http://www.readaloud.org/21daychallenge.html here is a link to the reading challenge. Using social media post what you are doing, then challenge others with children to join in as well. This challenge is to promote daily universal reading habits.

There are so many ways to celebrate the Great Dr. Seuss. Pinterest is full of ideas from painting to cooking to go along with all of Dr. Seuss’s books.

It’s a great time to get involved at your child’s school. Ask how you can contribute. Last year at our school we had a teacher potluck of Dr. Seuss goodies. Each person made something and named it after a book. I made “Hop on Pop” candied popcorn that was read and blue.
Every year we do spirit weeks for the two-week unit of Dr. Seuss. Each day is themed around one of the books like “Wacky Wednesday” and silly sock day for “Fox in Socks”. Celebrating such an influential author creates so much fun around reading.
Make a Dr. Seuss reading challenge. Read each one of his books and plan one activity to go along with it. You can easily spend more than a month doing this. Or extend it into Summer if you need activities to fill the days. Make all the fun messes in the backyard!
Rewind to when you were in elementary school and think about what your school did for Dr. Seuss week. I remember always making green eggs and ham in class. We also set up a cozy reading area in the front office full of each Dr. Seuss book our library had. It was a huge deal to get chosen to go read for a little while in it.

March will be kept busy with all these fun plans! Enjoy reading on readers!

Ms. Brooke
Lead Prekindergarten Teacher
Literacy Coordinator

Importance Of Summer Reading

March Reading Madness