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Summer Reading Tips for Parents


Summer shouldn't mean taking a break from learning, especially reading. Studies show that most students experience a loss of reading skills over the summer months, but children who continue to read actually gain skills. Efforts should be made during the summer to help children sustain reading skills, practice reading and read for enjoyment.

Reading builds visualization, thinking and language abilities. Taking the time to read with your child can help you evaluate your child's reading skills. If you discover that your child is having trouble with reading, he or she may have a learning disability. 80% of children with a learning disability have difficulty with basic reading and language. But early identification of such a disability gives a child the chance to develop ways to learn how to read effectively, and skills to lead a successful and productive life. A recent National Institutes of Health study showed that 67 percent of young students at risk for reading difficulties became average or above average readers after receiving help in the early grades.

Parents should remember that children need free time in the summer to relax and enjoy the pleasures of childhood. So summer reading should be fun. Following are a few tips to make reading enjoyable for your children this summer:

Read aloud together with your child every day. Make it fun by reading outdoors on the front steps, patio, at the beach or park. Also, let your children read to you. For younger children, point out the relationship between words and sounds.

Set a good example! Parents must be willing to model behavior for their children. Keep lots of reading material around the house. Turn off the TV and have each person read his or her book, including mom and dad.

Read the same book your child is reading and discuss it. This is the way to develop habits of the mind and build capacity for thought and insight.

Let kids choose what they want to read, and don't turn your nose up at popular fiction. It will only discourage the reading habit.

Buy books on tape, especially for a child with a learning disability. Listen to them in the car, or turn off the TV and have the family listen to them together.

Take your children to the library regularly. Most libraries sponsor summer reading clubs with easy-to-reach goals for preschool and school-age children. Check the library calendar for special summer reading activities and events. Libraries also provide age appropriate lists for summer reading.

Subscribe, in your child's name, to magazines like Sports Illustrated for Kids, Highlights for Children, or National

Geographic World. Encourage older children to read the newspaper and current events magazines, to keep up the reading habit over the summer and develop vocabulary. Ask them what they think about what they've read, and listen to what they say.

Ease disappointment over summer separation from a favorite school friend by encouraging them to become pen pals. Present both children with postcards or envelopes that are already addressed and stamped. If both children have access to the Internet, email is another option.

Make trips a way to encourage reading by reading aloud traffic signs, billboards, notices. Show your children how to read a map, and once you are on the road, let them take turns being the navigator.

Encourage children to keep a summer scrapbook. Tape in souvenirs of your family's summer activities picture postcards, ticket stubs, photos. Have your children write the captions and read them aloud as you look at the book together.

 

Reading Lists



These reading lists are provided by Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) and the American Library Association (ALA) for you and your young reader*. If you choose to use these lists, draw your reader's attention to the books on the list, starting with th ose for the appropriate grade level. Go to the library shelves and find one of the books listed here. Let your young reader look at the front and back covers of the book and thumb through the inside of the book. Ask if the book interests your reader. If so, check the book out. If not, find another book on this list and repeat the process until your reader is happy.


Reading is Fundamental Reading List

Favorite Books of RIF Kids
Provided by Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.


For Preschool to Kindergarten Age Children

  • Allard, Harry. Miss Nelson Is Missing!
  • Ames, Lee J. Draw Draw Draw.
  • Anonymous. Fairy tales, folk tales, and mursery rhymes including: "Cinderella," "The Gingerbread Man," "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Three Little Pigs," "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," "Goldilocks and the Thre e Bears," and Mother Goose rhymes.
  • Bemelmans, Ludwig. Madeleine.
  • Berenstain, Stan and Jan. The Berenstain Bears.
  • Bridwell, Norman. Clifford, the Big Red Dog.
  • Brown, Margaret W. Goodnight, Moon.
  • Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
  • Mayer, Mercer. There's a Nightmare in My Closet.
  • McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings.
  • Piper, Watty. The Little Engine That Could.
  • Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
  • Rey, H.A. Curious George.
  • Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are.
  • Seuss, Dr. The Cat in the Hat.
  • Solbodkina, Esphyr. Caps for Sale.
  • Waber, Bernard. Ira Sleeps Over.
  • Zion, Gene. Harry the Dirty Dog.

Grades 1 through 3

  • Allard, Harry. Miss Nelson Is Missing!
  • Berenstain, Stan and Jan. The Berenstain Bears Nursery Tales.
  • Blume, Judy. Freckle Juice.
  • Bridwell, Norman. Clifford, the Big Red Dog.
  • Cleary, Beverly. Ramona Quimby, Age Eight
  • Dahl, Roald Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
  • Hoban, Russell. Bedtime for Frances.
  • Lobel, Arnold. Frog and Toad Are Friends.
  • McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings.
  • Mosel, Arlene. Tikki Tikki Tembo.
  • Parish, Peggy. Amelia Bedelia.
  • Rey, H.A. Curious George.
  • Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are.
  • Seuss, Dr. The Cat in the Hat.
  • Sharmat, Marjorie W. Nate the Great.
  • Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends.
  • Sobol, Donald J. Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective.
  • Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
  • Warner, Gertrude. Boxcar Children.
  • White, E.B. Charlotte's Web.
  • Wilder, Laura I. Little House on the Prairie.
  • William, Margery. The Velveteen Rabbit.

Grades 4 through 6

  • Baum, L. Frank. The Wizard of Oz.
  • Blume, Judy. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.
  • Byars, Betsy. The Pinballs.
  • Cleary, Beverly. Ramona Quimby, Age Eight.
  • Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
  • Davis, Jim. Garfield Counts to Ten.
  • DeClements, Barthe. Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade.
  • Farley, Walter. The Black Stallion.
  • Fitzgerald, John D. The Great Brain.
  • Gipson, Fred. Old Yeller.
  • Hiller, B.B. The Karate Kid.
  • Howe, Deborah and James. Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery.
  • Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
  • O'Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins.
  • Paterson, Katherine. The Bridge to Terabithia.
  • Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows.
  • Rockwell, Thomas. How to Eat Fried Worms.
  • Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty.
  • Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends.
  • Sobol, Donald J. Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective.
  • Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
  • Warner, Gertrude. Boxcar Children.
  • White, E.B. Charlotte's Web.
  • Wilder, Laura I. Little House on the Prairie.

American Library Association Reading List

provided by the American Library Association

Preschool

  • Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon.
  • Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
  • Freeman, Don. Corduroy.
  • Hughes, Shirley. Alfie Gives a Hand.
  • Martin, Bill Jr. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
  • Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Ages 5 - 7

  • Keats, Ezra Jack. The Snowy Day.
  • Lobel, Arnold. Frog and Toad Are Friends.
  • McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings.
  • Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are.
  • Steptoe, John. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale.
  • Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Ages 7 - 9

  • Cleary, Beverly. Ramona the Pest.
  • Dahl, Roald. Fantastic Mr. Fox.
  • Hurwitz, Johanna. Much Ado about Aldo.
  • MacLachlan, Patricia. Sarah Plain and Tall.
  • White, E.B. Charlotte's Web.
  • Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods.

Ages 9 - 12

  • Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting.
  • Freedman, Russell. Lincoln: A Photobiography.
  • Lowry Lois. Anastasia Krupnik.
  • Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia.
  • Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.
  • Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.


*The Department of Education recommends that parents review these lists and make their own decision on the suitability of the books for their children.









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