| Please collect Box Tops for Education, Food City Receipts, and Campbell's
Labels for Education. These will help us be able to purchase books.
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.
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