As we head into summer parents should seriously consider adopting a family reading plan:
- Do regular read alouds – share a favourite book with your children.
- Listen as a family to an audio book during a car trip.
- Schedule a certain time each day for independent reading.
- Make a trip to the local library and decorate a bag or use a sports bag to haul those books home.
- Let your child choose from a wide range of books. It is okay to abandon a book; just make sure that they select another one.
- Check out your local library site for other activities. Most communities offer a Kid’s Corner with plenty of reading suggestions for children, Mother Goose or reading circles for little one’s are a great positive and fun way to encourage reading for little ones. Plus, there are often summer reading programs for teens 12-18, with blogs and groups to share opinions about the books that they are reading.
What other types of reading can you do as a family?
- Read a favourite Blog together on the Internet.
- How about getting your child into cooking? Together you can follow the recipe and create a special meal.
- For those children into crafts, model cars or science – get a book and create, invent or study something.
- Maybe your child would be interested in knitting – consider the reading involved in following a pattern and knitting a hat.
- Make a point of reading an article from the daily newspaper and talk about it critically. Use the current events as teachable moments.
If children are unable to read a book themselves but you are keen to share it with them – read it to them. We all love to be read to – reading is so much more than decoding the words – it is making meaning from the text.
We have a growing number of students in Ontario for whom English is not their first language. It is important to read to your child in his or her first language. If your child knows his or her first language well, he or she will find it easier to learn English.
Remember, your involvement and support as a parent can influence your child’s attitudes and his or her interest and achievement in reading and writing. Finally, enjoy the summer with you children and make reading part of your summer routine!
Lori Hall is an elementary school Vice Principal in Markham, Ontario.
