Most school children are anticipating their Summer vacations starting in June and ending in August. June heralds many glorious hours spent on the beach building sandcastles, visiting water parks, animal parks and fun parks. Some families take their children camping or go to carnivals, zoos, and circuses. Plus, there’s always swimming, bike riding, fishing, hanging out in the backyard treehouse with friends, selling lemonade in the front yard, and visiting relatives in other states. With so many fun things to do, many children don’t want to read or do school work over the Summer break. This “Summer Slide” is a very real phenomenon. Research shows that children who don’t read over the Summer actually enter the next grade reading on a lower level than they ended the previous year. Children lose up to 40% of the gains they made over the school year while on Summer break. No one wants their child to move backwards, so that is why it is so important for kids to read during the Summer months. Not doing so is a big mistake. If the teacher doesn’t send home a learning packet with skills to practice such as phonics, rhyming, and comprehension, then it is up to parents to see that their children get access to books to read. They can take their child to the local library and let the kids pick out their own books. Or, parents can purchase some cute story books online or at a bookstore. They could create an awesome reading area in the child’s bedroom or make a cozy reading area under a living room tent. Children should be encouraged to read comic books, joke books, or children’s magazines. They could read to their stuffed animals, a pet, or to a sibling or grandparent for 15 – 30 minutes each day. Parents should continue to read bedtime stories as well. My book, called BUTTERFLIES, BEARS, and OTHER POEMS for CHILDREN, contains several rhyming poems that would be excellent for your child to read. The poem called “Reading a Book” informs boys and girls that reading can be fun - they can travel to far away places, read about all different kinds of people, have many awesome adventures, and solve mysteries. Since some kids like going to circuses, then the poem called “Circus” is another fun poem to read. It tells about acrobats, jugglers, trapeze artists, lions leaping through blazing rings of fire, horseback riders, and clowns doing tricks. The poem called “Big Barney” is about a special circus clown that all children will surely enjoy. In the Summer you can see many butterflies flitting around butterfly bushes, so the poems called “Butterflies” and “Monarch Queen” are great to read for kids who have an interest in Science. Finally, “Can’t Make Up My Mind”, is a poem about the many flavors of ice cream, since Summertime is an excellent time for eating yummy ice cream! Each of these poems is accompanied by a very colorful illustration that is sure to captivate any child’s attention. You can purchase my rhyming book of poems from this website.
Some other cute books you may want to purchase for your child to read over the Summer include the following:
A PERFECT DAY by Lane Smith (Pre K – Grade 1) In this story, each animal has its own idea of the perfect Summer day, and Bear likes them all.
THE SANDCASTLE THAT LOLA BUILT by Megan Maynor (Pre K – Grade 2) Lola builds a fantastic sandcastle and she makes a lot of new friends in this cute story.
FROGGY’S LEMONADE STAND by Jonathon London (Pre K - Grade 2) tells about Froggy’s adventure of setting up his lemonade stand.
FLIP FLOP by Dana M. Rau is about 2 close friends and what they do in Summer.
WATERMELON SEED by Greg Pizzoli is about a funny crocodile that eats a watermelon seed.
SUMMER WITH ELISA by Johanna Hurwitz (Ages 6 – 9) is about a family that takes a vacation in the country.
SUMMER DAYS and SUMMER NIGHTS by Wong Herbert Yee (Ages 4 – 7) tells about the exploring adventures of a young girl.
I hope your child has a fantastic Summer!
Don’t forget, reading is a wonderful way to fill all those special Summer days. Plus, reading prevents the “Summer Slide.”
Stay safe and have tons of fun!
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