According to nursery teacher training 30 percent of what a kid learns during the school year is lost during the summer if parents fail to provide appropriate learning situations. The same can be said for reading. Reading, by description, means gaining meaning from print, not just pronouncing the words.
Parental Influence on Reading
Try a variety of reading activities suggested by early childhood education this summer to make this a family venture, such as:
- Let your kid see you read. Subscribe to the local newspaper, check our library books, register in a book club and contribute in a book appraisal. Your attitude toward books makes an impression on your kid.
- Register your kid in a book club. As order forms appears in the mail, help your kid choose a book they would like and which is suitable for their reading level.
- Plan regular trips to the library. Keep library books in a particular bag for easy returns. Also, help your kid post the revisit date on a calendar – a simple way to teach him responsibility.
Incentives to Make Books a Kid’s Friend
Adults can offer incentives to promote reading by registering kids in summer library programs. Often libraries give a tote bag, certificates, and award ribbons for the most books read in their age level, gratitude in local newspapers and end-of-summer picnic for contestants. In programs such as this, everyone’s a winner. That’s because reading skills have been increased and the kid has been exposed to different authors and diverse interests.
Another incentive combines art with reading. Provide a variety of markers or crayons, paper, paste and scissors. After reading a book, ask the kid to draw a favorite picture from the text. Display the artwork in a famous place in the home. Or, send the extended family, grandparents or friends the drawing. Modified books attract even the most unenthusiastic reader.
Special Reading Sites
It’s true, reading can take place almost anywhere; a desk, kitchen table, propped up in bed or under a shade tree on a warm summer day. However, creative parents who want to add a little something special to a kid’s love of reading can use some of the following ideas suggested by Montessori teacher training online.
- A Raised platform in a kid’s bedroom provides a particular nook for quiet times with books. If bunk beds are part of the room, turn the top level into a retreat. Throw some soft pillows, puffy animals and a reading light into a comfy corner.
- Try this recipe for creative reading as suggested by Montessori training- Dry out the bathtub, fill with soft pillows, add some picture books or easy readers and blend in one or more children. You’re sure to make memoirs and don’t be amazed if bathtub reading is a do again request.
- Check backyard sales or thrift stores for large beanbags. Place in a silence corner of your home or your kid’s room. Provide multicolored tote bags filled with much loved books nearby.
- For a simple reading site, turn a card table into a personal corner. Throw a sheet or blanket over the table, long sufficient to touch the floor. Add a safe lamp and your kid will find this hide-away a fun place to enjoy books.
Conclusion
Parents who promote a kid to read make a difference in whether the kid struggles through school or masters developmental tasks. Successful reading may even decide if your kid is later admitted to one of the better universities.
