News You Can Use
Summer reading helps kids in the fall
University Relations
News Bureau (662) 325-3442
Contact: Kasia Haupt
July 16, 2004
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Just because school’s out for summer doesn’t mean that kids have to stop learning. Mississippi State University literacy experts advocate the importance of summer reading for kids.
Theresa Hall Brown of MSU’s Center for Educational Partnerships said that when school begins in the fall, “teachers often have difficulty getting kids refocused. They spend the first weeks re-teaching what students forgot over the summer.”
Brown, who also is senior regional coordinator for America Reads-Mississippi, said television, video games, sports leagues, and numerous other distractions can divert children from summer reading. Parents can set the tone for learning activities, she said.
“If parents read at home, it sends a message to kids that reading is important to the family,” agrees Cathy Grace, director of MSU’s Early Childhood Institute and a national early childhood advocate. Parents should reinforce the idea that reading is fun and entertaining, she said.
The Mississippi Department of Education provides benchmark skills for each grade level. Grace suggests contacting the department to learn age-appropriate skills that can be developed at home when school is out of session.
Brown and Grace also give the following tips to encourage summer reading:
--No matter how busy, make time to read to your kids or have them read to you.
-- Buy inexpensive books at discount stores or plan weekend trips to the library.
-- Make your own books at home, using familiar words and a few more difficult words to build vocabulary.
-- Use reading games or magnetic letters to help kids build literacy skills.
-- Find articles in the daily newspaper that interest your children and read them together.