Best Blog for Kids Who Hate to Read: Summer Reading Tips

Summer is a great time to bring home the message that reading is fun. It’s a time for reading just what you want, rereading favorites as often as you choose, discovering new information and listening to great stories in a leisurely way. It’s a time to leave homework (ugh) and reading instruction behind. It’s all about reading pleasure and practice. Just let it flow….

Be a reader yourself. Show your kids that you value reading by reading yourself.
Read aloud, read aloud, read aloud! Be creative – read alouds aren’t just for bedtime. Try between choreswhile waiting for appointments, dinner to be done, food in a restaurant, waiting in line at the beach
Connect read-aloud choices to summer activities. Going on vacation? Find some books about your destination – books for reading aloud plus books at your child’s level. Try to wow each other with new information about your destination. Make a list of must-check-out things as you read about them.
Gift Shops Look for books, brochures, maps and other written resources along your way, either about the places you’re visiting or future vacations.
Create a document/scrapbook of your trips. Pictures, captions, brochures, postcards… anything that will help you remember your time.
Allow your child to choose his books. Summer is for fun! Sure, we want to learn too, but fun comes first.
Help your child select books at a comfortable level. See Matching Books to Readers.
Don’t limit summer reading to books. Try magazines, brochures, comics, directions, maps, atlases, cereal boxes...
Audio Books These are great for the car, while cleaning and other chores, before bed…
Read a book and watch the movie together. This works for movies in theaters and movies you rent or get from the library.
Reread your favorites. Summer is a great time to read old favorites, either independently or as a read aloud. Maybe create a shared book list of everyone’s favorite kids’ books. Then trade books!
Act out the stories! Okay, many of us adults don’t like dramatics but go ahead, give it a try. This works best with shorter picture books but it also works with scenes from longer books.
Readers Theater Next week's Books post will be about Readers Theater and plays. As a teacher, I found short plays to be just the thing to get some kids reading. Take a look at Monday’s post for ideas. Try writing some plays yourself!