Summer Resources

Summer is an important time for children to continue reading and improve their language skills. Research shows that students who do not read, or read inconsistently during summer vacation are in danger of the “summer slide”, which is a loss in reading skills.

More specifically, research says that, “regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic level, or previous achievement, children who read four or more books over the summer fare better on reading comprehension tests in the fall than their peers who read one or no books over the summer.” (J.Kim 2004)

Help your child maintain their academic achievements by providing time to engage in self-selected reading materials this summer. Your child has free access to several digital libraries through Bryker Woods: Reading A-Z, Learning Ally, and MackinVIA. Please reach out to me if you need any assistance accessing these resources.

For more information on what research says about summer reading, visit these summaries:

Kids Lose Learning Skills Over The Summer Months (National Summer Learning Association)

The Summer Reading Imperative (Scholastic)

The Importance Of Summer Reading (New York State Library)

The bounty of summer reading recommendations can be overwhelming! You can approach the search for an engaging book in a couple of ways:

Use a Book Finder

These tools use information such as reading level, age, interests, etc. to generate specific book recommendations.

Explore Summer Book Lists

Peruse lists vetted by students and teachers.

Some Ideas:

Pen Pal letter writing, Restaurant/Take-Out Reviews, Reminder Lists, Job/Chore Charts, Book Reviews, Shopping Lists, Comic Strips, Family Trees, Blogs, and more.

You can also introduce your children to keyboarding with these fun, online programs: