Summer Tips for Maintaining Reading and Writing Skills

Educational Highlights, Spring/Summer 1995
Annette Spector, M.S., Ed.

Numerous studies warn that students lose a tremendous amount of knowledge over the summer. Keeping them in practice with fun, interesting activities that naturally work into your summer plans will help keep them ‘school ready’ throughout the summer. Here are some reading and writing activities that might work for you.

Writing Activities

Bring along a journal for your child to record information about daily activities when traveling or sightseeing on vacation.

• Encourage creative writing activities by having your children keep a WHAT IF book for them to write in a few times each week. Some possible titles could be...
  • WHAT IF you could train worms?
  • WHAT IF you were contacted by aliens?
  • WHAT IF man became extinct?
  • WHAT IF you were a broken heart?
  • WHAT IF the desert had water?
  • WHAT IF animals could talk?
• Use the computer for creating stories to go with the many graphics your child can create. If your child isn’t fluent on the keyboard, take dictation for her. Keep stories in a folder so your child can share them with next year’s teachers.
• When on vacation, have your child interview people she meets (park rangers, guides, tourists from other states or countries). Use a tape recorder or video camera. Upon returning from vacation, have your child write up the interview. Listening to the tape or watching the video will help them remember.
• Buy two sets of postcards, one to keep and one to send. They offer easy, fun opportunities to keep writing.

Reading Activities

• Enroll your child in your local library’s summer reading program.
• Find out if your school is also sponsoring a reading program and encourage your child to participate in it.
• During weekly trips to the library, introduce your child to the children’s librarian. She can introduce your child to new authors and open up whole new worlds to explore through books.
• Set up quiet reading time on a daily basis. This should be a family activity, whether you are on vacation together or just at home.
• Ask the school for a summer reading list. They usually have lists of books by grade level, with some schools now having required summer reading lists.
• When visiting the library, ask the librarian for the list of Newberry and Caldecott award winning books, always excellent choices when ‘stuck’ for a good book to take out.
• Be sure to pick up brochures and any other ‘handouts’ (preferably two copies) while visiting tourist attractions. That way, after reading through the information, your child can cut up the material and make it into a scrapbook Writing or typing labels or short explanations makes this a terrific reading/writing activity, and a great memento, too.
• When on vacation, consider buying good quality books for your children at gift shops as souvenirs. It’s a great way to remember the trip and build up your home library.
• After your child finishes a book, follow up with a discussion of ideas (not a ‘test’) — talk about favorite characters, problems and solutions offered, author’s style, relevance to real life, etc.

Parents serve as the best possible role model for kids - be sure to read yourself!