1.Read aloud every day to your child. 

2. Be a reader yourself.  Children learn from what they see. 

3.  Make reading a special time; get excited about the new books and illustrators that are out there. 

4.  Find special author’s to follow whose work you both like.

5.  Go to the library, book store or start a book club/swap for children your child’s age.

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 You can take advantage of the extra time you’ll have with your child this summer by incorporating reading games into your everyday activities.  These times when you can help your child practice reading and writing are Golden Opportunities.  Here are 10 ways to make sure you don’t miss out.

1. When waiting for a meal in a restaurant, ask your child to read items on the menu.
2. When waiting at the ice cream shop, have your child try to read all the ice cream flavors. To mix things up you could ask them to read to themselves and then tell you all the flavors that include chocolate or a type of fruit.
3. On a car trip, a great way to pass the time is to read bumper stickers and the sides of panel trucks.  See who can be the first one to spot a specific word or letter.
4. If you go to a theme park or zoo this summer, let your child be your “tour guide.”  Depending on age and reading level, your child can read signs or the full descriptions from books and brochures.
5. Let your child write a list of things to take on vacation. They can then check off the items on their list as they pack.
6. Similarly, your child can make a summer activity to-do list.  Let them post it on the refrigerator and make tally marks of the number of times they did particular things at the end of the day.
7. Summer is the perfect time to make cool collections of things you find outdoors—bugs, rocks, flowers, etc.—and make custom labels.  Older kids can look up the objects in their collection in library books, while younger kids can fill out their labels with simple descriptions.
8. As a family, send post cards to friends and relatives even if you don’t leave town.
9. A new notebook can serve a number of purposes for your child: a diary or travel journal, a field notebook or collection of short stories.
10. Start a scrapbook with pictures and captions of summer fun.

Related Posts:

• 10 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR CHILD READING THIS SUMMER
• What Good Readers Do:
• Ways to Raise a Reader:
• Not Your Average Summer Reading List
• A Primer for Parents: Antonyms, Synonyms, Homonyms:

School is out and summer vacation can be a time when skills slip a little.  If you focus on activities that are fun and fit a more relaxed schedule, you can keep your blossoming readers reading without burn out.

Two of the most important things that you can do to keep reading skills sharp during the summer are read to your child and have your child read aloud to you or other family members.  Make sure you choose age appropriate books—picture books for younger children and chapter books for older children—to keep reading fun instead of turning it into a chore.

* If your child has been involved in a reading program such as Book Adventure (www.bookadventure.org) through school, encourage your child to continue with the program during the summer. If not, your child can sign up for such a program, with your help, on the internet.

* Most local libraries have summer reading programs with incentives to keep children focused during vacation.  You can build off of these sorts of programs by offering your own incentives. A trip to the ice cream store, a movie, or a pizza night are rewarding to young readers while also being a great way to spend family time together in the summer. Another reward system could involve a trip to the bookstore to pick out a new book when your child has completed their current read.

*If you’re looking for a way to keep kids entertained on a rainy afternoon, there are many a-b-c activities, word games and math activities available online.  Check out sites like www.nickjr.com , www.pbskids.com and www.starfall.com with your child to get started.

* Parent /child summer book clubs are becoming very popular, and if you can’t find an existing one in your area, it’s very easy to start your own.  Round up a group of your child’s friends and their parents, decide on an age-appropriate book that will still hold adult attention and get started!  Each week, the group can meet at a different family’s house (or a family-friendly location like a library reading room or community center), discuss the parts of the book they’ve read so far, and agree on how far to read for next week. Adults bring open ended questions that children might not have considered, while children can provide adults with a fresh view on group’s book of choice.

Related Posts:

• 10 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR CHILD READING THIS SUMMER
• What Good Readers Do:
• Ways to Raise a Reader:
• Top Ten List: Golden Opportunities of Summer
• A Primer for Parents: Antonyms, Synonyms, Homonyms: