After our kids work hard all year in school, they\u2019re thrilled for summer vacation! I remember well how great those seemingly endless days felt \u2013 sleeping in, playing outdoors, and reading books in a sunny spot.<\/p>\n
Now that I\u2019m the parent, I worry my kids lose ground academically during the summer. As a doctor, I know kids can also slip into unhealthy habits over those months. Teachers send kids home in June with a certain level of knowledge, only to find in the fall they\u2019ve forgotten some of what they learned. Summertime, with its long, lazy days of freedom, is a hallmark of childhood but can be a risk to children\u2019s education and fitness without some planned activities.<\/p>\n
There are far-reaching benefits to helping your kids stay active and healthy during the free-form\u00a0days of summer. These days can be a\u00a0time of family connection and exploration at home as well as through educational camps and programs in many communities.<\/p>\n
Academically, summer can be a time to develop new skills. And parents can help prevent the slide in knowledge that teachers experience from students in the fall. Keep your kids learning and reading this summer!<\/p>\n
Making regular reading part of those summer days at home can help kids avoid losing academic ground. Providing your kids with books (preferably of their choosing), as well as the time and sunny space to read, can be one of your goals each summer.<\/p>\n
Here are some ideas to get started:<\/p>\n
Many libraries have summer reading programs and competitions to motivate young readers.<\/p>\n
Comic books? Age-appropriate graphic novels? Say yes!<\/p>\n
They will have suggestions\u00a0that fit well with your child\u2019s current reading level. Check out the America Library Association summer reading lists for your child\u2019s age level.<\/p>\n
In this digital era, it can be hard for parents to put the phone down and read something paper-based. Summer can motivate us to take time to relax with a good book too \u2013 let your excuse be acting as a role model for the kids!<\/p>\n
Invite your child’s friends to bring books they have read to share. Or look for a Little Free Library<\/a> near you.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been in one with my daughter and her friends since she was in elementary school and have enjoyed reading their books as a way to bond and understand their world.<\/p>\n One year we read The Calder Game<\/i> together. It provided plenty of opportunities for conversation, and we even tried making the mobiles featured in the story!<\/p>\n Next fall, at the start of school, maybe our teachers will smile to see that our kids have climbed up a ladder to better reading over the summer! As they read, our kids will grow through the stories they soaked up \u2013 those of adventure and laughter, mystery and fantasy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>George R. R. Martin<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Reach Out & Read<\/a> Summer can be a time to develop new skills and have fun. Keep your kids reading to help them stay on track to return to school and do well in the fall!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,86],"tags":[283,265,656,657,262,410,547,260,64,63,658,411,261,412],"class_list":["post-2328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-life","category-school","tag-back-to-school","tag-book-club","tag-book-group","tag-bookgroup","tag-books","tag-library","tag-school","tag-summer","tag-summer-fun","tag-summer-kid-activities","tag-summer-reading","tag-summer-reading-for-kids","tag-summer-vacation","tag-summer-vacation-with-kids","ages-all-school-ages"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1752609712:8"],"_edit_last":["8"],"slide_template":["default"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["90"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["60"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["293"],"_thumbnail_id":["1349"],"wpfp_favorites":["8"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1688580020"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Summer Reading"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Ideas to keep your kids reading this summer and help them stay on track to return to school and do well in the fall!"],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["77"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2328"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4187,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions\/4187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Start a parent-child book group<\/b>.<\/h3>\n
Read a book as a family<\/b>.<\/h3>\n
\n
Resources for Parents:<\/h4>\n
\nAssociation for Library Services to Children<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"