Summer Library

Right now this very day I want you to take your kids (nieces? nephews? neighbors? babysitees?) to the library.  As a retired (into motherhood) English teacher I can already feel the slide taking places in millions of homes around the nation.  Your child and his or her teacher probably worked very hard this year to improve those essential reading skills, and you DO NOT want them to be lost!  Summer reading is the only known way to prevent that from happening.  Research shows this to be true, so DO NOT DELAY!  Please?  Pretty Please?  With sugar?

Try to keep summer reading light and fun.  Make it a normal part of your day, and be sure to let kids see you reading as well (I know you parents out there, and I can see you slinking off to do the dishes/laundry/etc. Do not let it happen!)  Remember that you really want to try and give them the impression that reading is a total pleasure; something they GET to do instead of something they HAVE to do.  Joining a library or bookstore reading challenge program is a great idea to especially for those kids who are motivated by competition or recognition.

Also, here are a very few quick picks to get things started:

A great read for BABY: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
A great read for TODDLER: No David!
A great read for PRESCHOOLER: The Sneeches and Other Stories
A great read for YOUNG ELEMENTARY: The Borrowers
A great read for OLDER ELEMENTARY: The Phantom Tollbooth
A great read for MIDDLE SCHOOLER: Ghost Canoe