With the end of the school year here, summer learning loss is a weighty topic on every educator’s mind. Even in the absence of a formal reading intervention program, there are recommendations that you can provide to families that will help them support their children’s reading development over the summer months.

Our friends at Steps to Literacy compiled a list of 7 ideas you can share with parents and families to help prevent summer slide! We encourage you to download the list and distribute it to the families your serve.

In addition, many of these ideas can really be taken on with staff at your facility, school, or center, and implemented into summer or after school programs to also support the effort to prevent summer slide. Our favorites here for this at S&S are #2 (Magazine Scavenger Hunts) and #3 (Set aside 5-10 minutes). Our Family Engagement Take Home Bags are also a very helpful resource pack that extend learning from the classroom to home. Parents can help their kids at home with reading and learning with these bags that include books and activites. Our literacy bags are perfect for summer learning.

7 Ways to Prevent Summer Reading Slide and Encourage Children to Read at Home

1. Make it a point to read in front of your child. Children learn from their role models and mimic their habits – what better habit to encourage than reading!

2. Encourage your child to read daily. Twenty minutes is the recommended daily reading time, but it’s okay to start small and work to build their reading stamina. You can start by setting aside 5-10 minutes a day, and slowly add minutes as your child’s reading stamina strengthens. You can take it a step further and track their progress together.

3. Read with your child and talk about the text. Sharing stories together is a great way to foster their love for reading. Choose books you can both enjoy and take turns reading aloud to one another. These shared experiences can also help to strengthen your child’s reading comprehension.

4. Head to your town library together! Public libraries have so much to offer that you and your child can take advantage of together. Libraries are a great place to explore different genres and text-types. Your child will love having their own library card and searching for books they are interested in.

5. Create an at-home library. Dedicate a special space where your child can keep all their favorite books.

6. Use magazines for word scavenger hunts. Grab an old magazine and provide your child with a list of words to look for.

7. Refer to reading in a positive way! So often, reading at home can become more of a chore than an enjoyable experience – it’s something the child must do versus wants to do. Try to use reading as a tool to reward your child, and enjoy family moments together. Consider letting them stay awake for an extra 10 minutes to read as a benefit of positive behavior.

And don’t forget to check out our Take Home Bags!

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Steps to Literacy® is a family founded company comprised of a team of people that truly care about the impact they have on schools, teachers, and students. Our mission is to partner with educators to ignite a passion for reading. In keeping with that mission: our team of Curation Specialists are all former educators with professional experience in the field. The Curation Specialists use their expertise to create libraries and custom book bundles based on curriculum, reading levels, genre, standards, and dozens of other customizable options. Our collective vision is to provide accessible and exciting books to children so they can explore the world, cultures and themselves through reading. *Steps To Literacy is part of the S&S Worldwide Family.