Learning Doesn't End When Summer Starts

June is sprinting towards us, and with it comes a great deal of transition for our students. 5th graders moving on to middle school, 8th graders moving on to high school, and Juniors moving on to their Senior year of high school. Of course, before any of that transitioning actually happens, there's three months of blissful Summer freedom to look forward to, days of sun and relaxation, free (mostly) from the burdens of homework and assignments.

Aside from mandated summer reading, I was definitely part of the camp of kids that cherished June, July, and August because of their freedom from the daily burden of school work. Many parents can empathize with this feeling, and certainly should, to some extent. School is not easy, and everyone deserves a break. Still, there is one thing above all else that you should be encouraging your student to do all year, but even more so in the summer.

The number one thing to encourage your student to do in their spare time is read. Read, read, read, and read some more. I can't stress to you how important it is to build up your child's reading abilities. Many of you have undoubtedly seen your student suffer through all the prep and cramming prior to their SAT and AP exams. What many don't realize is that you can't really cram reading skills.

Sure, you can learn some vocab, or gather the basic outline of what a book is about if you rush through it, but the level of comprehension and analysis that standardized tests require of students is not something you can gain over the course of a month or two of studying. To be a strong reader you have to work at it, and for a good stretch of time.

That's easier said than done, particularly because reading is tough for some and a real burden for others. The key is to start with things that a student will enjoy. To build the basic skills to be a good reader your student has to engage with the material in front of them. If the material interests a student, the act of reading will be more rewarding because the information they're taking in pertains to a topic they want to know about. Thus, they end up inadvertently developing the skills they need to be able to focus on a piece of writing for a sustained period, soak in what they've read, and eventually begin to analyze and extrapolate the information in different ways.

If a student starts reading what they like, eventually their skills will grow and they'll want to find other things to read, often something advanced beyond what they normally gravitate towards. Does this happen for all students? No, but the important thing here is to foster the basic, necessary skills to be successful in school. Strong reading skills tend to lead to better writing skills, both of which will be essential to anyone hoping to do well in college and beyond.

Summer is the perfect time to gather some books, magazines, or even comics that might interest your children, no matter how old, and get them on the path to reading. Make it a part of their lives so that it doesn't feel so foreign to them in the classroom. If you can turn your student into a competent reader, you will see their grades rise and their engagement in class discussions grow. You owe it to your student to give them every advantage you can, and there's nothing easier than snagging a stack of books from the library.

And one more thing; be open to what your kid wants to read, within reason. Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Sports Illustrated, Twilight, whatever it is that catches their attention, run with it. It's all about making them want to read so they can learn to get good at it. From there, guide them to different material, especially the stuff that will get their little mental gears turning. Good luck!