Summer is here! Now is a time to enjoy the sunshine, outdoor activities, rainy days and reading.

Summer is a time for learning. It seems we sometimes believe the learning ends at the end of the school year. Research has shown a loss of learning happens over the summer. In fact, all students experience some learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities over the summer. I believe the best summer educational activity is reading.

The National Summer Learning Association in a research brief, “How to Make Summer Reading Effective,” reports a strong body of research that shows without practice students lose reading skills over the summer months. How can we as adults encourage our children to immerse their minds and imagination in books over the summer months? Let’s find ways to help our students read and find the joy and love of reading.

As adults or parents, we can find different ways to engage children in reading. It is important for children to have access to books over the summer. Perhaps a visit to the public library once a week will help children find books they love to read. Children need to find books that match their ability levels. Reading skills don’t grow if books are too hard or easy.

The research brief talks about the five-finger rule to find the appropriate reading level for a reader. “Ask a child to read 100 words from a book and teach the child to raise one finger for each word that is too difficult to figure out. If the child has more than five fingers up, the book is probably too hard,” the brief states. This seems like an easy method to help our children find just the right books for them.

Finally, an important item to help students keep reading skills up is for an adult to ask questions and guide children to better understand what they read. Read together with a child and ask them to retell what happened in the story. Give a child a book and ask them to eat lunch and talk about a book. Ask a neighborhood group of children to read a book, and then discuss the book as a group.

I am looking forward to reading and discussing a book with children. I’m rereading some childhood favorites and hoping others will too. As a parent or grandparent, aunt or uncle, neighbor or relative, we can all read together and help our children find the joy and love of reading.

As the summer sun shines, find time to read with a child. When rainy days curtail the outside activities find time to read with a child. I hope you enjoy this beautiful season, and I look forward to students returning to school with a love of reading.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lynne A. Kovash

Superintendent

Moorhead Area Public Schools