Fueling a Love of Reading this Summer

Summer reading has been shown to play a vital role in maintaining literacy skills, supporting academic growth, and fostering engagement, imagination, and curiosity among children and adolescents. The break from the academic calendar provides an opportunity for students to explore new interests through literature, build confidence as readers, and learn about themselves by discovering what they most enjoy reading.

That said, motivating children and teens to read during the summer months can be challenging. To help families create meaningful and enjoyable reading experiences at home, Dr. Blake Tenore, Associate Clinical Professor and Coordinator of English Education in the FSU School of Teacher Education, has compiled a list of practical strategies for encouraging reading beyond the classroom. His tips are designed to help caregivers support their children’s reading habits in a way that feels natural, low-pressure, and rewarding:

• Let children choose what they read (with appropriate parental oversight, of course). Help them find their niche; take them to the library; join a blog or website like Goodreads together; make a trip to a local bookstore a reward. Sometimes it's hard for children to identify "what they like," so follow their other interests, like sports, music, cars, dance, etc., into the world of literature. There are young adult books for everyone on every topic of interest. Sometimes it's the case that kids who don't like to read haven't found the right book for them...yet! Keep trying. 
• Everyone reads. Let your children see you reading something you enjoy. Read a common book and talk about it, set aside a time to read together, or talk with them about what they're reading. Talking is different than making them feel like they're being tested; just be curious.
• Help children identify a reason to read. Are they trying to learn a new skill? Accomplish a goal? Solve a problem? There's something to read that will help them. YouTube may have some answers, but reading is also an important avenue to knowledge. 
• Tap into a book series. If children can find a series they love, the familiarity of settings, characters, and narrative style may be motivating. Readers take comfort and stay invested in the series because they already know a lot about the world they're jumping into again and again and again. 
• Make reading multimodal. Many books spark conversations, inspire art, or lead to book clubs and discussion groups—whether at school, the library, or even through videos and podcasts. "Reading" extends beyond physical books or magazines, and being a part of a community of people who enjoy what they enjoy may be motivating. 
• Help children find books they can read successfully on their own. Don't get too hung up on reading levels or suggested grade levels. Allow children to feel successful and grow their confidence as readers with the "right" books. Your ninth grader won't be entertained by Diary of Wimpy Kid forever, but if that's where they are now, encourage it as reading. 
• Gamify reading. Some children love competition, especially if there are siblings in the house. Create a game of reading the most, the longest, etc. (A note about duration: if your child is only comfortable reading for five or 10 minutes at a time, don't force them to read longer. Reading endurance is practiced and builds over time. Another note, if you're feeling like you're "forcing" your child to read, see Suggestion #1).