This post is sponsored by Johnson County Library.
The temperature is rising and the final school bell has rung, which signals summer is officially here. This reality often begs the question of many caregivers—how will I keep my kids meaningfully engaged during the summer months beyond pricy camps and planned play dates?
Answer: Let your local library and literacy-based play lead the way!
The Role of Reading at Home
First and foremost, as parents and caregivers it’s important to remember that reading at home should be about fun, exploration, and play! Especially during the summer. Reading over the next few months does not, and should not, mirror what reading looks like in the classroom. Let the levels go and let your reader lead the way with topics and interests of their choice.
Accept All Books and Formats for Reading
With your reader leading the way, you may find yourself in an unexpected section of your local library or books store. Cookbooks or science experiments? Magazines, comics, or cartoon character books? Newspapers and non-fiction? Audio books or books presented in an online platform like Storyline Online or Epic? A favorite board or picture book, even if it seems they’ve “outgrown” it? Books that are songs and have fun dance or sing along videos online? No problem. Embrace it all. There are many mediums for reading and storytelling, and Summer is the perfect time to let your little one explore all
the possibilities in a way that is engaging and meaningful for them.
Gameify the Experience
Now that a story has been selected, there are a multitude of ways to bring play into the reading experience. Create voices for the characters and role play as you read. Some story characters can even be purchased as a plush. Bringing the stuffed animal to the story can add a new level of magic.
Or, instead of taking turns reading characters, take turns reading the pages. This helps the book feel less daunting by not having to read the entire text. If the book follows a pattern or repeats, have your reader read those parts of the text. At our house we love the Hooray for… series by Brian Won.
Give wordless picture books a try! These books allow readers of any level to enter the story by interpreting the illustrations only. No word reading required, and if you want add an additional layer to the experience grab a stack of post-its and ask your reader, “If you were to add words to the page, what would they be?” Write them down and stick them in the book. Look! Now your reader is the author too!
Does your reader need a literal game to get engaged with words and reading? No worries. There are plenty on the market and they can completely change the “reading game” for your reader. As a parent of a hesitant reader games like the Zingo variations, Scrabble, Boggle, and Bananagrams all served as the entry point to having fun with words with my son. Once he was having fun with words, I was able to extend the offer—”Should we go see if we can find any of these words in a book? Which book would you like to look in?” Then the reading experience became about word finding which we turned into a game of hide and seek, but for words!
Empowerment and Ownership
Most of all, remember no matter what approach you take to making literacy fun, the more your reader owns the experience, the more they will be bought into it. So, empower them with the tools they need! Head to your local library and get them their very own student library card! Let them fill out the application, pick their PIN number and card color or design, and then go browse the shelves for books they want to check out with their new card. Let the entire experience be one in which the reader makes all decisions.
A final reminder that a reading routine and how you talk about reading matters. Both of these set the precedent for the reading experience in their environment, and by shaping our words and actions in a positive way we care communicating we are all readers because stories are what make up the very lives we live.
A fantastic resource for parents is the book, How To Raise a Reader by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo.
Melanie Fuemmeler is a Program Operations Manager for Johnson County, KS library system. Prior to joining the library she worked in public education for 16 years. She has two readers of her own at home, ages 8 and 9, and loves exploring with them all the ways stories exist in the world.
