Summer Reading

As we come to the close of another successful school year the importance of school, education, and reading is sometimes forgotten. While summer is a time to let kids have fun and spend time with their friends it should also be a time where kids have the time to still put their brains to work. A child does not have to do hours of homework or study diligently over the summer to keep their minds fresh and ready for next year. Simply having your child pick up a book and read for 20-30 minutes can help your child just as much.

Reading is an easy way to stimulate the brain and keep your child up to par with their vocabulary over the summer. Keeping your child’s brain active and mentally stimulated can help them have an easier transition into the next grade and could even help continue their studies. Reading not only helps them for the summer but it also helps them in the future as well. Keeping the brain active, even just by reading, your child could reduce any chance of having dementia or Alzheimer's in the future. Now is the time to teach your kids that the brain is just like any other part of your body. The brain needs exercise to stay healthy and to be able to function properly.

Reading can also enhance a child's memory, improve their focus in class and give them stronger analytical thinking skills. Reading a book causes a person to have to think throughout the book. The reader typically thinks about the plot, storyline, characters, and etc. Typically, as someone reads a book they are storing information that they can use later to remember it and talk about it or simply come back to it later. This enhances a child's memory and gets them to work on remembering the topic/subject on-hand and apply it at a later date. There are exercises that you can do with your child as they read to further enhance their memory. You could have your child stop at each chapter and explain what’s happening in the book. Another exercise would be having them write short essays about what the book was about and who the main characters were. Reading also helps kids gain stronger analytical thinking skills. When reading a book children tend to analyze the details in the story a lot better and their focus is directly onto the book rather than anything else because they are working to find out the plot of the story. Reading helps a child look to analyze the details in the story closer and can even help them critique things in the story so they can get an understand of who the characters are, what’s going on, and why certain things are happening.

In our technology-filled world having your child pick up a book can be a great way for them to focus and could be the most relaxing thing they do in the day. Reading a book takes away all of a person's attention and puts it into the story itself. Kids become immersed in the story and in their own imaginations which even helps work the brain. Reading gives kids the opportunity to use their imagination freely without any outside sources telling them how to or what to imagine. Books can sometimes be the one place a child can let their mind run free without any restraints.

Reading is a wonderful activity that both you and your child can enjoy doing together over the summer. Children need to have the ability to sit down for at least 20-30 minutes to exercise their brain and stay mentally active. Having your child read over the summer for a short time a day can help not only prepare them for the school year, but it could also improve the skills necessary for everyday use.