With summer fast approaching, parents may wonder how they can encourage their children to explore new ideas, hobbies, or interests while emphasizing the importance of personal competence in reading and writing. I would like to share with you a few ideas that may get your children excited about reading (even the reluctant readers!) and will entice the entire family to join in on the summer fun.
1. Explore your child’s interests.
• Summer is the perfect time to pursue a new interest or enjoy a favorite pastime. What does your child enjoy doing? Does he or she have a favorite hobby? A favorite sport? A favorite travel destination? Consider subscribing to a specialty magazine especially written for creative young minds. Hobby, sports, and travel magazines are available in subjects ranging from A to Z.
• Enjoy cooking and baking with your pint-size chef? For kids who appreciate a good beignet, purchase a cookbook together, find a new or interesting recipe, read aloud the instructions, make a plan for cooking, and complete the project together. You may even sneak in a lesson or two about ratios, equivalents, and measurements.
• Have a child who is a movie buff? Find a book written about his or her favorite movie and make a date to read and watch it together. After you finish, discuss similarities and differences between the two.
• For young artists and aspiring builders, find a craft or construction book and choose a project that the family can complete together.
2. Vary the types and genres of reading materials.
• You don’t always have to read the classics; encourage children to read material outside of their favorite genre.
• Summer presents a fabulous opportunity to learn of our nation’s history and beloved national treasures. If you aren’t able to take a trip this summer, visit Plymouth Plantation, the Grand Canyon, or Mount Rushmore through picture books or historical fiction novels.
• Explore the world of moral themes in Aesop’s fables, dive into a world of enchantment with modern fairytales, or reflect upon the values of culture in time-honored folk tales.
• For parents of older children, consider reading popular dystopian novels and discuss how the powers of government may influence individual freedoms and compel societies to return to traditional values.
3. Create a favorite space for reading and writing.
• Explore the nooks and crannies of your home. Is there a space that can be transformed into a reading corner? Fill it with colorful pillows, blankets, lighting, stuffed animals, and favorite family books.
• Depending upon your family’s schedule, set aside a time every day to visit the spot and read both independently and as a family. Mark the time on a calendar and adjust the schedule as needed to accommodate family activities, trips, and sporting events.
4. Write a family book.
• Set aside a few minutes to compose a family story. The story may be fiction or nonfiction, fantasy or folklore, poetry or verse.
• Have each child contribute to the story by writing a sentence or two each day or a couple times per week. At the end of the summer, compile all the sentences into one piece, make copies for each person, and read together as a family. You may be surprised at the creative and eclectic story lines that develop!
5. Make a family reading tree.
• Similar to creating a genealogy tree, construct a tree trunk and branches from craft or construction paper. Display the tree in a visible spot – playroom wall, office, library, reading nook, etc. Each time the family reads a book together, write the title on a paper leaf and place it on the tree. Challenge your children to help the tree “bloom” all summer long!
6. Be sensitive to your child’s individual learning style.
• Adapt reading and writing activities to include a wide variety of interactive and hands-on experiences. Since all children do not learn and comprehend information in the same way, identify if your child is an auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learner. (www.school.familyeducation.com)
• Take the time to discuss the reading material; highlight new vocabulary words and use them in different contexts. If your child struggles with reading aloud or sounding out words, take the time to employ phonics or phonemic awareness activities. (www.readingrockets.org)
• Include visual aids and allow children the opportunity to manipulate objects related to the reading material.
• Remember to focus on the basics of literacy, make small, attainable goals, and work towards fluency and comprehension.
• For readers and writers of all ages, literacy is a team effort; parents, children, and siblings each have important roles. By varying the types of reading and writing activities throughout the summer, we can effectively help our children become successful readers and writers.
7. Be a reading role model!
• Don’t just tell your kids to read. Let them see you reading, too! Read individually, in pairs, and as family. Discuss what you are reading. Share your discoveries, insights, and questions for further study.
• Keep a journal. Write about your reading experiences and adventures.
• Create a map highlighting the people, places, or things of interest detailed in the stories. Show your children that reading can be both educational and fun!
Friends, as we model good reading habits, create opportunities for growth and reflection, and pay careful attention to the individual literacy needs of our children, I believe they will take their skills in reading and writing and effectively use them to build relationships in all aspects of their lives. When children connect and weave ideas between essential temporal and gospel principles, they see that knowledge is interrelated, and discoveries made in one subject area may shed light on principles in another subject area. Children’s literacy experiences inside the home, in addition to their experiences socially and in formal classrooms outside of the home, will testify how personal growth is multiplied as we seek out the best books of wisdom, and strive to learn by study and faith. As we make connections between the spiritual and the temporal, we will realize that life is a tapestry of experience and education, and our educational pursuits are in the service of God. It is a privilege and a blessing to be filled with treasures of knowledge, and those with a solid foundation in literacy will be better prepared to increase in knowledge and wisdom and bless the lives of those around them.
D&C 88:118, 119-20: “Seek ye diligently,” the Lord said, “and teach one another words of wisdom; organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High.”
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