There are no substitutes for good summer reading!

Summer reading is a great opportunity. Children and teens may

• read long and leisurely.
• follow their interests.
• explore new ideas and genres.

How might you encourage reading and thinking?

• Build reading time into each family member’s schedule.
• Avoid showing movies based on well-known children’s and young adult literature, or read the book before showing the movie. Kids don’t want to read a book if they’ve “already seen the movie six times.”
• Listen to and discuss audiobooks during car trips rather than watch movies. Listening actively uses the imagination; watching a movie is passive.
• Have reading materials available at home. Subscribe to newspapers and magazines; use the Summit library and get a library card for access to the public libraries and the NC Live database.
• Limit screen time to one or two hours each day. Follow the advice of the experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• Make reading and thinking a part of family life. Talk about what you read and see in the news and movies. Research what you want to know more about; fact check information you question.

Summer reading makes a difference. Reading and discussing well-chosen books will

• increase vocabulary.
• reinforce higher-level comprehension skills.
• reduce summer learning loss.
• show kids that parents think reading & thinking are important.