Tips To Avoid The “Summer Learning Slide” (NAPSA)—Something is waiting for our kids this summer, and most parents don’t even knowit’s out there. It’s called “summer slide,” and it’s what happens when young minds sit idle for three months. As parents approach the summer break, most are thinking about the family vacation, the kid’s camp, swimming lessons, and how to juggleit all. What they might not be focusing on is how much educational ground their kids will lose during the threemonth break from school, particularly when it comes to reading. Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s oldest and largest children’s and family literacy organization, says there is no better time than this summer to begin helping kids bridge the gap. “Motivating children to read throughout the year is essential to building lifelong readers,” says Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. “And reading is the doorwayto all other learning.” According to a Nov. 2002 report from Johns Hopkins Center for SummerLearning: “A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year (one monthspent re-teaching and one month not spent on new instruction).” This summerslide is most pronounced in low-incomestudents who “experience an average summer learning loss in reading achievement of over two months.” With this in mind, RIF is partner- ing with the Center for Summer Learning to advance public awareness and understanding of the issue of summerreadingslide in kids. Summer slide affects millions of children each year in this country—but it doesn’t have to. With these few easy steps, parents and caregivers can keep their kids from losing ground to summer readingslide. Down with “summer slide.” Kids who read won’t lose educational ground in the summer. Reading Tips For Parents * Combine activities with books. Encourage kids to read about summeractivities. * Visit the library. Help your child get a library card. Lead by example. Show your kids the fun you have reading! Talk it up. Talk with your kids about what you read. Relax the rules for summer. Let summer be a time when children can read what, when and how theyplease. Have plenty of reading material on hand like storybooks, newspapers, magazines, and informational texts. * Use books to break the boredom. Get books that teach kids how to makeor do something. Read aloud with kids. Take your children to see a local storyteller or, better yet, be one yourself! Experts agree that children who read during the summer gain reading skills, while those who do not often slide backward. Kids and parents can find more great summer reading activities and resources at www.rif.org.
