Opinion: The Benefits of Summer Reading

There is no doubt that summer reading can increase kids’ reading skills, motivation, confidence, and enjoyment of books, so why don’t more kids like to read during the summer? It might surprise you that in a poll in Education Week 77% of students agree that summer reading is important, but 20% confessed to not reading at all over the break. Meanwhile, some of the people who do enjoy reading over the summer have said that they don’t read as much during the school year, as school drains them and they just get too tired and unmotivated. That being said, there are still many kids who don’t enjoy summer reading, and the number is growing.

In 2019, 32% of kids between the ages of 15 and 17 didn’t read any books over the summer, compared to 22% in 2016. With the percentage of summer reading going down, parents have asked what they can do to keep their kids’ brains exercised over the break, so here are a few tips.

Many people think that reading your old comfort books will get you more into reading even if it’s something like a picture book. It can really help you understand what you like now. To add to that, kids will be more likely to read books they are interested in. Another thing you could do if your child has a short attention span is mix up the types of books, but if they’re comfortable with a certain topic, leave them alone.

What will happen if your child doesn’t read over the summer? If you’ve never heard of summer slide, it is basically the concept of children forgetting what they learned in the previous year. It’s also the reason teachers love to focus on review in the first few weeks of the school year. But studies show that summer reading can help to prevent this. Not only does it help with vocabulary and spelling, but reading helps strengthen memory and prevent summer slide in future years. A study at Northcentral University shows that brain stimulating activities like reading can slow down memory loss for older adults, all the more reason to pick up a book this year. It is so good for you and will really benefit you in the long run.

HELEN ENGBERS

Writer at The City Voice

My name is Helen, I am a ninth grade student at City. I enjoy writing, sewing and playing sports. I have two dogs and 3 cats.