Ask any elementary school teacher and they’ll tell you that the first few weeks of school are more about reteaching than covering new material. After several months away from the classroom, kids have to relearn how to sit still and focus on schoolwork. But more than that, it often seems students have forgotten a big chunk of what they learned the previous year, and teachers spend the opening weeks of the year catching kids up on what they should already know.
We Are Teachers
As we enter the sunny days of summer vacation, children are excited to trade classroom routines for outdoor adventures, family vacations, and free-time galore. While these experiences create lasting memories, they can also contribute to the "summer slide"—the loss of academic skills that can occur when children spend long periods away from regular learning activities. For children who are developing their early literacy skills and reading independence, maintaining a consistent reading habit throughout the summer can help preserve and strengthen those skills. To combat this summertime slump and ensure that your child's academic abilities don't decline, it is essential to establish a daily reading routine of at least 15 minutes. Getting into this habit helps maintain their current reading level, and improves vocabulary and reading confidence while keeping young minds engaged and curious.
Here's the fun part — summer reading does not have to feel like schoolwork! One of the best ways to encourage reading is by connecting books to hands-on activities that bring stories and subjects to life. If your child enjoys books about cooking, spend an afternoon following a simple recipe together. Reading a book about animals? Visit a local zoo, nature center, or park and see what wildlife you can spot. Young readers fascinated by space can create a model solar system, while children who enjoy exploring outside can read a gardening book and try planting something to track it's growth. By pairing books with related activities, children see reading as a connection to summertime exploration rather than a standalone chore or 'homework'.
This summer, All About Books is excited to offer a wider variety of early reader books for school age children to explore!
Families can add an extra layer of excitement by participating in reading incentive programs. This year marks the return of Pizza Hut's BOOK IT! summer reading program, giving children the opportunity to earn rewards when they reach summer reading milestones. Programs like these are a great tool to help turn reading into a fun challenge and provide additional encouragement for reluctant readers!
This summer, encourage your child to read, explore, create, and discover as much as possible. It is the perfect time to let children take ownership of their reading choices. Remember, the bottom line is to get them reading in the first place, so let them self-direct! Stock a reading basket or bookshelf with a variety of titles that might match their interests. Whether they're fascinated by dinosaurs, vehicles, animals, or gardening, providing books they are excited to read helps build motivation and sparks a lifelong love of reading. By establishing daily reading routines and incorporating educational activities, you can ensure that your child's mind remains active and engaged throughout the summer, setting them up for success when it's time head back to school. Join us in fostering a summer full of reading adventures and learning opportunities that will keep your child's academic abilities thriving all summer long!
Explore our more Summer Slide material here!
Hey there, I’m Hannah Erhardt
Hannah started in Fall 2025 and works on maintaining all our marketing, branding, publishing, and social media efforts with our Marketing Team.
