One specific goal of LaRue Miller Elementary is the hope all our learners become lifelong readers.  These summer months provide a wonderful opportunity to extend and enrich the lessons in the classroom to the world well outside the classroom walls.  YOU are your child’s first and most important teacher after all!

You can surf the web and find the same result on current reading research:  “summer reading loss is cumulative; children do not ‘catch up’ in the fall because the other children are moving ahead with their skills.”  So what can you do?  Here are some suggestions for summer reading encouragement:

1. Select books of interest.
2. Read at least 20 minutes per day.
3. Take advantage of the sunshine and read aloud outdoors.
4. Set aside a portion of the day as DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read).
5. Read all genres—magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes, road signs, anything.
6. Ask the “W” Questions:  who, what, when, where, why, how.
7. Review comprehension, vocabulary, and listening skills when reading aloud.
8. Coordinate a summer book club with your child’s friends (this is great on rainy summer days).
9. Check out the great library programs at the Meadows Public Library (they have summer reading challenges, activities, and online books at http://goo.gl/vmtvR

Whether you’re on a beach, on a road trip, or just having a “staycation” at home, find ways to foster a lifelong love of reading.  Please continue having a safe, fun summer; we’ll see you back in August!  🙂