Reading is an essential habit that every child must try to adopt right from the beginning. It not only increases their retaining abilities but fosters critical thinking skills in them. Just like doing exercise is good for your body, reading is good for your brain.

Have you ever heard of the term ‘summer reading loss’? A research report shows that summer reading keeps skills strong and the children who do not read during the summer holidays lose at least two months of reading development.

Another significant benefit of summer reading is that it increases knowledge. Whether it is the vocabulary, spelling, essay writing, maths or science, reading is very effective in every subject area. But, as a parent, you might be doing tremendous efforts to make your children develop the summer reading habit.

Below are a few tips that are likely to help encourage your children to read over summer.

Tell them the importance

Parents are the first role models for their children. If you are someone who appreciates reading, your children would surely get fascinated and would try to be just like you. Children always observe their parents. Tell them why reading is important to you and what all good things one can learn from the books.

You can also share the stories of your childhood with them like what books you used to read and how much you like reading since childhood. This would surely encourage your kids to read.

Understand their reading assignments

If the teachers have assigned any reading assignments to your children, make sure to give it a look. Check what books the children have to read and if there is any project associated with the assignment or not. For example, there might be a test based on the reading assignment after the holidays, or the children might have to highlight the main points of the book, or they may have to prepare the summary in their own words.

Knowing this would give you an idea of how you should proceed with the assignment. Also, you can encourage your children to seek additional help. Nowadays, with online assignment help, children can get a complete guide on how to proceed with their reading assignments.

Help your child create a reading plan

Vacations mean sports, TV, video games and play all day long. So, it is very important to help your child create a routine by scheduling their day and assigning some time for reading daily. Not only this, you can also help them decide how much they have to read every day and how are they going to handle the reading assignments.

If the children would be aware of their ‘reading goals’ they would take it as a challenge and would try to complete it with full enthusiasm.

Make reading fun

Summer reading should not appeal as a burden but as a fun-filled activity to the children. Make plans to visit the public library at least once in a week so that the children can know more about books and feel connected to them. You can also ask your children to keep a journal or the books they read where they can note down the titles of the books that they are reading or they can also log any further information about the books.

Use audio books and let your children enjoy some stories on-the-go while travelling. This is also a beautiful experience in itself.

Keep it real

Do not let your children overburden themselves with reading too much in a single day. Break down the reading assignment into specific parts so that the children always look forward to reading. Consistency is the main reason behind adopting a habit into your life.

If your child reads a hundred pages in a day and then forgets about reading for the rest of the week, it is of no use. Hence, keep these things in mind as you make their reading plan.

You can also encourage your children for summer reading by offering rewards for their little accomplishments. For example, their favourite video games, a family outing, sleepover or a movie night. This would motivate them to complete their reading task efficiently.

There is no doubt that summer reading assignments are important for the children but the parents can make them equally enjoyable and engaging. You are the one who can encourage them to read and explore the world of books and enhance their creativity. Make sure your child doesn’t see summer reading as just another assignment but rather as a fun-filled activity.