7 Ways to Encourage Your Child to Keep Reading During the Summer

While reading might be enjoyable for you, it’s difficult for children who are still learning it. And that’s why it’s extremely difficult to get kids to read, especially during the summer. 

But it’s important to turn your child into an avid reader because it not only improves their communication skills but also exposes them to ideas they otherwise would never come across. It also improves their cognitive skills, imagination, helps them develop empathy, and allows them to learn and grow.

So if you’re struggling to get your child to pick up a book this summer, here are 7 ideas you will find helpful. 

1 Become a reader yourself

One of the most basic mistakes you can make when trying to turn your child into a reader is not being one yourself.

Children are born as empty slates and learn by observing the world around them. It’s a well-known fact that children emulate the behaviour of their parents. And so if they watch you adopt reading as a habit, they are going to be more receptive to it.

It’s even better if you can convince your partner to pick up reading as well. You can then have family reading sessions, where every member of the household reads a book of their choice. You can follow these sessions with a discussion about what everyone read, what they liked about it, and what they didn’t.

When reading seeps into your family’s daily routine, your child is more likely to turn into a lifelong reader. 

2 Make sure your child isn’t having trouble with reading

As we just said, one of the reasons it’s so hard to get kids to read is that they find it difficult. Many children struggle with language basics, and it’s a good idea to ensure that isn’t the case with your child.

You should also be aware of specific learning disorders, which is where children struggle with one particular academic area (for example maths). 

It’s hard to pick up this disorder because these children perform well in all other academic areas, which is why it’s easy to attribute their poor performance in one area to “carelessness”. Specific learning disorder needs the help of a psychiatrist.

You can also connect your child to online English tutors. This can help them stay on top of language basics throughout the summer, decreasing the chance that they’ll drop reading.

Finally, some parents make the mistake of forcing their children to read the wrong books. You must realise that books you find “easy” and fun might be too hard for your child. 

If you force your choices on your child, reading will become a painful, boring job. So make sure to help your child pick up a book appropriate for their age. Here are 3 books they might like.

3 Ask your child to read to you 

Asking your child to read to you has two main benefits. One, it provides positive reinforcement to them (given you appreciate when they do well). According to psychology principles, positive reinforcement is one of the most powerful ways to increase the frequency of a behaviour (which is reading in this case). 

Here are some more ideas on how you can use positive reinforcement to improve your child’s behaviour.

Two, it helps you pick out their mistakes and correct them. This improves their comprehension and reading flow, which in turn makes reading more enjoyable. And once reading becomes enjoyable, it’s unlikely that your child will let it go.

Asking your child to read to you also ensures that their reading sessions are effective. After all, you never know whether a silent child with a book in his hand is actually making sense of it.

4 Encourage your child to pick up a series

It’s easy to break off your reading streak when you’re going after singles, even as an adult. Since children are way more distractible than us, they’re more likely to take “long” breaks after finishing a book.

An easy solution to this is to introduce your child to a series instead of a single. Here are some popular ones to help you get started. Since each book in a series ends at a cliffhanger, suspense and curiosity will force your child to pick up the next book, making sure they spend a productive summer.

5 Take help from movies 

We know many bookworms are rolling their eyes right now, but movies are a great way to keep your child motivated. Many popular books have been developed into movies, and so you and your child can watch one after reading its book.

This will not only make for an excellent bonding activity during the summer, but it will also be very joyous for your child to see their imagination come to life. They’ll feel more motivated to finish up another book and experience their imagination come to life once again. According to the principles of psychology, this can serve as an excellent reward to reinforce positive behaviours.

6 Start a book club 

If you can convince your child that reading is “cool”, it will be a lot easier to keep them at it during the summer. And starting a book club — where children the same age as your child gather to read and discuss books together — is an effective way of doing this.

This will also expose your child to the much-needed human interaction during the summers (especially after the long COVID lockdowns).

But make sure that the book club sessions are effective and not too hectic to arrange. Planning in advance who you’ll invite, how you’ll choose a book, how readers will get access to it, and how you’ll keep the discussions focused is a must. Here are more detailed ideas on how you can start a successful book club.

7 Turn books into real life 

Some children are more “hands-on” and learn the best by doing things. You need to determine if this is the case with your child. If it is, then turning books into real-life situations is an excellent way of making them stick to the habit.

Role-play is a good example of a real-life activity. You can also carry out some of the activities mentioned in the book your child is reading. For example, if it’s about flying kites, you might want to fly some with your child. If it’s about animals, take a trip to the zoo!

All of these ideas reflect two basic principles that you need to follow when trying to make your child read. One, make sure it’s easy for them. Two, make sure it’s fun!