By Dr. Raymond J. Huntington
One of the best and simplest ways to prevent your child’s reading proficiency levels from declining this summer is to establish a daily reading habit. And with the relaxed pace of summer, your child might be happy to hear that he or she is free to choose whatever books sound the most interesting — a welcome change from the school year, which is undoubtedly busy with required school reading.
Want to give your child a nudge in the right direction? Why not enroll him or her in a summer reading program? Summer reading programs offer a fun way for children to keep track of their reading and rewards for completing reading milestones. While your local library or bookstore may have a reading program, there are also a number of excellent online options as well — and even better, all are free.
Here are just a few online summer reading programs for you to explore:
Scholastic’s Summer Reading Home Base
From now through Thursday, September 7, kids can visit the summer zone in Scholastic Home Base, a completely free digital destination which offers stories, characters, games and a community of readers. Home Base is moderated for safety 24/7.
Barnes & Noble Summer Reading
Barnes & Noble provides a reading journal in which your child records the books he or she reads and a little about the book. After finishing eight books, a child can bring the printable reading journal into a Barnes & Noble and redeem it for a free book between Saturday, July 1 and Thursday, August 31. Visit www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading and look for the 100 Books of summer for Kids section.
Camp BOOK IT!
The Camp BOOK IT! program is open to all families with PreK-6th grade students (ages 4-12). Parents set goals, track reading and reward their students, all in a digital dashboard. The program dates are June through August. Visit www.bookitprogram.com/programs/camp-book-it.
Half Price Summer Reading Camp
Half Price Books Summer Reading Camp, where online campers, and their trusty guardians, can get their fill of fun reads and activities to keep busy during lazy days of summer, including reading lists by age. The camp runs from now through July 31. Visit https://b.halfpricebooks.com/summer-reading/.
A summer reading program is a great way to incentivize your child to stick with reading all summer long. These programs all strive to make reading enjoyable, reward progress and encourage children to commit to reading as a hobby of choice. The summer is upon us — get started now, and help your child start off on the right foot for a fun-filled summer of learning and exploration.
About Huntington
Huntington is the tutoring and test prep leader. Its certified tutors provide individualized instruction in reading, phonics, writing, study skills, elementary and middle school math, algebra through calculus, chemistry and other sciences. It preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington programs develop the skills, confidence and motivation to help students succeed and meet the needs of the Common Core State Standards. Founded in 1977, Huntington’s mission is to give every student the best education possible.
Learn how Huntington can help at https://huntingtonhelps.com/. For franchise opportunities, please visit https://huntingtonfranchise.com/.
